Independence For Scotland

[Demented Zebra]

Well, that's fine.

Suggestions on a postcard as to how this budget deficit is going to be addressed.

Also, do you have any idea how many Scots (those that actually bother to work) do so in the UK public sector?

dec

You have your view and by the look of things like to be mothered by England.

So you must be right and Scotland's top economic expert is wrong. Not a guy who is in the SNP I may add

All the ACTUAL FACTS will be up for debate in the run in to a referendum.

So

Have a wee look at other independent nations with a population of 5 million in the EEC. How are they doing ?

What about Norway ?

The poll here suggests the swing is for independence

[Macca SAFC]

Well, that's fine.

Suggestions on a postcard as to how this budget deficit is going to be addressed.

Also, do you have any idea how many Scots (those that actually bother to work) do so in the UK public sector?

dec

Im in the Army so it would affect me a lot, nobody said it was going to be easy but it can be done by first stopping the millions of £ in benefits to the smackheads and scum bags who bleed the country dry.

And dare i say it the £50m pound flowing daily through Grangemouth would help short term till we attract more investment from abroad by making our country a more attractive option to set up business.

[Demented Zebra]

Well, that's fine.

Suggestions on a postcard as to how this budget deficit is going to be addressed.

Also, do you have any idea how many Scots (those that actually bother to work) do so in the UK public sector?

dec

So you think as things stand the uk has got the books balanced

Go back and goole again. But this time search for views on both sides of the camp.

These people who love to live off Englands hand outs

[Guest Rinky Sidebottom]

Im in the Army so it would affect me a lot, nobody said it was going to be easy but it can be done by first stopping the millions of £ in benefits to the smackheads and scum bags who bleed the country dry.

And dare i say it the £50m pound flowing daily through Grangemouth would help short term till we attract more investment from abroad by making our country a more attractive option to set up business.

Perhaps we could save millions more on not spending it on new nuclear missiles that replace nuclear missiles that already could blow earth up within seconds. Everyone has their own opinions on what money should be spent where, my personal one is to have nowt spent on the armed forces and I'm sure you wouldn't agree with that.

[Whistle Blower]

Back to Westminster for me, unless the calibre of MSP is increased dramatically.

Scotland would be better served by sending 50% of its MSP's back to their former stomping grounds of PTA meeting's and neighbourhood watch.

I would also advocate a sanity test for all voters, this would be conducted by an exit poll, if the following reasons for voting were heard people would be banned from beneifts and voting for 20 years.

Why did you vote the way you did ?

I always vote (insert party)

My mum/dad always voted for (insert party) and if it was good enough for them then its good enough for me.

I'm a working man and they are a working mans party

[Macca SAFC]

Perhaps we could save millions more on not spending it on new nuclear missiles that replace nuclear missiles that already could blow earth up within seconds. Everyone has their own opinions on what money should be spent where, my personal one is to have nowt spent on the armed forces and I'm sure you wouldn't agree with that.

So the junkies are ok to not work?

I agree to an extent f**k the nukes the money could be better of spent on housing, helthcare etc etc

As for spending f**k all on the Armed forces you need an army to protect your country but blowing millions in Afghan and Iraq does not in my eyes constitute protecting your country.

[Guest Ron Burgundy]

So the junkies are ok to not work?

I agree to an extent f**k the nukes the money could be better of spent on housing, helthcare etc etc

As for spending f**k all on the Armed forces you need an army to protect your country but blowing millions in Afghan and Iraq does not in my eyes constitute protecting your country.

you do realise Alex Salmond is constantly critical of the British armed forces and their role in the world....even to the point of claiming the action in Kosovo was illegal.

Kosovo

Salmond was one of the few British politicians to oppose the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999^[1]. He was opposed to the conflict because it was not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which was a controversial subject at the time. Despite this, Salmond was heavily criticised in the media for describing Tony Blair's decision to intervene militarily as an "unpardonable folly" ^[2].

[renton]

You have your view and by the look of things like to be mothered by England.

So you must be right and Scotland's top economic expert is wrong. Not a guy who is in the SNP I may add

All the ACTUAL FACTS will be up for debate in the run in to a referendum.

So

Have a wee look at other independent nations with a population of 5 million in the EEC. How are they doing ?

What about Norway ?

The poll here suggests the swing is for independence

Apples and oranges. There is no point trying to emulate someone elses country since it is not just a simple calculation based on whatever national resources are available, the Norweigens - and indeed - the Irish are a totally different breed of animals, can you imagine Norweigen style taxation in this country?

There is a budget defecit, no doubt about that. The oil is a wasting asset and should be thought of as a bonus, any planning for an independent nation should be done on the basis of no oil.

Have some kind of economic plan in place beforehand, make the hard choices regarding the public sector now, show the public that there is some kind of strategy. Don't get independence then sit around looking at each other, saying "so what now?"

[Macca SAFC]

you do realise Alex Salmond is constantly critical of the British armed forces and their role in the world....even to the point of claiming the action in Kosovo was illegal.

Kosovo

Salmond was one of the few British politicians to oppose the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999^[1]. He was opposed to the conflict because it was not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which was a controversial subject at the time. Despite this, Salmond was heavily criticised in the media for describing Tony Blair's decision to intervene militarily as an "unpardonable folly" ^[2].

Thats his opinion to be honest i think he was wrong on that one we made a difference there as we went for the right reasons, Afghan and Iraq however are a shambles speaking as someone who has had the misfortune of being deployed in both countrys what we are doing there is wrong we are not helping especially in Iraq where the vast majority of people say they were happier with Saddam was in power hardly the seal of approval!

As for Salmond himself i like the fact that our first minister speaks out for the majority of Scots when he says Scottish Soldiers should not be there as the British Government dont give a f**k about public opinion on that one.

He might not be everybodys cup of tea but he has gave Scotland more of a voice which is something i respect the man for.

[Macca SAFC]

Apples and oranges. There is no point trying to emulate someone elses country since it is not just a simple calculation based on whatever national resources are available, the Norweigens - and indeed - the Irish are a totally different breed of animals, can you imagine Norweigen style taxation in this country?

There is a budget defecit, no doubt about that. The oil is a wasting asset and should be thought of as a bonus, any planning for an independent nation should be done on the basis of no oil.

Have some kind of economic plan in place beforehand, make the hard choices regarding the public sector now, show the public that there is some kind of strategy. Don't get independence then sit around looking at each other, saying "so what now?"

Spot on but do you honestly think Salmond and co have not thought aboutthis?

[renton]

Spot on but do you honestly think Salmond and co have not thought aboutthis?

I do wonder sometimes, was the national conversation an attempt to build an independent brain trust

You'd think that at least since devolution in '99 they'd have a rough clue as to how they'd do it, and if so you'd expect to see it in the public domain for everyone to consider, it's not something you'd keep secret after all.

[H_B]

You have your view and by the look of things like to be mothered by England.

Right. Well I've given you some FACTS about the reality of Scotland's GDP.

What ACTUAL FACTS are you giving me provided by Scotland's top economic expert?

Have a wee look at other independent nations with a population of 5 million in the EEC. How are they doing ?

What about Norway ?

What relevance has Norway to Scotland?

[Scary Bear]

Nothing can liberate our fat, lazy, benefit scrounging population from being fat lazy and benefit scrounging.

That's quite depressing. Realistic, but depressing all the same.

[Scary Bear]

Right. Well I've given you some FACTS about the reality of Scotland's GDP.

What ACTUAL FACTS are you giving me provided by Scotland's top economic expert?

What relevance has Norway to Scotland?

Similar sized nations, in a similar part of the world who both have oil.

I remember studying this is geography circa 1983/1984. Don't know if it was part of the cirriculum or if the teacher was a rabid SNP activist but it seemed like sense he was talking.

[The Old Northerner]

Similar sized nations, in a similar part of the world who both have oil.

But who have both got to where they are by different routes. Norway relies on relatively high taxation (both direct and indirect) for the continued running of the state services. Try that in Scotland and you'll be out of office faster than Wendy Alexander

[Guest Ron Burgundy]

Similar sized nations, in a similar part of the world who both have oil.

I remember studying this is geography circa 1983/1984. Don't know if it was part of the cirriculum or if the teacher was a rabid SNP activist but it seemed like sense he was talking.

It's a nice touch that those in favour of retaining the union do not tell the nationalists to clear out to the countries they hold in such esteem in the same way we are often told to f**k off to england.

Norway is about as relevant to us as the west indies.

Anyone can make sense with a half story.....

heres all the good bits about Norway and lets just forget the bad parts....now do you agree scotland should be more like norway

Evene pensions have to acknowledge investments can go down as well as up...fortunate for fatty there is no such legislation covering is fat banal chitter chatter.

[Guest Ron Burgundy]

froma canadian publication...nice to get a foreign perspective..especially when it agrees with me.

According to the politically correct view, closer political integration is good; disintegration and secession is bad. The bureaucrats of the European Union in Brussels claim that economic prosperity has increased dramatically with increased political unification. In reality, political centralization and market integration are different phenomena. Political integration involves the territorial expansion of a state’s powers of taxation and property regulation. Economic integration is the extension of the interpersonal and interregional division of labor and market participation.

In general, the smaller a country and its internal markets the more likely it is that it will opt for free trade. If the government of a small country taxes and regulates its own subjects visibly more than its neighbors, people will move. Certainly if they do not need to go far. This is the situation which prevailed in the most prosperous parts of mediaeval Europe, such as the Low Countries, the Rhine basin, the Hanseatic cities along the German and Baltic shores, Southern Germany and Northern Italy.

One frequently hears from politically correct political scientists and journalists that the growing success of secessionist movements in Europe is the result of the supranational integration within the EU. It is argued that the regionalists benefit from EU integration. In reality, supranational political integration is the opposite of secession. Unfortunately, the misguided view is also adhered to by many of the so-called secessionist and regionalist political parties in contemporary Western Europe. One may wonder to what extent these parties are truly secessionist. They almost seem to be useful idiots advancing the goals of the Brussels Eurocracy to undermine European nation-states. Indeed, if they did not exist, Brussels would benefit from inventing them.

Take Scotland, for example. It benefits significantly from European subsidies. Is this a coincidence? It has certainly convinced the Scottish National Party that Scotland can become a viable country if the United Kingdom is dissolved, on condition, however, that Scotland remains a member of the EU. Hence the SNP, which is currently in power in Edinburgh, aims for an independent Scotland firmly entrenched within the European Union.

In reality both SNP aims, dissolving Britain while at the same time strengthening the EU, are contradictory. Why become independent from London in order to give up one’s sovereignty to Brussels? One may wonder whether the SNP really wants an independent Scotland at all since it seems ready to exchange one Leviathan for another even bigger and more dangerous one.

Perhaps if the Scots leave the United Kingdom to become a province of Europe, England can secede from the EU and, together with Flanders and the regions of Northern Italy, join Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway – the family of truly sovereign nations which are assembled in EFTA, the European Free Trade Association, and do not want to be part of the EU, the European superstate in the making.

[H_B]

But who have both got to where they are by different routes. Norway relies on relatively high taxation (both direct and indirect) for the continued running of the state services. Try that in Scotland and you'll be out of office faster than Wendy Alexander

Exactly. It's an impossible problem to resolve. No country in the world has managed to have both a burgeoning welfare system and low taxation.

The point I made above, and which was blanked by the Nationalists as it didn't suit them, was that if we became Independent tomorrow Scotland would have to do something in the short term before the oil revenues decline any further to begin to address the burgeoning GDP deficit we face.

I'm not saying this is impossible, but it will require innovation and talent to achieve.

Do you trust any of the current Holyrood characters to achieve this?

[Guest Ron Burgundy]

Exactly. It's an impossible problem to resolve. No country in the world has managed to have both a burgeoning welfare system and low taxation.

The point I made above, and which was blanked by the Nationalists as it didn't suit them, was that if we became Independent tomorrow Scotland would have to do something in the short term before the oil revenues decline any further to begin to address the burgeoning GDP deficit we face.

I'm not saying this is impossible, but it will require innovation and talent to achieve.

Do you trust any of the current Holyrood characters to achieve this?

it will require a lot longer than twenty years

Wheres Gay Ghost to contradict the article in relation to my usual stand so we can move this along :lol:

[Guest Raithsaltire]

Exactly. It's an impossible problem to resolve. No country in the world has managed to have both a burgeoning welfare system and low taxation.

The point I made above, and which was blanked by the Nationalists as it didn't suit them, was that if we became Independent tomorrow Scotland would have to do something in the short term before the oil revenues decline any further to begin to address the burgeoning GDP deficit we face.

I'm not saying this is impossible, but it will require innovation and talent to achieve.

Do you trust any of the current Holyrood characters to achieve this?

Would rather trust people with Scotland's interests at heart than the new UK government in waiting i.e the Tories ANYDAY. Salmond may not be everybody's cup of tea (if I'm honest, I definately think he is a smarmy so and so), but I do like his standing up for Scotland. He is constantly showing up the Westminster government for the way they mistreat and have mistreated Scotland for generations. He is Scotland through and through, whereas Mr Cameron and his Etonite yah mob have as much care about Scotland as I do about Panama or Tonga.