Galloway Smashes Scottish Separatists with Stellar Speech in the Spectator

BillJones

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

There is no "as long as".

There are many English people living in Scotland and they are welcomed.

Ha!

http://www.scotsman.com/news/moderator-says-anti-english-bigotry-is-like-sectarianism-1-1429910

BillJones

kabayiri wrote: »

Has anyone crunched the numbers?

It would certainly require a period of serious austerity, but then I guess the Yes campaigners believe the path to a new independence is worth some pain.

They don't though, they claim that there will be an independence bonus.

I do hope that the scots won't vote based on a few thousand pound here or there, won't change their destiny based on the cost of a weekend away in Benidorm, but the Yes campaign think otherwise.

IveSeenTheLight

Personally, see below for my responses

CLAPTON wrote: »

do tell me, so I can be better informed

do you want

-to have your own (Scottish) independent currency or share some-one else's (pound, Euro, dollar etc)? I believe that having had no experience of the Euro effect on local society, I think and independent currency would be better. Probably a Scottish pound given that some countries disregard it's value currently, at least it would be recognised in an independent country. I can also see the value in retaining the pound in a currency union, so pretty felxible on it. If it had to be the Euro, I would adjust. At the end of the day, whether you pay for goods in pound, Euro's or even salt (in the very old days) it's just a way of recognising a value for the debt secured

-do you want your own immigration policy or share EU's? To be honest, Scotland welcomes immigration as does the EU with freedom of rights to move across borders. The issue in Scotland is not the same as in the South East. I'm happy for there to be EU open borders (HINT I don't discriminate against any country )

-do you want to set your own interest rates or let EU do it for you? This is of course totally dependent on the currency being used and therefore is linked in my opinion to your first question

-do you want to set your own Scottish budget or let EU do it?Naturally, this should be set by Scotland. Are you referring to the EU budget which is approx 1% of the EU Nations wealth (approx 244 Euro) per head. The purpose of this is to: -

For students,this could be in the form of opportunities to study
abroad. For small businesses, it could imply easier access to larger markets and a fair business environment.
For researchers, it could mean more chances to develop their ideas. For jobseekers, it could be new training possibilities.

Directly or indirectly, we all benefit from some activity funded from the EU budget, be it in the form of cleaner beaches, safer food on our plates, better roads or the guaranteeing of our fundamental rights.

I certainly do not have a problem contributing a small amount from our budget for the overall European Union improvement

-do you want to set your own climate change / renewables policy of let EU do it for you? The UK has already signed up to the Kyoto agreement and I see no reason to change from that target. Indeed, Scotland is already ahead of the targets for climate change and renewable energy.

-do you believe that small countries (say a few million people ) intrinsically have a higher per capita income than larger ones and so support the breaking up of EU nation states into say 100 smaller entities No, population size is not intrinsically linked to income. I'm not sure you will ever get, despite the repeated confirmation that population size is not a factor. I don't think I should put it in my signature as you already adhere to it?

IveSeenTheLight

kabayiri wrote: »

Venezuela.

:eek:

Oil rich; inflation at 60%.

Still, at least petrol is cheaper than water.

Iteresting.
Please show the link for wealth in 1714 (ish) and now so we can see that the wealth has reduced

IveSeenTheLight

BillJones wrote: »

And if he did, you;d be squeaking and ranting about how he has no right to interfere in a scots issue...

Not at all.

He said he would leave it to the people of Scotland to decide, then said he would fight with every fibre.

The Scottish First minister has asked for a debate, so I would look forward to what each leader would put forward for the debate.

But refusing to debate, he is effectively not giving Scotland the opportunity to hear from the Prime Minister on the benefits of keeping the Union.
He is effectively keeping with the stereotype where he doesn't have time / care for Scotland.

I'd welcome it, he's to scared for his own personal reasons.

IveSeenTheLight

BillJones wrote: »

Ha!

http://www.scotsman.com/news/moderator-says-anti-english-bigotry-is-like-sectarianism-1-1429910

Where does it say

CLAPTON wrote: »

as long as you get rid of the English.

antrobus

BillJones wrote: »

You keep saying this, but that's up for negotiation. As previously mentioned, if you follow the border in a straight line from where it hits the coast, the fields are split.

I can recall oh, a very long time ago, watching a party political broadcast for the English National Party, where they did just that and claimed that it was all England's oil. Mind you, I seem to remember they also complained about the 'Welsh land grab' in respect of Monmouthsire, so I'm not sure how rational their claim was.

CLAPTON

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Personally, see below for my responses

I didn't ask whether you happened to agree with certain EU policies but whether you wanted to retain your independence to determin your own future policies



It appears that you are willing to abandon your independence

-to have your own currency
-to set your own interest rates
-to set your own budget deficient
-to set your own immigration policy
-your climate change programme is set by the EU and not Kyoto


the question about whether smaller countries have a higher per capita GDP is about whether Scottish control of policy will make Scotland richer compared to sharing policy with a larger group (i.e the UK).
I assume you, therefore, reject idea that Scotland being in control of its own policies will make you richer - being poorer is a price worth paying for some limited independence

IveSeenTheLight

CLAPTON wrote: »

It appears that you are willing to abandon your independence

It appears you wish to make up what I said and believe therefore crack on, believe what you will as you certainly portray you don't believe in reality.

antrobus

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

I certainly do not have a problem contributing a small amount from our budget for the overall European Union improvement

The amount that any hypothetically independent Scotland would have to contribute to the EU budget would be an issue that would be decided as a result of Scotland's membership application. As indeed, for that matter, would the question of the Scottish commitment to join the Euro.

I can't imagine for one minute, given the balance of power in the negotiations, that the amount involved would be any smaller that it is at present. Probably a bit bigger, I'd have thought.