How would the UK fare without Scotland?

Generali

Shakethedisease wrote: »

The UK as we know it will no longer exist if there's a Yes vote. The EU situation is unprecedented. And NATO have more members without nukes than with.

The UK will basically continue to exist. Scotland is about 8% of the population and economy of the UK. GDP per head will remain basically unchanged (up a hundred quid or so if memory serves but that really is insignificant in the grand scheme of things).

The point is that the SNP that you reckon is so trusted by the Scottish people is clearly lying about the outcomes available after independence. The rest is just the usual waffle quite honestly.

As for the rest of the United Kingdom having no say in what happens after this 'Yes' vote that you seem so sure is imminent. That is risible. The UK will contain all the things that Scotland needs to secure her economic future. Without access to the UK's markets, Scotland has no economy left.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

The point is that the SNP that you reckon is so trusted by the Scottish people is clearly lying about the outcomes available after independence. .

Even some members of the SNP are now figuring that out.....

A former SNP Lord Provost yesterday appealed to Alex Salmond to “slam on the brakes” of his independence campaign because he has “no answers” about a separate Scotland’s currency or EU membership.

Alex Murray, the SNP’s first Lord Provost of Perth and a party member for 53 years, told the Telegraph he has written to the First Minister urging him to drop independence in favour of Scotland remaining part of a federal UK.

Despite the First Minister’s assertions otherwise, Mr Murray said Mr Salmond and the rest of the party’s hierarchy were “not too sure” about how independence would actually work.

In particular, the former Yes campaigner said Mr Salmond, who is a long-time acquaintance, had “no answer at all” about what would happen to the pound or Scotland’s EU membership.

“Alex Salmond is a very able person and he is very, very convincing but over the last number of months he seems to be having doubts about things,” he said.

“I look at his performance – we don’t have an answer with regards to the currency, no answer at all. We don’t have any answer on whether we will be in the Common Market (EU) or not.”

He added: “I’ve got a feeling they are not too sure themselves how it is going to work – people within the party and people within the hierarchy of the party.”

“Every change is going to cost a big, big lot of money. If we went federal, we could carry on the way we are and gradually introduce any new idea we need for independence.”

Mr Murray said he wrote to Mr Salmond last week but had yet to receive a reply. With the referendum less than seven weeks away, and the ballot paper offering a straight choice between Yes and No, he said he wished he had spoken out sooner.

He also sent a letter to the Dundee-based Courier newspaper admitting he had been “definitely a bit naive” about independence and casting doubt on whether “we have the experience required to run a country”.

“I would hate to think that future generations would regard our action as isolating Scotland from the rest of the world as a retrograde step from which, I doubt, we will benefit,” he concluded.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11007139/Former-SNP-Lord-Provost-urges-Alex-Salmond-to-halt-independence-drive.html

Wow....

Doesn't look good for the Yes campaign.:)

mystic_trev

Shakethedisease wrote: »

The real campaign starts the minute the Commonwealth Games are over.

Make yer bleedin mind up! Months ago you said the Polls were narrowing!:rotfl:

05-03-2014, 9:41 AM

The No's are in the lead,no-one disputes that. But it's being eroded over time as the referendum draws closer. Time will tell

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64883681&postcount=3594

How many more months / years would you like?

beecher2

mystic_trev wrote: »

Make yer bleedin mind up!

MSPs return this week from their summer recess. Purdah isn't until 21 August. All parties will agree the final stage of the campaign begins this week with Tuesday's debate.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Scots have more disposable income than their peers in almost all the small countries praised by the Nationalists, according to an new analysis that suggests the UK’s size helps keep down prices.

Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have already warned their food prices may increase after independence thanks to the higher costs of operating in Scotland, such as its rural geography, which are currently borne by their customers across the UK.

OECD data shows that the purchasing power of consumers in Scotland is 10 per cent higher than in Ireland, 14 per cent higher than in Sweden and 26 per cent higher than in Finland.

People in Scotland have more disposable income on this measure than every small EU state apart from Austria and Luxembourg.

Prof Bell cited 2008 research showing price competition is tougher in larger markets and concluded that Scotland in the UK is “part of a more comprehensive free trade zone” than the other countries.

“Scotland’s trade with rUK (rest of the UK) is facilitated by the absence of any trade barriers and a shared currency. Competition with producers in rUK may keep prices relatively low in Scotland,” the academic said.

Prof Bell said Norway, the country the separatists most often laud, has high prices even by Scandinavian standards and this may be because its status outside the EU means it is “less open to external competition”.

Although he said it was impossible to say what a separate Scotland’s disposable income would be, he said his report questions “the extent to which a smaller, less integrated, market will generate sufficient competition to keep prices in Scotland comparable to those in the rest of the UK.”

Prof Bell, a former adviser to Holyrood’s finance committee, added that Scotland is in “the middle of the pack” for disposable income in the different parts of the UK.

Gavin Brown, Scottish Tory finance spokesman, said the research showed leaving the UK would present a “very clear risk” to Scots’ disposable wealth.

Jackie Baillie, a Labour MSP, said it highlighted the benefits of pooling and sharing resources across 63 million people instead of five million and Alex Salmond cannot answer “basic questions” on how much more a weekly shop would cost.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11007071/Scots-wealthier-than-Scandinavia-thanks-to-UKs-low-prices.html

Shakethedisease

Oh don't be so gloomy Hamish..

Shell vows to invest billions in North Sea

Friday 1 August 2014
THE chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell has said the company will invest billions of dollars in the North Sea in coming years and signalled it has no major concerns about the prospect of Scotland voting for independence.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/shell-vows-to-invest-billions-in-north-sea.24925660

The Daily Record is softening it's stance considerably.. ( a sniff of the about to turn tail in recent days ? ) but even if not, Record View's like this have been rare the last few years !

THE cost of nuclear weapons cannot be justified, says RECORD VIEW, and any money spent on the Trident system is money wasted....
THERE is no moral case for nuclear weapons. If we ever have to use Trident it means we have already lost. It would spell the end of the world. So the details of what the money wasted on the deadly arsenal on the Clyde could be spent on instead should give every reader cause for thought...

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/record-view-theres-no-argument-3951612

And I've no idea if this has any basis of truth.. but this is all over my twitter/facebook feed today and is being shared far and wide. And Cameron 'did' actually do a 'surprise' wee jaunt up to Shetland last week...

David Cameron arrives for surprise isles visit

DAVID Cameron touched down at Sumburgh Airport for a short visit to the islands this afternoon - becoming the first serving Prime Minister to do so since Margaret Thatcher 34 years ago.

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/8917-david-cameron-arrives-in-shetland-for-short-visit

https://www.facebook.com/OilWorkersForScottishIndependence/photos/a.140324602814868.1073741825.102944969886165/311538402360153/?type=1&theater

A few days ago we were made aware that contractors working for BP were stood down after obtaining the results of the latest test drilling statistics. While the source refused to name the actual test drilling rig, other sources of information point to it being in the Clair field. It was said that the test results “far exceeded expectations”.
We have had other information that contractors have in fact been sent home on full pay just after receiving these results and that they were advised that they would not be recalled until after the referendum. All of this happened just shortly before Prime Minister David Cameron became the first Prime Minister to visit Shetland in 34 years. His visit was shrouded in secrecy and up until he was snapped by a photographer getting off the plane had been denied altogether.

http://yes2014.net/2014/08/01/oil-around-shetland-could-be-more-than-it-appears/

Speculation is growing in the Oil Industry that there was more to the UK Prime Ministers recent secret visit to Shetland than has been released. The Facebook page of YES Highlands and Islands has released the following article that has gone viral on-line....

Published in Oil Industry News on Saturday, 2 August 2014

http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/987/worlds-largest-oil-field-not-found-the-mystery-surrounding-the-prime-ministers-shetland-visit/

No idea if one iota of this is true. But it's certainly sprouting arms and legs in terms of a 'story'.. and Cameron did go all the way up there for a whole 6 minute speech where he announced a savings of a whole £46 per annum in energy bills if we stayed together...

Shakethedisease

mystic_trev wrote: »

Make yer bleedin mind up! Months ago you said the Polls were narrowing!:rotfl:

05-03-2014, 9:41 AM


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64883681&postcount=3594

How many more months / years would you like?

I am flattered. You searched my posts all the way back to March ?

vivatifosi

Apologies if anyone has posted this before, but there is a short course coming up on the pros and cons of Scottish Independence aimed at giving people a better knowledge of the arguments. Starts later this month if anyone is interested:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/indyref

mystic_trev

Shakethedisease wrote: »

I am flattered. You searched my posts all the way back to March ?

It only took a couple of minutes.I had too many to choose from!

beecher2

vivatifosi wrote: »

Apologies if anyone has posted this before, but there is a short course coming up on the pros and cons of Scottish Independence aimed at giving people a better knowledge of the arguments. Starts later this month if anyone is interested:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/indyref

thanks for that link - I keep meaning to check what's on offer there. Going to do some of the WW1 courses.