Salmond and Sturgeon Want the English Fish for More Fat Subsidies

elantan

Think Nicky broke the tinternet ... so many have been trying to watch her speech today the Parliament TV couldnt cope with the traffic ...

CLAPTON

Shakethedisease wrote: »

For the purposes of the referendum campaign it was all about lessening the perception of impact on day to day lives. The No campaign and the media would have had a bigger field day with the 'risks' of a new currency or anything else currency wise imo.

For the purposes of economics/currency markets etc.. again it was all about lessening the impact for both iScotland and rUK and not spooking markets with an overnight shock/separation. A currency union was never meant to be a permanent thing. Just a transitionary phase until the countries needs fully diverged.

Alternatively, one could say the uncle alex just lied through his teeth, as he knew that having no attractive currency policy would lose 'YES' voters.

He knows there was/is no possibility that a currency union could possibly happen and so he very cleverly never said what he actually meant by 'currency union, simply adding lots of bluster about 'our pound' and anyway be would default on the Scottish share of national debt.
This is of course why all the acolytes on the board are all unable to explain what a 'currency union' actually is but all, of course hold the faith about the holy man.

Shakethedisease

Rinoa wrote: »

For someone who claims the oil price isn't that important, you do keep a very watchful eye on it.

Nah, was Douglas Fraser ( BBC Scotland ) who tweeted the link earlier. So it just 'popped up' there in my feed. Thought you'd want to know though..

Rinoa

Shakethedisease wrote: »

Nah, was Douglas Fraser ( BBC Scotland ) who tweeted the link earlier. So it just 'popped up' there in my feed. Thought you'd want to know though..

Presumably he also tweeted every time the price fell too. But I guess that was when the price wasn't important.

Shakethedisease

Chadsman wrote: »

Until the credit crunch and the resulting problems in the Eurozone it was SNP policy for iScotland to join the Euro- are you now saying that policy was wrong?

I don't know if this has passed you by somewhere along the way. But in general political parties tend to change and evolve on policy platforms. So a policy that might have been in place 5, 15 or 70 years ago, isn't written in stone forever more. It doesn't make anyone 'right' or 'wrong'. It's just what happens. If all political parties never change policy, women wouldn't have the vote, and gay relationships would still be illegal. It's how politics works on specific issues.

As for not meeting the stated criteria... not meeting criteria never stopped Greece.
Which of the criteria do you think iScotland would not have satisfied?

This one :-

Exchange rate stability: Applicant countries should not have devalued the central rate of their euro pegged currency during the previous two years, and for the same period the currency stability shall be deemed to have been stable without "severe tensions". As a third requirement, participation in the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM / ERM II) under the European Monetary System (EMS) for two consecutive years is expected,[12] though according to the Commission "exchange rate stability during a period of non-participation before entering ERM II can be taken into account."[13]......As of 2014, all 29 times the subcriteria for ERM-membership length was found complied with by the Commission, these cases had the particular observation in common, that the state had surpassed minimum two full years of ERM-membership either ahead of the "final approval date

Scotland, as in independent country, would have to show stabilility for up to two years in order to join, using it's own currency. Now, those 'two years' weren't going to magically appear immediately after independence were they ? So 'just joining the Euro' wasn't an option. Greece must've 'passed' somehow. There's more about that in the wikipedia article if you're interested.

You said ...I have tried to understand the SNP policy over the currency but when I contacted them by email, facebook and twitter no one ever replied. So if you are correct in that I have the wrong impression why not put me right and spell out exactly what that policy is, why it is that and why it changed?

Try an article or two ( from right of centre this time) ..

http://www.wealthynation.org/uk-mulling-capital-controls/

and from Swinney/Salmond in 2012...

Addressing a business audience, Mr Swinney said a sterling zone would provide businesses in Scotland and the rest of the UK with the "certainty and stability for trade, investment and growth".
He added: "As the Bank of England takes on the role of regulator for UK financial services - a very sensible and long overdue position - retaining the pound will preserve the highly integrated UK financial services market.




When asked what the point of independence would be if the SNP favoured keeping the pound and subscribe to London-based financial regulation, the spokesman for Mr Salmond said there was a "fundamental distinction" between monetary policy and fiscal policy.
He explained: "What fiscal policy provides you with is the levers of economic power in order to boost economic growth and increase employment in Scotland.
"No Westminster government has control over interest rates and has not done so since 1997, so, in that sense, it would be exactly the same as for successive Westminster governments."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18411198

This is all very old water under the bridge now though isn't it.

Rinoa

I notice the Electoral Commission has asked Cameron to change the options on the EU question to Remain or Stay.

YES/NO is apparently too biased towards YES. I wonder if the SNP will propose an unbiased question at the next referendum.

Shakethedisease

Rinoa wrote: »

Presumably he also tweeted every time the price fell too. But I guess that was when the price wasn't important.

Why yes, he did. He's BBC Scotland's business and economy editor. It's his job. ( and he's no fan of the SNP either ) .

Shakethedisease

Rinoa wrote: »

I notice the Electoral Commission has asked Cameron to change the options on the EU question to Remain or Stay.

YES/NO is apparently too biased towards YES. I wonder if the SNP will propose an unbiased question at the next referendum.

You think there will be another referendum ? Wow.. I thought the SNP had blown it's chance according to most posters here...

Shakethedisease

elantan wrote: »

Think Nicky broke the tinternet ... so many have been trying to watch her speech today the Parliament TV couldnt cope with the traffic ...

Yes, I just followed on Twitter.

Dianne Abbott is loving it though.. Hamish here ?..not so much I think..

The Scottish Government is to introduce rent control powers to limit steep rises in the cost of housing, it has announced.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today released the SNP’s programme for government for the party’s final year before the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.


The programme contains a Private Tenancies Bill which includes measures to “provide more predictable rents and protection for tenants against excessive rent increases, including the ability to introduce rent controls for rent pressure areas”.
New model tenancies will also increase security of tenure for tenants and prevent landlords from asking tenants to leave simply because a fixed-term contract has ended.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-scottish-government-is-going-to-introduce-rent-controls-10481469.html

Chadsman

Shakethedisease wrote: »

I don't know if this has passed you by somewhere along the way. But in general political parties tend to change and evolve on policy platforms. So a policy that might have been in place 5, 15 or 70 years ago, isn't written in stone forever more. It doesn't make anyone 'right' or 'wrong'. It's just what happens. If all political parties never change policy, women wouldn't have the vote, and gay relationships would still be illegal. It's how politics works on specific issues.

So in a nutshell currency union with the Eurozone bad; currency union with rUK good and rUK gets no say in the matter.

This one :-

Scotland, as in independent country, would have to show stabilility for up to two years in order to join, using it's own currency. Now, those 'two years' weren't going to magically appear immediately after independence were they ? So 'just joining the Euro' wasn't an option. Greece must've 'passed' somehow. There's more about that in the wikipedia article if you're interested.

If iScotland wanted to join the Euro from the first day of independence there would have been a Euro-fudge. Had anyone at the time suggested it could not happen SNP supporters would have been queuing up to say how wrong they are.
Weird what events can do- now SNP supporters are queuing up to U-turn saying how bad currency union with the Eurozone is.

Try an article or two ( from right of centre this time) ..
http://www.wealthynation.org/uk-mulling-capital-controls/
and from Swinney/Salmond in 2012...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18411198
This is all very old water under the bridge now though isn't it.

The first article appears to be arguing for Sterlingisation but still calling it currency union. Do you accept that different countries economies always diverge because their governments have different policies on all sorts of different matters a la Eurozone economies? The article also implies monetary policy is only about interest rates- it is much more than that.

In the second article John Swinney says he wants a sterling zone but it sounds more like currency union without saying what the SNP is offering rUK in return. It says 'Ministers also said... an independent Scotland could have a seat on its [BoE] Monetary Policy Committee' but again does not mention what iScotland would offer rUK in return.
Just supposing rUK did agree to this but circumstances came about where the monetary policy needs of iScotland were the opposite to those of rUK, whose needs are the committee going to follow? The Scottish member would be very easily out voted.

If Scotland should ever vote for independence I will wish you the very best of luck and bon voyage but it would be political suicide for any PM to agree to a currency union.

But you are at least the first person who has ever tried to explain SNP policy and for that I thank you.
:beer: