Ten questions to consider before voting YES or NO on Scottish independence. 1. There is an element of Braveheart driving some peoples voting intentions. We should remember that their hero William Wallace was escorted to London and handed over to the English by none other than their other hero, Robert the Bruce. 2. The main reason which drove Scotland to join the Act of Union in 1707 was that Scotland was on the edge of bankruptcy. If youre not aware of that you should Google Darien scheme. 3. Alex Salmond is promising to continue with free university education for all Scots. However he is also intent on joining the European Union. Under EU rules, and there is no opt out, anything offered to your own citizens such as this must be offered to all EU state citizens. The cost of this would simply be unaffordable. 4. If Scotland joins the EU, which is unlikely given Spains opposition and it only takes one member state to veto Scotlands application, since 1997 all countries joining the European Union after a short period of time to adjust, must adopt the euro. Again there is no opt out available. Does Scotland seriously want to join a currency where the largest majority of its members are dependent on support, indeed life support in some cases, from its central bank? 5. If Scotland uses the pound and the Bank of England as its central bank, regardless of whether it is on a formal or informal basis, Scotland interest rates would be set by the Bank of England and not set in Scotland. This seems an unusual implementation of the concept of independence. 6. If Scotland enters a formal agreement to use the Bank of England as the central bank, then not just Scotlands interest rates, but all its fiscal policies, i.e. how much it is able to borrow and spend would be determined in a foreign country to which Scotland has no input. We would be giving up the voice we currently have, therefore any idea of independence would not just make us more totally dependent without any say, but in fact leave us totally at the mercy and subject to the wishes of the foreign English Central Bank. 7. Whether the oil lasts 30/50/70 or even 100 years does not matter. Our grandchildren if not our children will not have the benefit of this tax revenue and how then will Scotland manage without either raising taxes, reducing public spending or facing bankruptcy again? 8. The current politicians will not be in office in 100, 70, 50 or possibly even in 30 years time. They will not have to deal with the consequences. It will be interesting for those still alive in 50 years time, to read how history records the actions of those who tried to bring about Scottish independence. 9. Will Scots abroad with Scottish passports feel as secure as we currently do travelling under UK passports, given the likely unaffordability of setting up a global Scottish network of embassies? 10. In recent weeks the pound has fallen by nearly $.10c against the US dollar. Nearly £2 billion has been wiped off the market value of major Scottish companies. One commentator wrote we are seeing this level of impact and they havent even voted yet. Both of these matter hugely as they affect the amount of money pension funds earn on their investments and the dividends they receive from companies, all of which go to pay our pensions. Of course, anything which Impacts on the profits of companies also reduces the amount of tax they would have to pay to the Scottish government thereby reducing the governments income and the amount the government would have available to spend on public services such as health, education, and looking after the elderly, as well as the whole raft of other public services we take for granted. Which public services would you prefer they cut first?
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 23:18:19 +0000
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