Boss you and I are on opposite sides in this referendum but we have respected each other throughout and I'm sure will continue to do so whatever the outcome. This I am glad to say is how the majority of this campaign has been fought. Anyway what crap were you spouting about Redknapp?
Not saying that at all. I assume you are jumping on the last sentence, but overall I wouldn't cut spending, just focus it more on wealth creation.
So you want a larger Navy presence around Scotland, but less spending on armed forces, Spurf? Is this another one of the things that'll be sorted out later, after the campaign is over?
Interesting point on Norway and one which they put a lot of praise on for improving the standard of life is the extortionate cost of alcohol. It's so expensive they travel across to Sweden to buy it where lager is capped at 3.5%. Can't see Scotland following the entire Scandinavian model
"The better way is the Keynesian way - i.e. stimulate the ecomony so that there is growth and higher tax revenues. Cut expenditure where it is wasteful, but too fast is counter productive." The best way is to run a balanced (fiscal) budget (over an economic cycle) . True Labour did not build up a budget surplus and seriously inflated the state sector during the boom period. The question was always how bad will the next recession (NOTE to Trousers Brown : the economic cycle ALWAYS has a recession) be, and what surplus had been accrued.
The figures are there PNP we will not be paying for trident, I'll find the link. Here it is, Scotland can save a 1 billion a year on defence and have its own armed forces. :http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/12-defence-facts-that-the-no-campaign-dont-want-you-to-know/
"Scotland.s share of the deficit will be easily dealt with because of the positive balance of payments siuation" How does a Scottish balance of payments DEFICIT of ~13bn, help you deal with a new national debt assumed to be anywhere between 80 and 180 bn ??
Spurf you should be concerned, Clegg, Cameron and Ed are on their way to Scotland with the Queen being urged to make a passionate plea.
If the queen doth speak, let her will be done! You'd be surprised how influential she can be, these days she gives us extra bank holidays!
Who is Michael Gray (the author) and what experience and qualifications does he possess? Why should I trust his claims?
You don't have to trust his claims PNP you can go to Westminster gov sites and check all the figures. They are all there he has done the research and presented the figures.
Is the "link" the same 30 odd min blurb you claimed was going to tell me why "economists" claim currency union is more in UKminus' interests than Scotlands' (I am still waiting for you to give the point at which this is discussed) ??
I decided to check one claim at random and picked number 3: Westminster has cut defence jobs. The claim says that the cuts in Scotland between 2000 and 2010, a very strange cut-off point in itself, were much higher than the rest of the union. It fails to mention that Scotland still has a 50% higher proportion of armed personnel than everyone else, which would explain the need for higher cuts. Rather a dishonest omission, wouldn't you say?
I am off out. no time atm RDBD. The Director of the Adam Smith Institute one of the most bodies in the world of economics talked about it. I will try and find it for you another day, but I am sure you will be able to google it without too much bother.
The last paragraph is at the heart of the matter, for me. There is far too much that Salmond either can't explain, won't explain, or has fudged over by obfuscation, aggressiveness, or the old "trust me, it'll be taken care of later" When I worked in New York, there was an old joke that went,"How do we say "**** you" in New York?" The answer...."trust me"
National pride, sense of identity, global brand. Regardless of your (contestable) assertions that rUK would be fiscally less secure without Scotland, not every decision has to make economic sense to still be the right decision. There are other factors, such as the above, which are far more important to the people of the UK than a few billion pounds here and there, whichever side of the border those pounds end up falling in the event of independence. It's incredibly shallow to suggest that the British people's only desire to keep Scotland is based on financial considerations.
