Thursday 4 September 2014

Misconceptions about the benefits of Scottish Independence

Six  misconceptions that have not been addressed by the Scottish First Minister: 

Trident - One person said to me that independence would get rid of Trident. If there is a Yes vote it might be just moved further south and then you still have Trident within these small islands!  




Scotland has lion's share of money now! - Some people have said they want to increase spending on  health, education and welfare – the Scottish government has had pretty generous spending freedom over these areas for the last 10 years. In fact under the ‘Barnett’ system of allocating monies to parts of the UK,  Scotland has been getting nearly 20% (per head of population) more than England to spend in these areas. The 20% bonus that Scotland has been benefitting from for 10 years will be lost if the Yes Vote get their way! How will they make up the difference? 

Democratic Representation - Some say they don't have representation in the UK Parliament, - well actually there are 59 MPs sitting for Scotland. 

Opening up divisions  - The vote on the 18th Sept will now become a divisive issue within Scotland and between Scotland and England. It won't just end after the vote on the 18th is over. If the vote comes out in favour of no independence those who want independence will continue to agitate and possibly in a more extreme way. We have already seen the Yes campaign being somewhat less than civil at meetings being held by the No campaign. As for the the people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, they haven't been alerted to the more serious issues of Scottish independence and the costs that they will have to bear for separating the two countries. If there is a yes vote in Scotland all of the financial problems caused by the splitting of two economies will start to appear and then the people in the rest of the UK will begin to realise the cost to them and this will be another divisive issue.  

Crazy Voting System - This vote is being decided on a simple majority – that means to say if 50.01% decide on a yes then the whole of Scotland goes down the road of independence even though nearly 50% didn't want it. Either side are not going to be happy if they are 'pipped at the post'. This type of referendum ought to be on a two thirds majority so that one can undeniably say what the overwhelming majority of people want. 


Oil Money - What would happen if Mr Alex Salmond's calculations on oil revenue are proven to be wrong. It will be too late then and then the 2.45 million working people in Scotland will have to pick up the tab!


I have written my views up on my blog, see: 


Do we need more national boundaries dividing up this little island?