Scottish Independence....?

#1

I can’t see that anyone has raised this before but I have been buried in stuff recently so might have missed it. I honestly don’t want to start anything which is going to get people political! (I asked London friends on Facebook to join in the petition against the 3rd runway at LHR and boy did I get some interesting responses, mostly drawn up on political lines. So I want to avoid that!)

I was just musing last night on the Referendum to be held and was wondering about the make up of the four million who are getting a vote. Presumably all those in Scotland on the electoral roll (including the 16-17 year olds) which would include non-Scots living in Scotland? So it would be anyone living in Scotland, rather than on nationality lines?

Then I wondered, since SVA had started out as the Scottish Virtual Assistants and gone UK-wide, if a ‘yes’ vote would have any implications for all of us? We do all want to stay, you know. Since we are a very friendly and international bunch, I figured not but then I remembered the SVA Annual Survey for UK VAs - presumably it would have to be for UK and Scottish VAs?! I couldn’t think of anything else though.

#2

I missed this one Janet! Very interesting question!

I must admit I hadn’t really thought about it in terms of SVA… And that’s sort of where I sit personally on this one overall. I don’t believe anyone has done enough research on what is a “Scottish” business and what is an “English” business, certainly no one has asked me as a business owner. So how can they possibly know the numbers involved in order to budget? It’s a bit of sticking your finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing… We’re voting on an idea, not a reality.

In advertising/PR terms, I tend to think the Yes campaign is trouncing the Better Together lot. Law 1: Never get caught in a lie.

Personally, I think the Scottish government’s ability to look after us as a people is better - we still get free prescriptions, free university fees and free business support, I’m not quite sure what the Westminster government do with their money, but it’s certainly not spending it on ordinary people. From looking at the figures of public sector employees though we’d have to do some major overhauls cutting dead weight and possibly a lot more local management and private-public partnerships to deliver services - not quite sure where I sit on that one. For me personally, given the free childcare they are promising, I would be WAY better off financially.

Most of these details will get worked out post-referendum. My understanding is that it’s everyone living in Scotland who gets a vote. If it did come to independence, I suspect that there wouldn’t be much difference for the first 5 years or so anyway… suspect we’d just need to become open to UK & Scotland VAs!!! The major fear I would have is import/export taxes - that would completely poleaxe me!!!

#3

I’m not fully conversant with what has been said regarding the change for independence, but having just done Macroeconomics at Uni, it has been an eye opener towards these things.

I don’t have a say either way but am aware that questions do need to be asked regarding long term financing. At the moment Scotland’s offshore industry will no doubt help to support the economy, but with the move towards more sustainable energy and the depletion of the reserves, what happens regarding any loss of income? Private industry will avoid taxes all the way and so if parts of the industry are sold off, where is the replacement income coming from when foreign investors reduce the amount of tax/profit/investment?

Europe are cutting right back on the support available for countries who flounder, Scotland will struggle to meet new criteria for inclusion in the EU Monetary System and so will be unable to adopt the Euro, leaving countries like England to bail them out … which will come with conditions no doubt or be untenable. And that’s without discussing Tariffs that may be introduced.

In the short term, I can see why there is an attraction, but with such a small population and small GDP, financing really needs to be addressed in all eventualities, not just success!