The Scottish Government

#101

Question if the (now £5 billion from North Sea oil?) £4 billion you claimed on your first post, comes directly to us then where do we get the other £30 billion?

At least I thought we needed only another £26 Billion. Oil now less than $87 a barrel!

I will avoid casting aspersions on your wealth of knowledge, you've managed that yourself.

I have re-read the SNP manifesto with great delight and would like someone to clarify how services that are part of the UKIPO already in the Innovation and Enterprise budget fit with the great idea of having a Scottish Patent Office, aligned to Scottish Law and Scottish Companies. Are Civil servants now able to overlook Manifesto promises and continue to tie us with English approaches. The SNP need to make sure that the manifesto is followed not the Civil servants ideas.

I'm rather disappointed with some of the contributions to this particular thread so far. To my observation there appears to be a lot of posturing, party political point scoring, anti-English grievance politics, mud slinging and shouting at each other and somewhat poor and little listening, laying out of facts and a reasoned exchange of opinions from a rather small number of contributors. To me there also seems to be a lot of wishful and optimistic thinking, quotes of "if other small countries can do it then so can we" and disagreements over past history.

This is the one topic where we need better and independently verified facts and statistics, realistic projections for different scenarios, cojent arguments and more detail on the economics and fiscal aspects in the situations of both greater devolution and independence.
Of all the discussions I have had with friends and relatives, the greatest debate, uncertainty and anxiety is over the economics and fiscal details of greater devolution and independence. People want to know more about what will happen to revenues, taxes, state benefits, pensions, defense, cost and size of the public sector, sustainability and many others. Unless more detail is provided and more fora and opportunities for proper discussion, the people of Scotland will not be properly and fully engaged in and equipped to make the decisions in a forthcoming referendum. Without these it will descend into voting decisions based on inadequate information, party politics, skewed press reporting, traditional voting loyalties, anti-English/UK grievance based nationalism, and less than well considered opinions and feelings.

I and we deserve better from the debate and from these threads if we are to make individual and collective mature decisions that will be the biggest that any people have ever madfe in Scotland - those that will affect the future of Scotland and its people for ever.

Jim, in one of your contributions you mentioned holding more public meetings where more people could be engaged in undertaking the debate face to face. I would very much value such an opportunity to participate since I beleive this is a far better way to get people to understand the issues and clarify understanding some of these more complex concepts.

Answer to FIFE (wed 16 JAN)

£30 billion minus just £4billion mmmm we contribute much more . For a start we pay (scots that is ) tax,income,fuel,value added and national insurance and so on so forth. Then there is North sea gas,Hydro power wind power any power all sent south in the form of the National grid !!! or pipe line.Tourism fisheries and farming all can go towards the bill never mind the huge amount of large and small Business's. THE ROYAL BANK IS prime example of a Business doing well here !!! Your Question was ??????????

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#105 RORY

GDP according to internet sources was £17,200 per capita in 2006. We get £6,000 per capita from Westminster, which excludes pensions, unemployment, income support etc.

How many people do you know who earn £17,200 per year? Mr Swinney has an ambition that the minimum earnings will be £10,000 under an SNP regime.

The new rate of £5.60 gives a minimum wage of £11,600 / annum for a 40 hour week at present!

If you want to convince me that the way to go is independence then you have to put real numbers on the items you have quoted, and the losses we can expect when England takes on the mantle of defence for its own sake, and the costs we will incur if we wish to join NATO, and the consequences if we do not.

You cannot put a price on a feel good factor, but you do need assurance that you can feed yourself and your family and provide home and warmth for them, vague estimates will do nothing to persuade those who need accurate answers.

Can anyone tell me if there is a petition (apparently there is) AGAINST the introduction of the local income tax, to replace the council tax. I for one would sign it, as it's all very well to say it's means tested and those who can't afford the council tax can afford the local income tax, but if I am not mistaken a couple making the average UK annual wage, would actually be paying more. In my case, we'd be paying double what we currently pay. I am fed up not getting discounts or being penalised, for actually applying myself and getting a good job, although I am by no means wealthy. Show me a party who will provide incentives to those who actually want to work and they will get my vote.

(107 fife) I agree the goverment of scotland should be answering your questions not i. Fiscal expert im not. But 22 billion wasted on the likes of trident needs answering.I truly believe that scotland governed from london is not working and has not for a long time.(104) Andy liphook the debate i think and aree with you, requires input from msp's.The scottish hating the English is always brought up in these debates.This is done so as deride any relevant contribution by unbias scots.Scots like myself just would like to be heard and taken notice off.Not run down by press and bias before we even get a democratic debate and hearing. COME ON MSP'S ANSWER YOUR PEOPLE BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION??

109. RORY mackinnon
"COME ON MSP'S ANSWER YOUR PEOPLE BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION??"

Couldn't agree more. It's very bad-mannered of Ministers (First or Second) to start these blogs - and not even have the decency to acknowledge that they bother to read the postings.

Without that acknowledgement, this "National Conversation" is an empty gesture.

(from a poster who supports Independence, and wants genuinely Representative and Open, Democratic Government).