AlfieMoon

Stumbled across this interesting read yesterday... The thesis is from 20 years ago but still clear and relevant today and goes through the decline that we have experienced in this country and how the political and economic choices of Government have failed the people of this country. Presented from a non-political perspective - it comes across as powerful read and highlights why that any concept of the booming UK economy that we constantly hear of is completely flawed. Deindustrialisation: Britain and the Global Economy Given the international character and orientation of the British capitalist class, one can expect the relative neglect of the domestic economy, no matter how large a priority it may be for British people and workers. There is a need, then, to distinguish between national economies and national capitals. What constitutes success for the one does not necessarily imply success with respect to the other. http://www.academia.edu/705331/Deindustrialisation_-_Britain_and_the_Global_Economy

In this current age of a strained NHS, welfare cuts and food banks - should we be paying almost £18m a year for Methadone to be issued? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31943109 What are the better alternatives?

I think the reality is that as much as a pro-SNP, pro-indy person may have a strong dislike of Alexander, a casual observer or someone not of the previously described persuasion is unlikely to be suitably offended by him. Furthermore, the alternative option of a 20 year old student who has been easily smeared in the media is not the most appealing. I can't help think that the SNP have made a bit of an error in my old home town with this one.

Haha!! I'm guessing I was about to word that sentence differently and got distracted!

Wings is a useful and invaluable resource for the indy cause and as such will come under scrutiny and criticism from many quarters. With it essentially being a one-man band, he is susceptible to being discredited by opponents (far more so than a daily newspaper or the BBC for example IMO) and as such would have to manage this dynamic accordingly. When he engages in tit-for-tat abuse on social media, is overly or unnecessarily cutting, or goes off on football rantings and antagonistic criticism of the old firm (for example), he damages his overall cause and devalues the professionalism which he is clearly capable of judging by his excellent journalism and investigative skills. Furthermore, I don't think it's helpful for people to jump to an instant defence of anything pro-indy as a default without considering the situation and everyone should be open to constructive criticism as should Wings. As for quotas - I think it is a very flawed concept and as others have said - where does it start and where does it stop? I think people need to be judged fairly, based on their ability. Women need to be given the opportunity to get back into the work place based on supportive maternity terms and childcare support to allow things to progress as naturally as possible. However, the simple fact of the matter is that overall - a large women will naturally take time out of their career and change focus as a result of having a family - that's no bad thing and is just the reality of life! If you start to artificially orchestrate a situation simply to force through some false level of equality then I think that's likely to create a number of problem scenarios where we're not getting the best candidates for the roles.

Cheers Baz!

I can only see the GERS figures getting worse to be honest unless there is another massive oil boom fuelled by particularly high prices. From that perspective - we may well have missed the boat with the economic argument. We've received a higher %age of public spending as a whole (for the 2nd year running I think?), our deficit / fiscal balance is worse, As much as the Scottish economy grows and recovers - I simply can't see how it can match the growth of London/England when we are operating with one hand tied behind our backs and all the focus on London centralisation of our UK economy. It's like having a house of an equivalent value in an exclusive area of Glasgow/Edinburgh vs London. The value of the London asset is going to grow at a higher rate over the same period of time and that is the same with the economy. Especially with oil prices down and then things like the potential for Longannet to be closed which will further reduce Scottish GDP, and look likely to increase energy dependence on England - all in an energy system which is distinctly disadvantageous to Scotland (or any location for that matter, the further away from London you get) while the national grid remains as a private interest organisation. I could never see any positive impact of a No vote back in September as I feared that we'd continue to be asset stripped until there is nothing less. Then you find yourself in a situation where the strong economic performance of Scotland in the last 30 years seems like ancient history to London and Middle England and with them already grudging higher public spending levels in Scotland then where does that leave the family of nations when we genuinely don't contribute our share? That's the point at which the Empire grants/pushes their colonies to independence - when there's nothing left.

Visiting Cuba in May and looking to see if there's any useful tips from anyone that's been before. I've only booked flights and looking to stay in Havana so could do with some info on booking a Casa Particular (B& as we're not wanting to stay in any of the tourist resorts or big hotels. Will be basing ourselves in Havana but open to ideas of where else to go as we're there for 8 nights although I've heard that there's plenty to do in and around Havana itself. Any advice is welcome!

The £1600 handout is absolutely stark-raving bonkers. Not only is it not costed, but it's simply mental. So, for kids that do not have the desire/ambition to go into further education, an apprenticeship or simply go into work - Murphy wants to chuck £1600 quid at them to for them to spend on driving lessons, training or (the best laugh in my opinion) setting up their own business!! How many 17/18 year olds set up their own bloody business?? As for them to gain further training - I think if you have an idea of what you want to do at that age then this would more often than not be accessible to gain such training through further education. That brings us to driving lessons - a lovely gift from uncle Jim. I'm sure that the absolute wasters of society will be grateful for the handout for that said gift without having to lift a finger! Most concerning is that this whole policy can effectively work as an incentive to draw kids away from further education if you dangle a carrot of £1600 in front of them. How about incentivising them with that if they stay in work for a period of 2 years (or something to that effect) that then they get a handout. To promote a work ethic and a reward at the end of it?

Yeah.... I see that Barca and Bilbao have both said that they want it in Madrid which is what I'm hoping for as I'm there for that night on 30 May. Cheers - I'll need to check Viagogo and look around once the venue is confirmed.

Does anyone have any experience of getting tickets for this match before??? I would imagine that it would be near impossible other than on the black market and can't imagine there would be any public sale but just thought I'd check.

There's a genuine question over the balance required in centralisation/distribution of power in things such as the council tax and the consolidation of police and fire services. I would question whether I would have confidence in councils to have the same drive and discipline to manage budgets to the same extent if they simply had the get out of being able to continually raise and further raise council taxes during times of austerity. At the end of the day - the easy fall back is always the taxpayer and that would simply have been the case again without the terms imposed by ScotGov for the council tax freeze.

I especially like the bit where the writer shows his complete lack of undestanding of the meaning of Home Rule. Did Darling, Brown and Alexander honestly think they could unilaterally rewrite the UK constitution, and offer “Scottish Home Rule”, funded via the Barnett Formula, without any English reaction at all? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11296689/England-wont-put-up-with-Scotlands-behaviour-for-long.html

The 2nd top tier of 10% on the new proposed system for Scotland seems a bit of an extreme squeeze and too much of a jump from the 2% lower tier. As for the Barnett block grant being reduced by two-thirds - I can't see how we'll come out of this well. With limited control over taxation, limited control over spending, limited control over welfare - it all seems a recipe for disaster. We previously had a block grant based on English public spending - now that will be reduced by two-thirds but should effectively have the same pool of money (to begin with at least) - but limited borrowing powers (at worse rates) and don't have the powers to create a competitive enough business environment to grow the tax revenues. I can't see us coming out of any of this well.

Is there a breakdown of which taxes are reserved and which are devolved and their corresponding percentages?

It would be interesting to hear or see what studies/research had went into the 3% reduction figure that was intended and what impact on job creation and attraction of foreign investment would be anticipated. From memory - the current standing is that Income Tax generates approximately 5x what Corporation Tax does so on the face of it, this is not a bad move as long as the jobs (preferably higher skilled) can be created.

You seem to have quite a narrowed view of SMB's. Do you not think that relief can be a positive in terms of job protection and creation through expansion? I don't think it's fair to say that money is simply to be trousered by business owners and shareholders. Considering those SMB's create jobs, income tax, VAT, business rates, corporation tax and then have knock-on tax benefits of what they would spend on any number of things from rent, accountants, banking, printers/advertising, vehicles, fuel, bin services, manufacturing, shop/office/bar/cafe fits. You even need to pay a tax to play a CD in a cafe/bar/shop for god's sake!! I don't think it's unreasonable to have some money aside to support entrepreneurs who should be encouraged to grow their businesses and in turn grow our economy.

Will be interesting to see the evolution of this. I can't see anyone other than pro-indy supporters picking this up off the shelves but I suppose papers are then passed on around the workplace, etc. so reaches beyond the initial buyer. To gain wider popularity would obviously have to be a work in progress as it will be mainly preaching to the converted which isn't enough. The distinct advantage that the Sunday Herald had was that it already had a broad-based readership. This situation for a start-up paper represents a challenge but has to be a positive step in any case.

Bad move. He's not strong enough. Would've thought it could have made sense for Keith Brown or Humza Yousaf to get the DFM.

In simple terms - the state wins again. They make it an unofficial vote which means that No voters don't turn out as they have nothing at stake. Undoubtedly some would be Yes voters don't bother either and you then have a poor turnout in what is essentially an unofficial referendum and the Yes vote doesn't get over 50% of the electorate and it devalues the whole thing.

Can someone explain to a simpleton (me) what a correction is exactly in this case? Adjustment of the dollar rate which then has knock-on impact on the stock markets? Or am I not getting that right?

Seems very far fetched.

As it would seem that Murphy seems to be the fav, how exactly does that work? Does he need to step down from Westminster 2015 elections and effectively have a year out to build towards Holyrood 2016?

I'm a bit torn in this one between Brown and Hosie. Hosie is stronger in his debating skills and getting his points rammed home very well but I think his style and demeanor may be off-putting to some people who aren't already on his side. I've seen him on tv looking quite dismissive of the opposition and tutting, rolling the eyes kind of things which combined with his somewhat combative style may put people off. In short - he may suffer in the same way that Salmond did in this day and age of personality politics - even though he's a very good politician.

As others have said - it won't happen. I don't know if people missed the 'Command Paper' from the Westminster party but the responses to most areas explored for devolution have copy and paste jobs for each section for each party such as this nonsense which can be summarised by saying that the Tories want to give some powers away (but probably take more money back with the other hand and simultaneously grab power at Westminster via English votes circus), Lib Dems support home rule (similar to SNP I guess) but don't really have much punching power, and Labour - oh dearest Labour ..... well they don't really support much at all - well, we could raise the top rate of income tax of course should we be faced with a Westminster government that isn't doing such - which will really assist in making us more competitive in attracting and retaining talent and thereby business. Corporation Tax Current Situation Corporation Tax policy – including rates, allowances and reliefs – is currently set by the UK Government and is not devolved. The Prime Minister has publicly committed to deciding by Autumn Statement 2014 whether the power to set the Corporation Tax rate in Northern Ireland should be devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Published proposals Conservative commission: ‘We do not recommend the devolution to the Scottish Parliament of Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’) or Inheritance Tax (‘IHT’). Each of these taxes should remain the responsibility of the United Kingdom’. Liberal Democrat commission: ‘Corporation Tax should continue to be operated and collected at the UK level, but the proceeds raised in Scotland should be assigned to the Scottish Parliament’. Labour commission: ‘We concluded that, for a variety of good reasons, VAT, national insurance contributions, corporation tax, alcohol, tobacco and fuel duties, climate change levy, insurance premium tax, vehicle excise duty, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and tax on oil receipts should remain reserved’. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/363236/Command_paper.pdf