What New Powers Should we Demand by St Andrews Night?

We need to get together and decide what new powers we should demand for Scotland.

There is an increase in income tax raising power of about 2% scheduled for 2015 I think anyway but currently the Barnett formula, I believe, delivers a favourable amount to Scotland.

• We take more from the UK, partly because of dealing with our increased land area eg with regards to railways etc,  but 
• We also give more to the UK eg oil revenues and net exporter of electricity partly because of our renewables.

So, where does this leave us ? Currently its tax raising powers which are being talked about, eg increasing power over Corporation Tax. If this was reduced then you can encourage businesses to invest in our country by building factories etc. here.

However, what I would like to see is more power also with regards to our own natural resources. We should get the revenue from our natural resources such as the oil and from our seas with regards to fishing and from our wind, waves and sun when it comes to electricity.

Lord Kelvin has been tasked with leading a commission into this and it is to be called the Smith Commission - here is news of the members of the commission so far as at 6th October 2014 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29479442

I will gather in this particular post any useful references and see if it is possible to come to some decision about what powers we should ask for - I will set a deadline of St Andrews Night which is when the political parties have to come up with this as well.

Also, I would like to see the SNP involved in this - there is no point in Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem excluding all that expertise from the discussions.  Come on MSPs - do the Best for Scotland !

References 

More powers could mean more pain says Institute of Government Director Peter Riddell
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/more-powers-more-pain-analyst-1.613278

That was the Week that Was

The post referendum week - already it sounds like the Vow is being broken, we have signed a deal for a warship, a hotel in Edinburgh's sale has gone ahead - it was waiting for a No vote !

And we have benefit freezes and cuts - funnily enough affecting the lower end of income scale - its not affecting the "tax breaks" the term used for "benefits" to the higher end of the income scale.  And we are possibly becoming embroiled in further Middle East issues. That region is in huge turmoil and I hope families there can return to peace and stability but the question is how on earth can that be achieved.  The worldwide forces that sell arms for oil etc. are possibly greater than any government is now capable of dealing with, except perhaps the superpowers.

And then we have indiscretion from our highly educated PM, of the sort that is very surprising.

And now to round it off a series of astonishing comments from the Tory party conference ... astonishing if true and now making me think they may well be aimed to be deliberately antagonistic - could they by chance be aiming to divide Scotland ..... could the "indiscretion" perhaps also be trying to sow the seed of discord ?

We really need to be careful and we need to work together for a better future for Scotland and decide what powers we really want. Any comments about what to focus on ?

To Be or Not to Be .....

Over the year I have swayed from Yes to Dont Know positions most of the time. And also less frequently I was a No. Sometimes these positions could change in the space of a thought. Sometimes I was a Yes for three days in a row or for a few hours. The typical questions for me seemed to be answered. I had satisfactory answers on currency, the EU and in fact for a No vote the EU stance seems more risky.
A personal one for me is the Childcare issue and I dont like the direction being proposed with a Yes.

But overall my personal hope has/had been for Yes.

The Better Together campaign has been dreadful. No positivity. But many people feel it is a "safer" vote and we are already in a better situation in many ways than for example England as we have no University tuition fees etc.  However other questions which concern voters who may vote No include Questions about families stranded across borders. There are many ties binding us between all the countries on this small island. And remember our situation is different from some other mainland Europe countries as we have sea borders on all sides. We are in this together whether we like it or not. Although having visited an island in the North of Scotland this weekend it is very obvious how far it is from Westminster or even Edinburgh - they are different worlds. And Westminster and Edinburgh need to remember this !

If its a No vote we do need to get together after this and make plans for the future. And we need to work with friends and colleagues in England to come up with some sort of Citizens Charter. Maybe have an online "referendum" opinion site where we can all agree on issues such as

• lets not upgrade Trident as its owned by the Americans 
• lets preserve the NHS, lets encourage companies who are exporting,
• lets make sure the profits from oil are either saved for a nest egg or are distributed amongst us.
• Lets reform land so we dont have huge landowners which leads to depopulation of the countryside in Scotland - a peculiarly Scottish issue !

SO FINGERS CROSSED ON THURSDAY - GOOD LUCK TO SCOTLAND !!!

And Maybe I'll change my mind again ............. in fact heard more very good reasons this morning to vote one particular way ...... but I do not like people bullying others into their point of view. Whatever your view yes be passionate, yes answer questions if asked but don't make assumptions about others and don't start trying to convert people one way or the other without being asked - there is nothing more annoying !

And I suppose either way one of the worst results would be if it comes down to just a few voters on either side, especially if they don't get over 50% of the population. It should always have been stipulated that at least 50% of population agreed to such a massive change.  Especially when it is now possible to do a postal vote if you cant make it to the polling station on Thursday.

The Evolution of Voters in the Independence Debate - Extremists not Welcome !

Extremists on either side are not welcome in the Independence Referendum debate. Whichever way the vote goes, they will not help Scotland's future or reputation and with the eyes of the World now on us, this is the time to conduct a civilised debate and to show the world how democracy can work.  And I hope some of the enthusiasm for politics carries on afterwards with people getting more involved and demanding answers from our politicians and business and industry leaders and councils and health services etc.

However to get back to the extremists, in some ways they make me hanker after the typical 30 to 40% turnout type elections where really only those who were interested would make it along to the polling stations!  In places like Australia, voting is compulsory and you must place your mark on the polling card, even if it's to say you are undecided.  However for this major decision for our country, it looks like we are going to have a very high turnout this time and everyone has an opinion. In fact I have detected various voting "species" evolving !

The evolution of Homo pressé pressé - poster at Carnac Museum, France !

Various species of voter are appearing from out of the undergrowth ! I hope you find my descriptions to be light-hearted as opposed to insulting.

We have the "Negatum extremus" - this species will be voting No and has maybe only a few extreme reasons why, often inherited !  This species evolved a long time ago from "Positum extremus" which is usually found on much higher ground and enjoys a colder climate ! The two no longer communicate and are fairly rare.

Then there is the "Negatum  robustus" and "Positum robustus" - these are determined to vote in one way or the other, have possibly been in this state for some time and have perhaps decided based on two or three issues. There may also be an element of herd instinct where they adapt to their environment by surviving in a group and gaining strength and affirmation from that group.

Then there is the large group "Negatum placidus" and "Positum placidus" - these groups have decided, they have debated, discussed and have considered the opposite points of view. But based on some of the arguments they have made their minds up.  They are willing to join discussions and are generally fairly easy going but have decided. They are fairly unlikely to change their groupings and move to another herd at this stage. And in fact 1,000,000 of the "Positum placidus" have signed a pledge !

And then there is the very timid species "Suffragium refusum" - this species has no intention of voting and is not interested and will hide in their house on 18th September .... actually this breed is pretty rare this time and is being actively hunted by the Yes campaign. I say good on the Yes campaign for their efforts to get this elusive species involved !!
(by the way perhaps I am just displaying my ignorance - I did not realise until writing this that the word Suffrage basically meant "to vote" in Latin, hence the suffragettes...who were fighting for not only the right to vote but the right to stand for election and to be represented democratically.)

However the most desirable beast that is hunted is the "Mediatus quiero", that irritating species which just keeps on asking questions !  To which they want answers !! (see previous blog post !)  This species is unwilling to settle in one place and is a more solitary being, often shunned by its peers !

I hope you enjoyed that ! And perhaps found it thought provoking as even if your mind is made up, I thought one of the most useful exercises I have heard was in a radio debate where they ask a Yes and a No politician to come up with an argument for the opposite side.  Because really, we should all at least be able to understand the opposite point of view. We need to understand what it is we have rejected.  And more importantly, after the vote we need to be able to get along together so it is a good idea to have at least considered these opposite points of view. And to keep involved after the vote, whether it is a Yes or No, so that we can all make a difference to our country and demand answers from our politicians.

EU - Did You vote ?

Well we have had some time now to get used to the European election results.
I was away for the weekend in a highland cottage so only managed to pick up the results bit by bit via radio announcements !

The first thing is we have lost an experienced LibDem MEP George Lyon who had served the Scottish farming community well I believe.  And we have gained a UKIP MEP !
I wonder if UKIP expected that. Had their party machine detected their candidate was likely to get in?
The UK are one of only four countries in the EU to vote regionally rather than nationally.
If we had been voting nationally then all the votes for the Greens would have led to more MEPs.
If the vote had been national and seats decided nationally then this would have been the result, which would have better reflected voters intentions :

UK-WIDE
UKIP - 27.49% of vote - actual seats : 24   if voting nationally : 19.2

Labour - 25.4% of vote - got 20 seats but if voting nationally : about 18

Conservative 23.93% - got 19 seats if voting nationally : 17.5

Green - 7.87% - got 3 seats but if voting nationally : 5.5

LibDems - 6.87% - got 1 seat but if voting nationally : 4.8

SNP - 2.46% - got 2 seats but if voting nationally : 1.82

BNP - 1.14% - got 0 seats but if voting nationally would have : 0.8

PC - 0.71% - got 1 seat but if voting nationally : 0.5

I imagine the reason the MEPs are divided into regions is so that they can represent those regions at EU meetings. I wonder if they have been doing this well.... must find out if we can find out more about their voting records etc.

For SCOTLAND alone this seems to be the final results based on numbers voting for each party :

BRITAIN FIRST, 13,639 (1.0%)
BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY, 10,216 (0.8%)
CONSERVATIVE PARTY, 231,330 (17.2%)
LABOUR PARTY, 348,219 (25.9%)
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, 95,319 (7.1%)
NO2EU, 6,418 (0.5%)
SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY, 108,305 (8.0%)
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP), 389,503 (28.9%)
UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP), 140,534 (10.4%)

Rejected papers 2,184 (0.2%)
Total votes cast 1,345,667
Electorate 4,016,735

Turnout 33.5% 

To see a breakdown of your own region have a look at :

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/may/25/eu-election-results-live

Most are fairly predictable eg SNP and Conservative fighting it out in Aberdeenshire, and Labour winning Glasgow. The LibDems are still popular in rural areas and the SNP are popular in the heartlands of Perthshire and Stirling etc.

The turnout was disappointing at around 33% and even in Scotland, where we are all supposed to be enthused about the future of our country, the turnout was 33.5% (Ref :  http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/news/article/1560/scottish_results_of_european_elections_announced)

Edinburgh has reported a turnout of 41.6% -  The final official vote for Scotland will not be declared until Monday lunchtime, when the Western Isles vote is counted. It is not counted on a Sunday for religious reasons. 

This guide from the BBC shows where in the UK people voted for particular parties : 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27576104

and the Guardian had results from across Europe analysed as they came in at :http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/may/25/eu-election-results-live

Brian Taylor's Big Debate

Just back from being in the audience at Brian Taylor's Big Debate, a BBC Radio Scotland Programme !

Some interesting questions and an interesting panel.  And pulling it all together with humour is Brian !  Take the chance to get in the audience if it is ever recording near you.

Issues which came up with regards to Independence included firstly the energy issue. An audience member explained that Scotland's oil is not mostly in foreign ownership, the companies are merely licensed to remove the oil and have to re-apply every seven years and pay a large license.  This sounds like he knows what he is talking about, but does anyone have some references or useful links about this ?  Also on the same point someone mentioned about how much Scottish land is actually in Scottish ownership. Fiona McLeod, SNP MSP said one inspiration that originally took to coming into politics was from the 7:84 theatre company who took their title from the fact that 84% of our land was in only 7% of people's hands.  But generally the fact that we have a variety of sources of energy was mentioned, and also the fact that no energy comes freely, the all need some sort of subsidy or investment, but also Patrick Harvie the Green MSP mentioned how we should also take climate change into account when making energy decisions.

Further issues raised included the Europe question and there was a general feeling in the room that we should be in Europe, whether that was in an Independent Scotland (which, as someone said, might be the safest bet if we want to be in the EU) or from the UK, which is currently a definite Member State of the EU. However it is by no means certain that England wouldn't vote to come out even though Scotland would stay in.  A UKIP audience member then was asked to comment. It was unclear really what his comment was but he was certain he was being censored, even though he was invited to continue his point three times ! And for a party with currently no representation in Scotland this seemed pretty fair !!

You can listen in to the debate here, where the other issues raised included parent's being best educators of young children / childcare and also the Red Road Flats / Commonwealth Games opening ceremony issue: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zdxvs

One Politician Revisits 1984 While Another Proves he is as Slippery as a Salmon !!

Its been a funny old day for politics.

We are still picking over yesterday's budget from George Osborne.  And then yesterday evening we had the Bingo and Beer advert from the Conservatives. I spotted it on Twitter and assumed it was a spoof. I believe it was released by Grant Shapps, but I could be wrong.... The truly insulting thing about it is that they say "Giving hard working people more of what THEY enjoy !", thereby admitting that they are not "One of Us"

but also admitting they are not "Hard Working" !! They had also produced another whole series of infographic style ads illustrating to us plebs and illiterates what the budget could mean for us !

It makes you realise how close we have now come to realising the nightmare scenario that George Orwell warned about in his classic novel 1984 : "Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult…. All that was required of them was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And when they become discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontentment led nowhere, because being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances."

The pension reform seems to be a good move. At least freeing up those with private pensions to have some more freedom over where their money can go rather than having to buy an Annuity. But no doubt the finance firms will already be re-manoeuvring to find other ways to take our money from us !

They have raised the personal tax allowance by £500, this does not help those paid less than that but it does still also help those on very high salaries as all tax payers will benefit from that.  And I also heard on the radio that it will not help those where their benefits will shift to off-set that. Again, if someone can explain this further, can you please email so I can modify this.

And for Scotland there seemed to be some breadcrumbs thrown in the form of some tax benefit for the whisky industry.

But overall, the budget seemed to be not great for the ordinary person and again more advantages for the very well off, with a further advantage for those who can save £15,000 a year !
And unfortunately, Labour appeared to be unable to make any sort of response worthy of a strong opposition.

So that was the Budget 2014 - the year of Beer and Bingo !

It does feel rather like Tony Benn warned about, where the people never get the politics they deserve and rather the two parties of the two party state just transfer power backwards and forwards between them.

And then to Scottish politics !

On the radio this evening I heard Ruth Davison, head of the Scottish Conservative party, asking Alex Salmond to explain why the oil revenue figures were so much less than predicted in the White Paper. He avoided giving a straight answer.
I do wonder if pressure hasn't been put on the oil companies to shift as much profit etc into other financial years etc so that this year's figures would appear worse than usual. But as yet I haven't had time to investigate further.  There is one reference here : http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7124  and more .... http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7131  A lot of reading there !!

Welcome to my Blog - Seeking Answers to the Main Questions in the Scottish Independence debate

The Scottish Independence Debate - to Vote YES or NO....
or help....I DON'T KNOW !!

I have started this blog to try to gather some information to answer various questions which have arisen as part of the Independence debate for Scotland.

I am probably undecided whether to vote Yes or a No - I have swayed into both camps over the last few months.

So, firstly I decided to gather some information. If you can help at all, please email me at mister-ed at hotmail.co.uk .  Either to answer any points or to suggest further questions.

I will have a separate page for each point.

Please follow the blog and join in the discussion !