[Murray Magic]

It is arguably unequal, but in your favor. Scotland receives £1800 per person more in public spending than the rest of the uk, subsidized by the south of England.

Unfortunately that appears to be incorrect. The economic consequences of independence make the worst case brexit projections look like a cakewalk.

How many times has the myth that England subsidises Scotland  been de-bunked - we more than pay our way and contribute.  If you feel this is not the case then why are you so keen that we don't go our own way?

[Fiverings]

Unfortunately that appears to be incorrect. The economic consequences of independence make the worst case brexit projections look like a cakewalk.

  And there is the nub. rUK probably stands to lose out much more than Scotland  if we become independent.  Which is the real reason for Yoon panic. Broad shoulders my arse. Wake up time for the decrepit and dysfunctional British state is long gone. Time to build a new constitution.

[boogers]

  And there is the nub. rUK probably stands to lose out much more than Scotland  if we become independent.  Which is the real reason for Yoon panic. Broad shoulders my arse. Wake up time for the decrepit and dysfunctional British state is long gone. Time to build a new constitution.

Ahahaahha. That's some crazy shite. How is rUK going to lose out much more?

[Elly]

^ Excellent post.  Who wants to be drawn into divisive shit with the all 'That's mine, not yours, you can't have it etc ad nauseam.  It's about time the whole world started working together to make a difference - not focusing on own agendas.  It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach that the UK continues to fight amongst themselves with no thought of a bigger picture.  Ignorance at its best.

[Yamor]

I sometimes wonder, fiverings, do you actually read anything anything outside what indy supporters say? You do realise all those things are only possible because of the Union? Have you even looked at GERS?

[boogers]

Would you care to substantiate your “rUK stands to lose out more” claim?

[Fiverings]

Hey, calm down.
Why is it rubbish? Without talking historically what could have been, nor hypothetically what could be in, say, 50 years time, how do you think Scotland could afford what they currently spend if it were independent?

  It's rubbish because Scotland  is as good or better off resource-wise than most other independent European nations of similar size. Anyone who denies that is deluded. So we should be more than capable of paying our way and matching any investment programme.  Plus we get to set our own priorities.

[Fiverings]

Who's been talking about the resources available to Scotland?

Scotland definitely is capable of paying it's way, and becoming a successful independent country. That doesn't however mean there wouldn't have to be extremely harsh spending cuts in the short and medium term.

GERS shows that Scotland does do almost as well as rUK on the revenue side. I think on the latest figures only 3 English regions do better. It's on the spending side where the problem (mostly) lies.
To give a stupid analogy: if someone were to give a successful country a few extra billion a year, and the country got used to that extra spending, then however successful the country is, suddenly removing that spending is going to be painful, and will require more taxes or less spending.

And this would definitely last for many many years. Generations. I think someone made a calculation that at the higher rate of growth hoped for by the indy white paper, we're talking around 100 years till they'd reach parity with rUK.

With regard to priorities, can you tell me one or two an independent Scotland would possibly look to pursue?

    Resources equals capital equals collateral.  And spending is exactly where an independent Scotland could take very different priorities to the UK. We do not need to be contributing to post-imperial vanity and inappropriate defence investment for example.  We do need to review the allocation of funding for social care.  There is no doubt the UK's geopolitical standing would take a massive but long overdue correction, but I really think that is necessary for democracy to move forward in these islands.