Of course there are many smaller issues which independance will raise. None of them should divert the Scottish people from the fact that we have an oportunity to stand om our own two feet and not be subjected to living off the scraps of the westminister table which our lords and masters deem fit to throw our way. We as a people have an oportunity to show we are more than capable of running our OWN country.

Alan,

Unlike you I don't claim to understand everything about this so am struggling to see how you reach a decision at this time.
Can you please explain to me why you think we are better off without the rest of the UK BUT better off within the EU? Economists are forecasting that the UK will soon be the financial powerhouse of Europe with the rest of the EU including Germany in a descending spiral. Seems to me that we would be better off the other way round, in the UK and out the EU. What do you think?

DJ

Courtesy Scotsman

by DAVID MADDOX

A UK minister has said the Scottish Government could exempt everyone in Scotland from the bedroom tax for less than the cost of introducing free prescription charges.

Scotland Office minister David Mundell said the issue, which the UK government calls the spare room subsidy, was the same as childcare, in that it was being used to bolster the SNP’s independence argument, but could be dealt with now.

He told The Scotsman: “The spare room subsidy is not an independence issue, the Scottish Government has the power to completely deal with it now for remarkably little if it is such a priority.

“It is the same as the childcare debate. It is a question of choices on where they want to spend their money.”

Mr Mundell said despite being able to deal with such issues, SNP ministers had decided to make “different spending choices”.

His attack comes as the Scottish Government published a paper explaining why it believes its childcare policy as outlined in the white paper can be introduced only with independence, because under devolution, 88 per cent of the £700 million of revenue generated from getting an extra 104,000 women in the workforce would go to the Exchequer in London.

In a broadcast interview, First Minister Alex Salmond said the document was “a really important paper” and keeping the extra revenue would be “major advance” for Scotland.

On the lost 88 per cent of the estimated £700m revenue, he added: “I don’t believe anybody seriously expects George Osborne to hand it back to Scotland to fund a childcare programme.”

However, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie insisted Scotland was “lagging behind” on childcare with the rest of the UK and said money was already available to introduce it through the Barnett Formula. He added: “This is not a dividing line in the independence debate.”

His comments reflected how some UK ministers think the Scottish Government is trying to move the agenda on to issues which Mr Salmond’s adminstration already has the powers under devolution to tackle now.

Mr Mundell said the Scottish Government had the power to exempt everyone in Scotland who is liable to pay bedroom tax for £40m to £50m – less than the price of scrapping prescription charges, which cost £57m in its first year, 2011-12.

A senior Downing Street source added: “The fact they are turning to issues they have power over already is a sign that the SNP are losing the debate on independence.”

The UK government has given Scotland about £16.5m to help mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax, while the Scottish Government has so far added another £20m.

But Scottish housing minister Margaret Burgess said: “The Tories truly know no shame. Not content with inflicting the bedroom tax on struggling Scottish families, they now say mitigating all of its impact should be paid for out of the Scottish budget – but conveniently fail to state what other area of spending should be cut.

“It’s also unclear how – without having the powers over welfare – the Scottish Parliament can do as Mr Mundell claims. This claim is nonsensical.

“The Scottish Government is already doing all it can to mitigate the worst impact, including the provision of up to £40m to local authorities between this year and next year for discretionary housing payments.”

Academic warns of tuition fees risk after Yes vote

The Scottish Government can only guarantee its policy on university tuition fees will remain in place if the country stays in the UK, an academic has claimed.

Professor Susan Shaw, former vice-principal of Strathclyde University, spoke out as the campaign group Academics Together challenged First Minister Alex Salmond to publish any legal advice he had received on the issue.

Today the group – part of the pro-UK Better Together campaign – publishes a report that will warn plans to continue to impose tuition fees on students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland after independence “would run into significant problems with European law”.

It will claim: “If Scotland leaves the UK and joins the EU as a separate state, the rest of the UK will become like any other European Union country.

“As a result, Scotland will be legally obliged to provide university education free to students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Even if the number of students from elsewhere in the UK stayed at the same level as today, this would represent a loss of income to Scottish universities of £150 million.”

Current EU rules prohibit states from discriminating on the grounds of nationality.

Read the continuing adventures of Jim Murphy, Cybernat detector!!!

Clearly you'd never get anyone from Eastwood Labour hiding behind a pseudonym and being abusive online, would you? Where's that thread about NMCC....?

Full story in the News section

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: Alex Salmond is determined to stand his ground on plans for a shared currency union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK, insisting that a “backlash” is building against plans to block it.

Last night senior figures in the Scottish National Party said the First Minister had hardened his stance on the issue and would be refusing to publicly consider alternatives to the key policy laid out in the Scottish Government’s White Paper on independence.

Earlier both Salmond and his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, appeared to suggest there were viable alternatives to a shared currency after the Chancellor George Osborne, backed by the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, rejected the idea.

Yesterday SNP figures said they believed the move by the pro-UK parties would backfire. They claimed Westminster would be forced into a climbdown after a Yes vote amid concerns over the impact on business and a backlash among Scots.


But with opponents presenting a united front on such a crucial part of the SNP’s independence strategy, there are demands from both sides of the debate for Salmond to come up with a Plan B. Last night an SNP parliamentarian told Scotland on Sunday: “Alex’s line won’t hold. We should have sorted an alternative proposal months ago.”

Yesterday the First Minister sent a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron complaining of “bullying behaviour” by Westminster ministers over the independence plans.

The Scottish Government initially appeared to be caught on the back foot after all three pro-union parties declared they would block a formal currency union. Both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon initially dropped hints that they were ready to look at alternatives like simply using the pound informally, but their position has hardened up over the weekend.

One of the most dramatic weeks in the referendum campaign so far saw Osborne take the Yes camp by surprise as he made clear in a speech in Edinburgh that the UK would not enter the SNP’s favoured monetary union arrangement - allowing Scotland to keep the pound with the Bank of England remaining as Scotland’s lender of last resort.

I was listening to Jose Manuel Barroso's statement this morning. "yes", he said. "Scotland could join the EU", but, he also mentioned that in order to join all 26 countries had to agree. He mentioned that, as Spain, has a problem with Catalonia seeking to go independent would they vote for Scotland to become a member of the EU.