fourm member

'altruistic politician'

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one!

"Cant Scotland support its self??"

Yes, just let us keep all the duty on drinks distilled in Scotland.

That's not just the whisky, the Cameron Brig distillery in Fife produces 500 bottles of vodka and gin per minute, 3 million cases per month!

Under the Barnett formula Scotland receives £7.5 billion more in public spending than the equivalent population (5 million)in England. Scotland would also lose much of its industrial base if it went independent. In my view, that makes anyone who supports it foolish. I suspect that Salmond fully realises this but uses the prospect of independence as a way of gaining personal power.

In my view, Scotland could only survive as a low wage country after independence. I haven't met one here in the south who would dream of returning now or after independence.

To make what I would consider a more realistic comparison compare Scotland with Norway. Both have similar populations yet since oil was discovered Norway has become one of the richest countries in Europe and Scotland has languished behind most. Norway has also harvested its oil revenues wisely and will have this support for decades to come unlike the UK which has frittered much of them away. Scotland also has one of the highest natural energy supplies in the world with regard to gas and electricity provision which I understand provides more than the country needs. Having sufficient natural resources in energy, power and water is what most countries crave for and Scotland has all of these in Spades.

From an economic point of view thare is little doubt that Scotland would do very well on its own but the argument is not really about that but about whether being a part of the UK is good for Scotland and its people or indeed good for the other parts of the UK as well.

During the Royal wedding for example I absolutely lost count of the number of times the BBC (sorry the EBC) let important people get away with calling the bride the future Queen of England without even making any attempt to corrrect them. The same happened in America when the Queen made her visit as nearly all the UK Embassy staff called her the Queen of England. Maybe the English are trying to tell us something.