INTERESTING statement from Buck House regarding the fury of Lizzie at allegations she favours Brexit (‘Queen is anti-Europe claim to be “vigorously defended”’, The National, March 10).
Quote: “The Queen remains politically neutral as she has for 63 years.”
So her stating openly during the Scottish independence referendum campaign that “she hopes the UK will not be broken up” is being politically neutral? Purring doesn’t count because that was after the result.
Aye right hen!!
By the way, interestingly, this was barely mentioned on BBC News at Six but made the main story on ITV News.
Ian Heggie
Glenrothes
A FRIEND on Twitter summed it up quite well: “Our traditional Anglo-Saxon monarchy was driven out of business because of cheap Norman, Dutch and German monarchs.
The Queen obviously supports #Brexit because there’s a long history of European immigrants coming over and taking her job.”
Andrew Anderson via the national.com
SO it’s true then. The 300-year-old Union has destroyed the Scottish economy and left Scotland as an economic disaster ('GERS: Economy resilient despite oil revenue decline', The National, March 10).
Is that what the “proud Scots” are exulting about on the basis of a low oil price? The oil from which Scotland to date has had not one penny revenue as that all has gone to the UK treasury. Their joy is disgusting.
The GERS figures just released are those of a Scottish economy trapped in a UK economy which has an almost unservicable debt of over £1,600,000,000,000. Hasn’t anyone noticed?
And we’re the ones that are supposed to be too stupid to manage our own finances? We’re just expected to settle for more of the same apparently.
I’m afraid that only daft Scots swallow this guff any more, but then again I have met some who seem to imagine we don’t manufacture, we don’t farm, we don’t build, we don’t work, we don’t provide services, we don’t invent and innovate, we don’t export and we don’t pay taxes like the people of any other country.
Actually if you remove from the figures Scotland’s huge payment to the UK debt, our assumed massive expenditure on defence including Trident and illegal invasions, our billions on “national expenditure” (such as the London sewerage system and the London Underground upgrades) the deficit almost disappears. But why spoil such a good story with the facts?
These figures are irrelevant anyway to what we would do if we were in charge. They are produced to attack Scotland’s ability to go it alone. But we don’t want to be independent to continue running Scotland down, as is happening now.
We want to be independent to do things very differently and run our own country properly.
But, then again, if we are such a burden on the UK finances surely they will let us go?
Dave McEwan Hill
Sandbank, Argyll
AS is customary whenever anything comes out that allegedly undermines the case for Scottish independence, the reaction is always the same. The media and political hierarchy respond like a pack of salivating Pavlovian dogs with a conditioned response.
The response to the latest GERS figures had followed this uniform pattern. A cacophony of hacks do their best Private Frazer impression shouting "we're doomed" as loudly as possible.
GERS was set up by the Tories in 1992 as a propaganda tool in order to undermine the case for devolution. It doesn't tell us about an independent Scotland's finances and as such is as reliable as tea leaves or goat entrails for making future predictions.
Labour are even suggesting that victims of George Osborne's austerity should be rejoicing as the cuts would have been far worse had Scotland voted Yes. That kind of naked political point-scoring is not what someone whose ESA has been cut by £30 per week wants to hear and is why Scottish Labour are in the wilderness.
As per usual the Scottish media ignore the £1.5 trillion debt the UK is in as somehow not relevant. Next week George Osborne is going to deliver another austerity Budget. Ideological austerity is economically illiterate rubbish that couldn't possibly work because "let's cut our way to growth" is a poor strategy at the best of times, but in the wake of a gigantic global financial sector insolvency crisis, it's economic suicidal.
When it became clear that eliminating the budget deficit by 2015 would be completely impossible, the Tories simply re-branded their monumental failure as a success by constantly repeating "we've cut the deficit by a third!
The real threat to Scottish living standards comes from staying in the UK and living under Tory austerity which, has seen the biggest drop in living standards since the 1870s.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee
IT’S that time of year again when the GERS figures hit the headlines and are inevitably used to attack the case for Scottish independence. A budget deficit twice that of the UK is seen as a means to oppose independence, but such figures tell us little about the opportunities that independence presents, as this is within the straitjacket of the current Union.
It is, in essence, quite simply impossible to use these numbers in reference to the fortunes of an independent Scotland as the whole point of Scottish independence is to gain control of the fiscal levers so that they can stimulate the economy, whether there is oil or no oil.
Even after the Smith Commission powers are fully implemented, 71 per cent of taxes raised in Scotland will be controlled in Westminster, so we will still be strongly tied to the whims of Westminster. There will be no control over Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax or National Insurance, for example. And our ability to grow our population – and our tax base – is limited by the UK Government too.
Scotland is rich in human talent and natural resources but what we lack are the economic levers to maximise growth in our economy, and invest according to our own priorities. With independence, the Scottish Government could design policies that are tailored to Scotland’s – not the UK Government’s – circumstances. It is still very much a bright horizon towards which we should walk.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh
IN all the gleeful comments by Holyrood opposition parties and other anti-independence figures, crowing over the small tax take attributed to Scotland from oil, one small fact is deliberately ignored.
If we had already been independent, our tax take would not have been a mere £1.4 billion – a 1/10th share – but the whole 10/10ths, ie £14bn.
What a difference that would have made to the so-called “black hole”! Are they still thrilled by their scare stories?
P Davidson
Falkirk
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here