Tag: Scotland

Anyone who thinks that the Smith Commission proposals on further devolution for Scotland will defuse the remaining issues lives in a political bubble distant from the interests of ordinary voters.

There is only one way in which the Scottish government’s new freedom to vary income tax can be exercised, and that is to raise it. That was not what the supporters of more devolution had in mind when they asked for additional powers.

The close independence vote, together with the hasty promises that preceded it, have rendered unsustainable the quiet compromises that had defused the Scottish issue in British politics.

Scotland has prospered as part of a United Kingdom and could prosper as an independent country. Which course is more appropriate is a question of identity and values, not economics. And whatever the outcome of the referendum, sensible people will work together to ensure that outcome produces the best possible economic result.

While most of the debate surrounding Scottish independence has been about economic matters, the economic arguments are far from conclusive either way. The real questions concern the sort of country Scots and Scotland’s residents want. The nation’s political future will drive the economics.

If Scotland introduces its own currency the first minister should declare that all contracts made in sterling – or dollars – will continue to be payable in that currency.

The Scottish referendum is unlikely to produce a majority for independence. But in the absence of a positive assertion of what it means to be British, the United Kingdom is sleepwalking towards separation.

John asks what should Scottish business really think about the forthcoming independence referendum.

In today’s world of global business and finance, people make agreements in whatever currency they like and under whatever legal system they choose.

Whatever Mr Salmond may say, there has to be a plan B.