Salmond "We can take Scotland in two weeks"

[JustinTime]

The scare stories are going to increase every day up until next Thursday. All of them will be speculative guess work. I hope the Scots can see through this and cut the cord from this horrible union.

I've said this much previously, but it bares repeating: the Union isn't the problem, the quality of those we elect is.
Independence will not solve this fundamental issue no matter how much Naters may wish it so.

[Old Greg]

There will be a CU, its a bluff. I WOULD bet my house on that.

Do you think London wants to supervise Scottish fiscal affairs, approving and vetoing budgets?

[Unix]

You actually think there is coincidence there?

Can someone explain sarcasm to this idiot?

[Old Greg]

Can someone explain sarcasm to this idiot?

Not successfully.

[SueEllen]

Do you think London wants to supervise Scottish fiscal affairs, approving and vetoing budgets?

They keep presuming we do............

[sirja]

They keep presuming we do............

But that would mean their whole case for independence is 'Give us independence so that we can be a free nation with all our fiscal policies set in London' Strange one that

[Old Greg]

They keep presuming we do............

No. I think they keep pretending that that won't be a necessary component of currency union. It's perfectly packaged:

Independence-lite for the DevoMax supporter.

Except it is no more on the ballot paper that DevoMax. They need to either take their chances with full independence or take their chances that Westminster won't screw them over after a No vote. A difficult choice.

[Old Greg]

But that would mean their whole case for independence is 'Give us independence so that we can be a free nation with all our fiscal policies set in London' Strange one that

No, it is not 'all our fiscal policies' - that's an absurd exaggeration. But there would be rules and oversight, and there in ZERO appetite for in in EWNI - always getting the blame for clipping iScotland's wings. The only possible way I can see it might happen would be to prevent a serious economic collapse in iScotland, and I don't think that is at all on the cards. They'll do OK with the scots pound (although anyone who voted YES under false pretences may experience a degree of buyer's remorse).

[sirja]

Some of today's updates.

A caller tells John Swinney he has lost £7,000 in his Standard Life fund since the weekend.

John Swinney says there are "all sorts of different factors" that affect these funds.
"What I am interested in is making sure that we create stability for companies like Standard Life
and that is why I am arguing for the currency union."

The caller to BBC Radio Scotland hits back, saying that for working men to lose £7,000 in a weekend is "diabolical"


FT and Scotsman Endorese Better Together
Today's FT editorial reads: "Empires and nation states are not immune to break-up, but there is little precedent for
a hitherto stable modern democracy splitting apart in peacetime,
in the middle of an economic recovery. This is not the time for recrimination. For the moment, it is enough for
this newspaper to declare that the path of separation is a fool’s errand, one fraught with danger and uncertainty."

The Scotsman reads: "Does the Union cast a dark shadow over us? It does not seem that way, Scotland is a
prosperous, peaceful, successful country. We are confident in our national identity with our own distinctive society.
We have our history and heritage.

"So, with the choices before us, the conclusion is that we are better together, that Scotland’s best interests lie not
in creating division but in continuing in the Union and using its strengths to help us continue in our success.



Sir Charlie Mayfield, the Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership said it was "most probable that most retailers" would hike prices for their goods in an independent Scotland.

He said costs to transport and sell products were higher in parts of Scotland but that these differences are currently off-set by the business in the rest of the UK.

He also said that while John Lewis would work "extremely hard" to keep the partnership going in an independent Scotland he would "regret" anything that would create a "significant divergence" between the two countries.

He said: "There are economic consequences to a yes vote not just in uncertainly but some of the turmoil we are hearing about. And it is also the case that it does cost more money to trade more money in parts of Scotland and therefore those high costs in the case of the yes vote are more likely to be passed on, and a number of retailers have said that.

"On the day after the referendum the shops are going to open on time nothing will change, a great difficulty everyone has is the uncertainties that surround it.

"It does currently cost for various reasons – regulation, transport costs etc, it does cost more money to serve parts of Scotland but most retailers don’t run differ prices they absorb that in the totality.

"If you just go forward several years –the sort of divergence of different things and particularly currency creates the likelihood, not the certainty that cost would be higher. And when you are talking about two different countries I think it is most probable that most retailers will start pricing differently and my view would be that that would lead to some higher prices."

[Old Greg]

Paddy Power are giving 10/3 odds for a YES vote, but 4/1 odds for independent Scotland as an EU member by end of 2025.