Stewaris I’m happy to debate you on facts, it makes a nice change from some of the dogma and ridicule that appears here sometimes. This is going to be a long post, buckle up everyone.
1 My issue with GERS is not in the way its calculated, but how its used. As I said I’m not an economist so I won’t comment on the metric, other than to say that the headline figures that are quoted in the MSM would be different if we had an independent economy. Might be better, might be worse, but it would be different.
2 I asked someone to explain it and you have, thank you.
3 I was making the point that voting for independence doesn’t mean voting SNP. There are Labour voters who would like independence, Green voters, Lib Dems and everything else. The discussion has evolved into whether a Scottish economy is viable. I worked in manufacturing industry for most of my career so I understand how that has been affected, and clearly the oil and gas sector is in decline. However the Scottish economy doesn’t consist of whisky and oil alone. We have to build a broad base economy whether we are independent or not. Some examples:
a. Software industries like those currently flourishing in Tayside; gaming, medical software, app development, IT services
b. Advanced manufacturing such as companies in the space sector; Gore, AAC Clyde Space, STAR-Dundee
c. Renewables
d. Education
e. Creative industries; theatre, arts, festivals – all of which have unfortunately taken a huge hit this year with the pandemic
f. Food and drink, especially the luxury end
g. Tourism and Travel
If we stay in the Union and don’t do this, we become a net drain on the economy of the Union and have to go cap in hand for support from Westminster. I don’t relish that, I’d rather exist on our own talents. Sadly, there have been comments earlier in this thread that show that some people think we don’t have any talents for running our own country.
4 There were many mistakes made at the start of this pandemic, by all governments. NS has apologised for the care home situation, along with anything else that went wrong (Reported in the Dundee Courier, August 20th – The Courier is not known for being supportive of NS in general) When people bring up the care homes, I have to ask, do you really think she wanted people to die? Do you not think that this will be on her conscience for the rest of her life?
5 Common ground – great ?
6 Scotland has a progressive tax system. People earning less than about £27k pay less tax here than in the rest of the UK (reference fullfact.org, an independent fact checking site.) If you earn more than that you pay more, on a sliding scale. We have a more generous benefits system – free prescriptions, personal care for the elderly, nursery places, no university fees. So the “rich” aren’t being victimised, the better off pay more tax to benefit the less well off. I support that approach and have more faith that my pension will be safe in this system than in less progressive ones, such as that south of the border.