Scottish Election 6 weeks away.

You think software development isn't "coining it"? Or bio tech? Or food and drink?

Fin Tech GVA is £15bn. Aerospace and Space £4bn. Most people don't even know we have a space industry. Technology and Engineering £6bn. Life Sciences £2.4bn.

Compare all that to Oil & Gas £9.2 bn

And the investment funding for those? If they were so lucrative why aren't they coining it right now?

Oh, and Fin Tech.
and textiles.

But not handouts.

Food and drink industries.
Bio tech.
Forestry.
Education income from overseas sales.
Space industries.
Software development.
Renewables.
Travel and Tourism.

For a while.

Those in safe government jobs will be fine. For a whole. The already squeezed middle classes will suffer and the poor will be worst off of all.
As ever - where will the money come from to provide all the various benefits as well as just plain running the country?

The GERS figures show what they Scottish economy is like under the Union. It usually gives rise to comments along the lines of "look how awful things are (in the Union)". Then are used to try to prove why we shouldn't leave the Union. Often followed by "Oil is running out you know".

Instead of giving up baby boxes, or free prescriptions, we could give up things we don't want but still have to pay for. Trident maybe?

Or maybe pay more tax for the good of our population... like a proper grown up country like Norway or Sweden?

Independence won't be all fairy dust and rainbows, but yes it will be worth it. I'm sure all those poor people who don't know what they are voting for will cope...

You are right seamstress. A few old established SNP MPs have defected to join him too which says something - I'm not sure quite what though!

Lets face it the new party is all about "him" isn't it?

Salmond is able to game the regional system because the method of proportional representation that is used to determine the MSPs from the votes cast for each party penalises a party which has done well in the constituencies.

Therefore, if enough SNP voters follow the Salmond playbook and vote for Alba in the regional lists, then a SNP/Alba coalition will end up with more MSPs than the SNP would achieve if its supporters voted SNP in both the constituencies and the regional lists. In effect, assuming the SNP does well in the constituencies, a vote for Alba in the regional lists is worth more than a vote for the SNP, which is exactly what Salmond is counting on.

Perhaps a less damaging deal could be negotiated.
I guess it depends how reasonable our neighbours are.

Does that make it a good thing? Two wrongs don't make a right.

Well,the U.K. went ahead with a very economically damaging policy in Brexit for emotional reasons didn’t they?

It's very depressing that people just don't seem to grasp that Cathymac.
I was lucky enough to be at a private Q&A with Andrew Marr last week. He thinks that if we did vote for independence politicians, journalists, civil servants, NHS staff and lawyers would do fine. The people who would lose out and be hit hardest by the necessary economic restrictions would be the very people who just vote emotionally and who are currently our poorest. Also, businesses would just decamp across the border as continuity of trade would be so much more straightforward. Capital flight would follow so there would be far fewer people to pay the necessarily greatly increased taxes.
Cutting off Scottish noses to spite their faces springs to mind.

I posted too soon yesterday and did not have time to come back to finish my post . The figures I gave are approximately total tax .. not just income tax
But we have to look at our outgoings
2020... public spending per person in Scotland is 17% above the U.k. average
England is 3 % below the U.K average
Scotland’s deficit has risen to nearly £2000 per person to become nearly 3 times larger than the UK as a whole
If we become independent we will need to address these issues what will we give up ? Free baby boxes ? Free prescriptions ? Free bus passes ? Or pay more tax and already we have higher tax than England on some bands . The Institute for Fiscal studies says Scotland would face an extra 10 years of austerity which would leave Scotland’s weak public finances facing continued cost cutting. We have to be honest and admit that independence comes with a huge cost . But for some people it might seem worth it .

Actually only the second part of your post is true. She puts herself forward at every opportunity but makes awful faces and sneers when asked questions she doesn't like. She appears to be very forgetful if asked awkward questions and withholds govt documents that contain uncomfortable truths. That only communicates that she's got things to hide.
This new election should concentrate minds however closed they currently might seem.

True Varian

Nicola Sturgeon is a brilliant communicator but her record in government is far from brilliant

I have much respect for Nicola Sturgeon as a politician but I do not agree with her party or politics. She has guided the country so well through the pandemic, faced all her recent challenges with such good grace and maturity. The SNP won't get my vote but I wish her well.

I would like so say it is unbelievable the size of one mans ego, but sadly for this man it is very, very believable. God help us.

Smooth? Doesn't sound to me like a compliment.

Willie Rennie is very smooth Aveline

I like Willie Rennie and the Lib Dems. I also like Anas Sarwar and the Labour Party and George Galloway's 'All for Unity party but with such a proliferation of other new small parties goodness knows what the best ones to vote for are. If people like Salmond or Galloway get elected the next session at Holyrood will be very exciting.
Except I don't want exciting. I want a smooth return to normal and a sound economic outlook underpinning all aspects of a better Scotland in the UK. Looks like that's just a dream with that lot battling it out.

n the next Scottish Parliament, Liberal Democrats will Put Recovery First. That means cutting waits for mental health, delivering a bounce back plan for education, more jobs and action on the climate.

So if you want to #PutRecoveryFirst then back the Scottish Liberal Democrats

twitter.com/willie_rennie/status/1375437841254248451?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

It's all going to be very confusing