Scottish Election 6 weeks away.

Even ISP voters, Alegrias1? What do you have against the ISP?

Nothing in particular FarNorth it was a turn of phrase. If I have offended anyone I apologise. I suppose I was thinking that votes for the ISP might split the vote for the SNP.

I do respect your opinion Alegrias although it surprises me. I've just read that 51% of Scots are in receipt of of some form of benefit but only 40% pay taxes at all.
I have no problem paying taxes if I have confidence in the government spending them. SNP govt? That's a no.

I understand that Aveline and I have no issue with people criticising the policies of any political party, or even making fun of them if they deserve it.

But telling voters for a particular party that they don't really understand what's going on is not acceptable. In my view.

About 2.5 million people pay income tax in Scotland, so about 46% I make it. 47% of people pay income tax across the whole UK so I'm not sure there's much of a story there. But even if there was, I'm happy to pay my tax for what we get as a society. You may not be, and that's OK too, we all have a choice in how we want the government to be run.

www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/factsheet/2018/12/scottish-income-tax-2019-2020/documents/analytical-note-on-impacts-on-income-levels-and-equality/analytical-note-on-impacts-on-income-levels-and-equality/govscot%3Adocument/Income%2BTax%2B-%2BDistributional%2BAnalysis%2B-%2BAnalytical%2BNote%2B-%2BFinal.pdf

The Alba party. Well, quelle surprise.

Thank you Lucca

Well that will makes things interesting! Two independence parties standing in the Scottish elections.

Alegrias1

The Alba party. Well, quelle surprise.

The egoist has landed!

Aveline and Alegrias . I think probably the income received from income tax is interesting .
Scottish Government collected approximately £65 billion
Uk Government collected approximately £820 billion.

I'm not being obtuse Cathymac but £65 billion is about 8% of £820 billion and Scotland has about 8% of the UK population?

Niobe

Well that will makes things interesting! Two independence parties standing in the Scottish elections.

Five - SNO, ISP, Green Party, Scottish Socialists and now Alba. Maybe more, if anyone knows of any?

God help Scotland ?

ISP is standing on the list only and I believe AFI and Alba are also. I don't know about others.
I hope not too many of them are on the same lists.

It's all going to be very confusing

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

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.

Willie Rennie is very smooth Aveline

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

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.

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.

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

True Varian

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.

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 .

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.