Scottish devolution when voted on at the end of the last century was claimed to be the way to allow Scotland to perform better than England in public services and economic growth when they could run their own services and boost their tax revenues.
I have no intention of arguing we should seek to reverse a democratic decision taken in a referendum, and many Scots may well have voted for more Scottish decision taking however it worked out. ItĀ nonetheless sheds an interesting light on policies towards higher spending and higher taxes to see what Scotland has bought by choosing both. It is a perfect experiment compared to England over the last 23 years.
Scotland has imposed a higher 21% intermediate Income tax rate, a higher higher rate at 42% and a higher Top rate at 47% compared to the rest of the UK at 20%, 40% and 45%. This has helped Scotland to afford much higher public spending per head, though the bulk is paid for by a bigger grant from UK taxes. Scotland last year spent Ā£13,881 per head on public services Ā compared to Ā£11, 549 in England.
If we take the two key services of health and education we see little advantage from these higher sums. Scottish pupils on average are well behind English ones in maths and science judged by international secondary school comparativeĀ assessment, and similar in English. The NHS in Scotland has more long waits to get NHS treatments than England and has a bigger percentage on waiting lists.
Meanwhile there has been no boost to growth from higher spending and taxes. Since 2000, the first full year of the Scottish Parliament, Scottish GDP has advanced 86.6% in cash terms compared to 106.2% for the UK as a whole.
Scottish voters need to ask some tough questions of their government. Why arenāt public services better for all the extra money? Why is economic growth lagging so badly? It also warns England that a further hike in taxes and public spending would not deliver better results on this evidence.
October 11, 2023
Indeed the vast tax increases, even those slightly lower ones in England have been a total disaster for the economy, as anyone sensible would have predicted of them. This on top of the net zero lunacy and the huge errors on Covid – lockdowns, net harm vaccines, test and traceā¦
October 11, 2023
LL, adding to this, given the recent upward trends in tax rates across the UK it is an indicator of where the rest of us will be in future years.
Government control of the economy doesn’t work. High tax rates impoverish a nation. How many examples do we need?
October 11, 2023
JR, why no mention of EVEL? You speak for England. Your party/Govt. JR. English votes for English laws promised by Cameron, crumbs given and reneged on and cancelled by Gove!!
Parliament currently gone rogue, again, on Brexit!! Uni party led on both sides by remainers!
October 12, 2023
What makes you think John speaks for England Hope? Think he gave up on that one a long time ago.
October 11, 2023
JR,
Your party and govt went further and gave away N.Ireland to the EU without the consent or mandate from any person in this country. Your party has overthrown the democratic will of the people by Sunakās EU Windsor sell out so EU rules and laws applies to all our country ie ā¬34 million fine two weeks ago by an EU court for failing EU rules- we voted leave! This is our taxes! Sunak increased inter connectors to EU who has increased its LNG by 35% over the last two years alone! Your party has linked giving away our fishing waters to EU energy policy to tie us further into lockstep with EU so the decision in 2025 is a straight jacket to its energy policy!
So the question is which is better devolution or vassal state as your party MPs called it?
October 11, 2023
+1
Still, what goes around, comes around and the Treacherous Tories look likely to be severely punished for failing/refusing to deliver LEAVE.
October 11, 2023
Trouble is they will be replaced by an even more treacherous Labour Party intent on taking us back fully into the claws of the EU. Its a lose lose situation from treacherous MPs from all parties, vote Tory you lose, vote Labour you lose. The only party with any intention of delivering a true Brexit is REFORM.
October 12, 2023
Then vote Reform UK, even if it scares the pants off the Liblabcons it will be worth it! JoolSB.
October 11, 2023
Donna,
Who in their right mind has and increases EU inter connectors who in turn buys and increases its LNG y 35% in last two years from Russia, UK allegedly imposing sanctions, while giving away billions of our taxes to Ukraine! We are paying for both sides of the war- does any cabinet member have the brains to even see the stupidity of their actions? The Russia bad propaganda is demolished by Sunakās govtā stupidity!! Oh, while they demand net zero at huge cost to nation, business, jobs and residents!! They have totally lost leave of their senses.
October 12, 2023
Hope, why are the majority of our politicians totally incompetent when using our money, especially when they throw it away to foreign countries. We have service veterans living on the streets because of mental strain in war and they should be given all the help they need!
Charity begins at home- not foreign countries. Thats their problem ! Not ours!
October 11, 2023
Devolution has been and continues to be a disaster. Both Scotland and Wales turning into medieval ffifedoms.
Wales now has rats before people, that just about sums it up.
October 11, 2023
+1
October 11, 2023
Totally! And, in some cases it is being used, by narrow minded Nationalists to separate the Union! Divide and Conquer!
But, the trouble now, is it’s all too late! Union, gone! Brexit, gone! Freedoms, gone! Free markets, gone!
Eco/Marxist Rule!
What next, Free Speech, Freedoms under the Law?
A way out could be to dilute the Devolved body’s, so Wales has two Administrations (North, South), Scotland has Three, and NI one, all guiding Competitiveness and Integration along the main Economic corridors! Wales M4, M62, for example! Baring this in mind; the Social structure of the UK has become very rigid, and needs Reforms making it flexible, and profitable, to take on work all over the country, again! The EU Customs Union, with it’s Universal Credit, destroyed it!
I would guess Devolution is the real reason why we have not had Supply-side Reforms and De-regulations, we need!
As well as the Blob refusing to diverge!
October 12, 2023
++++++ Agreed!RDM
October 11, 2023
LABOUR is planning to water down Rishi Sunakās āmaths to 18ā pledge to focus on numeracy in primary schools.
Sound sensible, if they have not grasped things by 16 then forcing them to do it from 16-18 when they do not want to is going to be rather pointless. Then again Sunak is clearly not too hot at maths and stats. himself, otherwise he would not have done all the inflationary QE, the pointless lockdowns, would have realised that the vaccines have done far more harm than good, would not have pushed eat out to help out, would have Killed HS2 years back, would have controlled immigration numbersā¦
October 11, 2023
Good morning.
Especially when you consider the English do not have as much control over their own country and even capital city (EU Citizens can still vote in our local elections – why ?) thanks to the Conservative supported Mayoral system which nobody in England wanted. Where is the democracy in that ?
Which was always the Labour, now Conservative, Socialist plan. Socialism can only work when it has a host, it (Socialism) being the parasite, to feed it.
Just think of how much better off we in England would be without the likes of the others bleeding us dry rather that how badly they are whilst still bleeding the English dry. Worth a thought !
October 11, 2023
England does not determine all its laws and regs the EU does!! Parliament implements what it is told to do by EU, WHO and UN! EU Level playing fields means no say over the laws and regs on environment etc. No say just do what we are told! Sunak and his Labour friends want to give away our military. Sunak gives EU ā¬2.4 billion to EU Horizon to promote EU growth and competition projects, including weapons, and the EU decides if it wants to allocate some of our taxes back!! Oh, and you are not allowed to leave!
October 11, 2023
Sunak plans to cede more of our sovereignty to the WHO. If he doesn’t send his letter to opt out of the new rules by December then we are on the hook for the WHO to control vaccinations and lockdowns, plus we have to give them vast amounts of our money to level up the health of the rest of the world. Why aren’t politicians debating this? The British people do not want this. When they have given up control they will be wringing their hands about being unable to stop draconian policies being implemented on us. Stop this madness now.
October 11, 2023
High government expenditure (which is invariably mainly wasted) always lead to low growth, low investment levels, hard workers and the rich leaving. Be it in Scotland or England. But Sunak and Hunt both seem to love it. They even make it even worse with their net zero lunacy and expensive intermittent energy agenda.
October 11, 2023
Yes, your point here is clear, let’s compare English per cap spending 20 year ago with today and look at value for money from public services in a similar fashion. As you suggest, it seems we are now spending a whole lot more but our public services are now worse, and in cases not fit for purpose. Why does our pretend conservative government want to tax and spend more which, from experience, is wasted? PCP – you’ve got to MANAGE the cash better!
October 11, 2023
They manage to tip lots of taxpayers into the pockets of mates, party donors, test and trace people, net harm vaccines pushers, duff railway constructor consultants and similar quite well.
October 12, 2023
Got in one LL
October 11, 2023
@Peter Wood – because they are pretend Conservative Government that were to frightened to let the Conservative Party choose its leadership, of course that would have upset the ‘Blob’ and cause them to fight democracy evne more than they do now. Of for the quiet life until we can pack our bags and leave the Country also comes to mind – the rest of you can stew and pay in real terms for our mess
October 11, 2023
Why would JR not advocate another vote it is the EU way and remainer way. Starmer, Cooper, Benn and Lammy wanted to overturn the democratic will of the country to remain in EU so did most of JRās party who colluded/worked with them to achieve that aim. They will not even leave the ECRH!
October 11, 2023
Because maybe he does not want another Brexit vote which might be doctored?
One of the reasons we wanted to leave the EU is to be shot of the way they do things and get back to the way we do things.
October 11, 2023
Better he tell Sunak who is reversing and tying our country to EU in everything he does. You might have noticed all prominent leave Ministers got rid of and replaced with ardent remainers. Coincidence? I think not.
October 11, 2023
Lynne, another vote relating to devolution not Brexit.
October 11, 2023
Itās the principle. If you reject a referendum decision on one issue then you have committed to rejecting referendum decisions and are only deciding which to run again – the ones that you want to reverse.
You might take note that all the āreversesā of Brexit are undertaken unilaterally, they dare not seek permission because they KNOW they will lose. Thatās good. Now we need to find a means of stopping this unilateral action. It can be done by upgrading OUR Parliament. We do that by returning the people WE want in Parliament NOT the people that the political parties want – they choose people they can ācontrolā.
October 11, 2023
From your first comment of the day ā¦
From your second comment of the day ā¦
Give it a rest. Have a day off. Put the phone away and go fishing.
October 11, 2023
No, Lifelogic should keep calling out the nonsense of net zero. I’m glad he is so passionate and well-informed on so many subjects. If the rest of the British population voiced their concerns then we might see a change in policies but most are too immersed in their reality TV and are oblivious to what is coming.
October 11, 2023
Quite right Christine
Very sensible comments from LL and why should he stop commenting, itās one of the most important issues facing us
October 12, 2023
Agreed **** totally.
October 11, 2023
I will do as soon as they take my advice ditch the whole net zero con trick. A new report again confirms that C02 concentrations follow temperature changes (and not the reverse as claimed) and another shows that 40% of the fairly trivial temperature change over the past 150 years are caused by urban heat island effects and the thermometer locations not āgreenhouse gasesā.
The whole thing is essentially a bogus con trick.
October 11, 2023
May we have references other than ānewā reports?
usatoday.com 10/01/2023 āFact check: Global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels are correlated, contrary to claimā.
carbonbrief.com 02/07/2020 āExplainer: How the rise and fall of CO2 levels influence the ice agesā.
As for the urban heat island effect, it is indeed a true effect but
1/ it certainly affects the people in urban areas, so it is worth reporting it;
2/ the number of actual synoptic stations affected by this urban effect is small relative to the total number of synoptic stations,
and 3/ since the 1980s synoptic stations measurements only account for a decreasing proportion of the data used twice a day in meteorological analyses.
metlink.org (from the Royal Met Soc) Urban heat islands.
rmets.org 01/10/2017 Urban heat islands.
and for the UK metoffice.gov.uk āSynoptic and climate stationsā
Link.springer.com 29/09/2021 āClimate change over UK cities: The urban influence on extreme temperatures in the UK climate projectionsā, W.J. Keat et al.
To pretend as LL does that the 140 UK climate synoptic stations (see list and lat/lon in the metoffice.org report) are all subject to the urban heat island effect is simply risible (as is so often the case when he writes related to āscienceā topics that he has not followed anywhere else than in his preferred sites (that he usually does not reference). The guy has clearly not been involved in anything scientific for scores of years.
October 11, 2023
LL
More power to your elbow, the people in parliament are ignoring it, it threatens to return us to the Stone Age
Plus hundreds ++++
October 12, 2023
++++my agreement LL
October 11, 2023
However, university education is free for Scots.
I understand care home costs for the elderly are also less onerous than in England, although not entirely free,
October 11, 2023
But none of that is free, it is supported by English taxpayers.
October 11, 2023
Not really āsupportedā by English taxpayers any more than the BBC is āsupportedā they are just forced to pay billions for them under threat of jail. Then forced to pay for their childrenās own university costs and their own long term car costs and prescriptions too.
October 11, 2023
One of my offspring was at Edinburgh University a year or two back. We were told that the free places for Scots meant that almost every child of the country expected a place so the standards expected of them was raised. Even so, as the “foreign” students brought in more money it was they who were granted a high proportion of places. In one of the Halls my child was allocated almost all other students were Chinese!
The Scots undergraduates started at 17 years of age, so you can imagine how much immature behaviour was displayed.
October 11, 2023
Yes, David, one of mine had a similar experience in halls with drunken 17-year-olds regularly getting blitzed. The University was full of EU students getting free university education, often with additional scholarships and British student loans that when they return to their own Country doesn’t get repaid. I was amazed that my child was one of only a few paying their full whack.
October 12, 2023
yes it is completely crazy that the children of rich Greek people are getting free education in Scotland, yet poor English students have to pay large sums.
October 12, 2023
Plenty of drunk 18-22+ year oldās at Cambridge back in my day (late 70s and early 80s). If anything I find youngsters drink rather less nowadays. But perhaps this is not so in Scotland?
October 11, 2023
And prescriptions.
October 11, 2023
After killing babies and children the war with Israel has now spread. Lebanon has fired rockets into Israel. BLM say they stand with Palestine. In the Uk crowds build up to support the terrorists and pull down Israeli flags in Sheffield.
Being intelligent and risk adverse I say that the actuality of the situation is not the huge risk here, it is the potentiality of the situation. The UK has put itself in a situation where it has no control over a potential global conflict between religious ideologies.
October 11, 2023
Like in N.Ireland you mean?
October 11, 2023
Not religious ideologies;it’s a clash of civilisations.A loose coalition of civilisational states(Russia,China,Hindu India(hence the name change to Bharat) and the Islamic world (which is closer to unifying than for a very long time) is taking on -and defeating- western hegemonic globalism.
A c500 year turn in world history is underway.
October 11, 2023
Letās call it like it is. Devolution has been a disaster for Scotland, and damaging to the U.K. it has led to terrible government in Scotland, from which Scotland may never recover, and has assisted in poisoning public discourse. We are only now, 25 years in, discovering just what bad news devolution in Scotland is. Thatās the way it is with Labour governments. They bring in radical leftist measures, with mealy-mouthed justifications using words like ādemocracyā and āequalityā. At the time people think well letās see how it works out. Years and decades later we discover what terrible policies they were. But by then itās too late, they are very difficult to reverse.
As a reminder letās list a few other disastrous Labour policies: the sale of the gold; the Iraq war; the debt explosion which caused the banking crash; the botched bank bailout; the ballooning of the public sector; the signing of the nice Amsterdam and Lisbon eu treaties with no referenda, the human rights act. Etc etc. Let us indeed remember when we come to vote.
October 11, 2023
Well yes and the appalling counterproductive wars, one on a blatant lie, the open door immigration agenda and US extradition treaty, the Supreme court legal reorganisationā¦
October 11, 2023
Yes, I’ll remember. Could you remind me what the Not-a-Conservative-Party has done about all (or any) of those during the last 13 wasted years.
They only delivered a pathetic version of Brexit because they faced electoral annihilation if they didn’t and Nigel gave them a free pass in Tory-held seats.
Apart from that, everything Blair/Brown did, the Not-a-Conservative-Party has made worse – including devolution.
October 11, 2023
But they gave us gay marriage without any mandate
October 11, 2023
Non Equality legislation, the Windsor agreement, highest taxes ever, gave away our fishing rights for interconnectors to pretend it reduces our CO2 whilst making us dependent on the EU all for Ā£37 billion pounds for nothing. Mass immigration, overcrowding, lack of NHS provision. The success of the Tory’s…… nil points.
October 11, 2023
Yes and lets remeber who was at the helm when devolution and many other disasters occured. The Blair “Creature” (to use a Peter Hitchens term) with Peter Mandleson whispering in his ear. That same Mandleson who was hanging around the front row of the Labour Conference this week, still whispering in ears I assume.
October 11, 2023
We might be several nations but we are country. The tax-varying powers of Holyrood should be removed.
October 11, 2023
We are 4 nations, amalgamated from the many tribes and even the 4 nations are amalgamating. Few of us donāt carry two or three of those nations genes.
We are inter-related, thatās what a nation is! A nation is NOT desperate people living in the same area.
October 12, 2023
According to Government websites, we are not four nations, we are Scotland, Wales, NI and the United Kingdom. England doesnāt exist which was their plan all along.
October 11, 2023
Devolution has given away more of my taxes to other parts of the UK for their local council governments to waste promising more stuff to get elected.
Anyone who has to get elected (adding further layers of bureaucracy) has to bribe the electorate whether it be tax cuts like the Conservatives used to or offering cradle to grave authoritarianism like the left wing parties (including the modern conservatives).
October 11, 2023
How much does an individual have to earn to pay Ā£11.5K in tax which is the lowest settlement in the UK.
About Ā£35K per annum plus contributions from fuel and alcohol duties plus VAT. (and death tax at some point).
That does not include pensions and benefits so how many people in this country are actually net contributors?
We need to spend less on the public but how does a party get elected without promising 1,500,000 free houses and more money thrown at people.
We need less politics.
October 11, 2023
Less than 50% of households are net contributors.
October 11, 2023
46% at the last count and we get hammered by the useless legacies. NO ACTION on 1. welfare in all its forms and not time limited, 2. legal and 3. illegal immigration other than words. Then we have the NHS waiting lists, 7.5 million in England and the so called housing crisis but need to refer to 2 and 3 above. All fools. We need REFORM.
October 12, 2023
Fingers crossed, enough of Reform UK to hold the liblabcons to account I hope.
October 11, 2023
This September Humza floated the idea of a 20% inheritance tax rate from Ā£35,000 to Ā£325,000 when 40% or more would apply. https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/humza-yousaf-warned-against-imposing-30933124
I know this because I had discussions with Scots on the cusp of retirement, who said they’d move to England if that happened. I don’t think the socialists realised that the people didn’t want to when they were being asked to pay themselves for his largess.
Here is there full tax breakdown, they have a lower personal allowance before higher taxes come in too. https://www.tax.org.uk/scottish-income-tax-rates-and-thresholds-for-2023-24-what-do-they-mean-for-scottish-taxpayers
So an English grad working in Scotland pays an effective 30% income tax from around Ā£27k with their student loan tax and 51% from Ā£43,663.
October 11, 2023
That suggests to me that Ā£12K is not a lot of spending power for an individual in Scotland, the same as in England but Ā£43K goes as far in Scotland as Ā£50K goes in England so why do they need a greater amount awarded per Capita than their English brethren?
October 11, 2023
Distances, cold and dark in addition to a very small population. So providing services per capita is more expensive.
Thatās why they need more.
October 12, 2023
Does Yorkshire or Sussex and Norfolk get a similar amount?
October 11, 2023
Devolution has been a disaster. The sooner it is gone the better. The extra costs to run it all alone wages, staff ,pensions, researcher, the obligatory courses, expenses, is a staggering waste of money. It has achieved nothing except an awful growth in nationalism which is virtually banned in England for fear of one slur or another. It has been allowing anti U.K. propaganda to blame āthe Englishā for all their failings every time the SNP opened a mouth it was blaming Westminster. It also very nearly broke up the U.K and may still do so. Not forgetting, The English donāt have a Parliament, and don’t have a say, good grief we donāt even have a BBC channel. (Not that I am any supporter of the BBC)
October 11, 2023
Scotland got what Scotland voted for. Socialists ALWAYS run out of other people’s money, but that doesn’t apply to Scotland (or Wales) since they have permanent access to “free money.”
The English weren’t allowed to vote on Devolution for Scotland (or Wales); they were just forced to fund it. They weren’t even allowed “English votes for English laws” let alone their own Parliament.
And now we have the situation where Scottish (and Welsh) NHS services are so appalling that their residents cross into England to use the marginally better English services. So we English get to pay for them twice.
Marvellous.
October 11, 2023
@Donna
Yep….
As Sir John says ..”though the bulk is paid for by a bigger grant from UK taxes.”
Doesn’t sound much like independence to me.
October 11, 2023
Why are we still sending them huge amounts of money, based on an outdated formula when so much has changed.
Why are the Scottish, Welsh Norther Irish MPs allowed to vote on all UK matters (including England) when they have a Parliament of their own which excludesr Uk Mp’s.
October 11, 2023
Because they hate English people and only care about minorities and minority issues.
October 11, 2023
That anomaly is in place because the majority of MPs – English MPs, did not see fit to have that voting removal as part of the Devolution process.
In other words, bad legislation by our own!
October 12, 2023
That was the whole point of Labour leaving England out of devolution so they could carry on using their Scots and Welsh MPs to help them govern England by voting on English matters and help them push through unpopular policies such as tuition fees which they wouldnāt countenance for their own and the Tories have done bugger all about it. They would rather not upset the devolved nations than take away their voting rights on English matters. Not one of the 550 something UK MPs squatting in English seats gives a fig about England. They canāt even speak itās name let alone stand up for it. England deserves better than the current rotten bunch of anti-English pretend Tories.
October 11, 2023
“Scottish voters need to ask some tough questions of their government.”
No, Scottish voters need to ask some tough questions of themselves as to why they voted such numpties into power.
October 11, 2023
Devolution at any level can never work properly. Until everyone involved is made accountable for any mismanagement of public funds. That does not just mean identifying fraud & corruption. But poor budget management by budget holders at every level. Public funds should be treated with respect.
October 11, 2023
Given Scotland’s decline in the years since devolution, can we predict a date by when it will not longer be possible to meet the subsidy it requires from the Exchequer? (Clearly, before that point (or the point of willingness to fund) is reached it would be best for the rest of us to see Scotland exit the Union.)
October 11, 2023
England is in decline as well (and whether Scotland is devolved or not at this point – who cares – Scotland’s problems are way more serious than whether it is devolved or not).
The problem isn’t politics but ultimately the collapse of Western Culture / Civilisation (and just as bad in other Western countries – above all, the USA, leading the way)
You can’t have a strong, stable economy long-term unless you have a stable, happy, fulfilled people and culture and civilisation.
The only solution is to try and persuade more people back to more Conservative traditional values of Family, Work Ethic, Personal Responsibility, Patriotism etc – through the churches, media, arts and educators.
October 11, 2023
Spot on – the alternative is to terrible to contemplate.
October 11, 2023
Very Badly, not because it was wrong to allow parts of the UK to have more control of their own domain and reflect the needs of the people, but because it was ill thought out in that it allowed extreme ellements to exert a level of power that was detrimental to a United Kingdom.
Witness, the SNP turning Scotland into the shambles the Scotts have experienced. In Wales allowing socialism to fail in its historical and predictable way. They enjoy the worst performing NHS and all at 20 MPH. Worst of all allowing Northern Ireland to be fractured from the UK by the mendacity of the EU which has resulted in them having no government at all.
Devolution as witnessed is one of the major UK government screwups of all time, who not content with destroying the infrastructure of the UK have sewn and allowed doubts as to its legitimacy. Here is the irony, they call themselves the conservative and unionist party.
October 11, 2023
If Scottish MPs represented their constituents properly, Scotland would manage better as a proper member of the UK.
October 11, 2023
But Scottish MPs at Westminster arenāt there to represent their constituents. That job is done by 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament. The role of those at Westminster is mainly to meddle and vote on what are becoming increasingly English only matters, England being the only part of this so called union denied its own parliament. The UK Parliament with itās MPs from across the whole UK is in fact also trying to be an English Parliament not that youāll ever hear the word England pass their lips.
October 12, 2023
Correct. Scottish, Welsh and NI MPs are allowed to vote on issues which will not affect their own Constituents, only English ones. And the Treacherous Tories representing English Constituencies seem to be quite happy with that arrangement – thereby betraying the interests of the people they are supposed to represent.
October 12, 2023
JoolsB:
Before daft devolution, Scottish MPs did represent Scotland as part of what was our United Kingdom. They were entitled to act on English matters just as English MPs did on Scottish. Devolution has since added a needless level of bureaucracy with all the muddle, expense and waste it trails behind.
October 11, 2023
“How has Devolution done”
It’s done very well at it’s primary aim. To remove England and English identity.
There is a giant Democratic defecit where England sits, the only country of the laughingly named United Kingdom without recognition. No English parliament, no recognition of England in Westminster. English policies decided by MP’s from Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland.
We now have land in the North sea known as Scotland/Wales/N.Ireland and the UK.
There was a time when our kind host cared about all of this, he now seems to have given up.
When you add in 90% of all immigrants (legal and illegal) end up living in England. Our identity is also be rapidly changed to one of a unwelcome melting-pot of people with no attachment to this country. With vastly different cultural and religous backgrounds. We are being replaced.
October 11, 2023
Since the Scottish experiment shows that increased taxes and spending does not bring better outcomes perhaps the Scottish people might like to try the reverse?
October 11, 2023
Devolution? Sir John is content that Scotland runs its own affairs.
But England as usual is ignored. And I don’t mean devolution into regions.
Where is England’s true parliament? Sir John does want that.
October 11, 2023
Correction Sir John DOESN’T want that.
October 11, 2023
@ Prangwizard – Sir John’s repeated calls for an English parliament suggest otherwise of course.
October 12, 2023
Formula 57 – John Redwood has NEVER called for an English Parliament. The nearest he ever came to suggesting a voice for England was for people like him, i.e. UK MPs with English seats, to wear two hats, one as a UK MP and another for English matters – all sitting in a UK Parliament.
October 11, 2023
He is right! It would mean there was no British Parliament and therefore our Constitution, which represents an 800 year old fight against Authoritarianism, would fall.
The Numpty globalists would āwrite a constitutionā for us. May as well call it a Death Certificate, for that is what it would be.
October 12, 2023
Go back to the old Anglo-Saxon-Viking system which was smashed by the Normans.We wouldn’t need a large self-perpetuating bureaucracy for that.
But even bird-brained turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
October 11, 2023
I would guess the idea of devolution was to give those that are affected by one thing or another in going about their daily life more say, of more correctly better democratic over-site on how results are achieved. The very reason being is that MP’s stopped serving and representing their constituents a while back, once elected they took up positions that had them bowing to their gang leader and that of personal gratification desires. ‘Look at me I am your leader’ I will defend your freedoms all the time you agree with my personal views. Serving the constituency has become a thing of the past, due to much failed centralisation
The current structure failed, it failed because instead of providing the route for communities to get on, get things done, manage resources effectively, it just mirrored the failures and hierarchy of Westminster. Became a mini-me of everything wrong in Westminster.
What should have happened, is that everything should have devolved down to the lowest level, the parish, town, county. Money awarded by central Government, tax collected locally should have gone to those that actually are able to manage the need and the results. That doesn’t stop pooling resources should cross overs and size come into play. What it does stop is the autocratic, ‘its me’ I am your ruler.
Westminster, the HoC, and a good chunk of the MP’s in it do not ‘serve’. They have lost the meaning of freedoms and democracy. The party organisations lie to get elected, they select candidates that don’t believe in the manifestos ā the structure has become so corrupt those involved don’t even see it.
Devaluation failed because it didn’t go far enough it didn’t devolve down to those that ‘do’.
October 11, 2023
At least Scotland were asked what they wanted (more than once). When are us English ever going to be asked? When are you lot, ie. MPs with English seats, going to address the elephant in the room, i.e. the rotten deal England gets post devolution? No voice or representation at national level, thousands less money per head than the devolved nations, Ā£9,250 tuition fees for our young, free or heavily subsidised in the devolved nations, free prescriptions and hospital parking everywhere except England, free dental checks, eye tests, personal care for the elderly in Scotland. All denied to England on grounds of cost and yet the UK Government still insists without our permission on giving the Scots 12 billion of English taxes via the skewed Barnett Formula every single year, similar Wales & NI. And worse, Scots, Welsh & NI MPs still meddling and voting on matters which are English only, matters they bizarrely have no say on for their own constituents. Even the sop that was EVEL was scrapped by this miserable anti-English Government. And you lot, MPs with English seats donāt bat an eyelid at this affront to democracy. Donāt upset the Scots and stuff the English.
We are constantly told Labour cannot win the next GE without Scotland. But what if England votes Tory as happened in 2001, 2005 and 2010 where a Labour then coalition Government was inflicted on it instead, a Scots dominated Labour Government at that, which without the votes of itās Scots MPs would never have been able to get through the introduction of tuition fees in England, something they wouldnāt countenance for their own. How is it fair that the devolved nations are given two votes, one to choose their own self determining Governments and then a second vote to decide who governs England? Whereas England only gets one vote which then needs the backing of the whole UK to get the Government of their choosing.
The only fair way forward is to drastically reduce the size of the UK Government for reserved matters only and give the English their own Government (or at least ask them if thatās what they want) with the same powers as Scotland, no more, no less. But then when did 650 MPs or even 550 of them squatting in English seats ever care about whatās fair for England? England is nothing more than a cash cow for the benefit of everywhere else except England.
October 12, 2023
Spot-on Jools
October 11, 2023
From the MsM
āThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged governments to raise taxes or slash spending to stop debt spiralling out of control as balancing the books becomes harder in a world of high interest rates.
It warned that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was not on course to meet its promise of slashing borrowing to below 3pc of GDP by 2028, adding that debt interest payments were likely to account for around half of the UKās borrowing needs going forward.ā
Thatās the real problem for the UK we have numpties with no experience at the helm, the desire for personal self gratification that knows no bounds. It seem that they are perusing to maliciously out to destroy the UK, before they depart Westminster and the UK for greener pastures elsewhere.
The imbalances of devolution pale in comparison to the centralised dictatorship we now live under.
October 11, 2023
The real problem is that the IMF has numpties at the helm who wish the U.K. all bad things.
October 11, 2023
Scrap Devolution, Totally!
And, in some cases it is being used, by narrow minded Nationalists to separate the Union!
As in Divide and Conquer, a Strategy to rejoin the EU?
But, the trouble now, is it’s all too late! Union, gone! Brexit, gone! Freedoms, gone! Free markets, gone!
Eco/Marxist Rule!
What next, Free Speech, Freedoms under the Law?
For a strong Conservative Party; A way out could be to dilute the Devolved body’s, so Wales has two Administrations (North, South), Scotland has Three, and NI one, all guiding Competitiveness and Integration along the main Economic corridors! Wales M4, M62, for example! Baring this in mind; the Social structure of the UK has become very rigid, and needs Reforms making it flexible, and profitable, to take on work all over the country, again! The EU Customs Union, with it’s Universal Credit, destroyed it!
I would guess Devolution is the real reason why we have not had Brexit Premiums; Supply-side Reforms and De-regulations, we need!
As well as the Blob refusing to diverge!
Let along Liz Truss growth strategy; Cut growth depressing Government Spending, and balancing them with Activity increasing Tax Cuts! So, Cut Net Zero, Subsidies, International Aid, reduce size of councils and spending (Not house building, we need new Towns), Central Government savings,…
And, then Cuts to Corp, VAT, VAT threshold, Fuel Duty, NI, ….
Cuts to benefits, without Social Reforms, will not work, and we’ll lose support! They will need deep reforms to the Supply-side! We would get farther if we tried to cut the NHS?
But, all too late?
BR
RDM
October 11, 2023
Give Scotland full independence, with No UK money, charge them to use UK roads
Thanks
October 11, 2023
@George Sheard; The zero principled SNP might just accept such independence deal, if they also get to keep their oil & gas, Rosebank included… There are more than one way for them to get their hands on English money!
October 11, 2023
Itās not Scotland oil and gas, itās Shetlands oil and gas (look at the 200 mile zone) and Shetland has said that it will revert to Norway should Scotland become āindependentā.
October 12, 2023
@Lynn Atkinson; Whatever, my point still stands.
October 11, 2023
The new taxes didn’t come in from the start of devolution but from 2017.
There are lots of give aways:
https://www.mygov.scot/energy-saving-grants
“Scottish students and students from the EU (who started in or before the 2020/21 academic year) can study for free in Scotland ā the government picks up the tab for tuition fees. However, students from the rest of the UK will be charged up to Ā£9,250 for tuition fees in Scotland.8 Aug 2023” Student Finance in Scotland 2023
The Welsh can get a Fee Grant (up to Ā£4215) for Uni inc Uni in England, plus more generous. living cost grants, what extra tax do they pay for that – nothing.
October 11, 2023
Only the English were charged the full Ā£9,250 for studying in Scotland. NI and Welsh grants apply wherever they study in the UK. This is blatant discrimination and yet 550 UK MPs squatting in English seats stand by and utter not one word of protest, not even a whimper.
October 11, 2023
@JoolsB; It is not blatant discrimination, it is blatant Devolution, as passed by the UK parliament. Now I’m sure you and others hate all this Devolution nonsense as much as I do but do stop bleating, the argument was lost in the 1990s when some in the Tory party preferred to fight each other (over our relationship with the EU, what changes…) rather than fight New Labour and their blatant bribe to Scottish voters.
October 11, 2023
@a-tracy; Indeed, and that was because in 2016 the SNP won a outright majority at Holyrood, and despite significantly higher taxes since, have maintained majority control. Why did the SNP suddenly managed to do so well, nothing to do with the perception of an out of touch Tory govt in Westminster and a Labour Party more interested in fighting between themselves (Blairtites vs Corbynites), or was it really all about the personality of Nicola?!
October 12, 2023
The SNP appealed with the ‘English running everything, keeping us on the services breadline, we could have jam tomorrow, all that Oil there makes us a rich country’.
And the fools bought it, even in doctrination of the teens.
October 12, 2023
I think she was a phenomenal politician, Jerry. She won the public over to her way of thinking on many issues. She was helpful in the EU, so they acknowledged her with a sort of Varadkar status. I’m very concerned that with the anti-English sentiment her party practices, some of my family members live in Scotland. They have to keep their mouths shut about lots of topics and their heads down.
Do you think Starmer is a Blairite or a Corbynite? I can’t make my mind up; he is undoubtedly, in my opinion, trying to stir up a class war. He speaks from both sides of his mouth (as many politicians do).
As a working-class kid, I’ve no idea where I sit now in this new class war he’s starting. I certainly wouldn’t consider Starmer and his family still working class. Does social mobility actually ever move the person who’s mobile into a new class or just their children? But whatever the working class is now, it certainly isn’t with class warriors who have a chip on their shoulders thinking people look down on them! Are we to have an Upper Working Class so people can hold on to their prejudices even though they’ve done very well themselves?
October 11, 2023
The Barnet ( spelling? ) Formula employed for Scotland is wrong ; it has allowed several discrepancies in their favour at the expense of the British taxpayer . Equally devolution has achieved nothing and recent polling in Scotland shows that the SNP is losing momentum . The United Kingdom should be exactly what its title suggests – ” United ” – in all respects .
October 11, 2023
The SNP has to lose momentum for Labour to regain their 40-50 MPs. That’s why the SNP discussed crazy policies in September (20% inheritance tax from Ā£35k) just before the most recent by-election.
Instead of looking up at what the SNP has done in Scotland, we should look at what the Conservatives have done right in England and remind us, John, because the media keep telling us doom, doom, gloom, nothing has gone right. It seems we pay the bills and get ‘looked down on’, just trying out some of the new soundbites by the socialists on our fringes and in our Cities (the Cities that are then being modelled to support more of that, where are these 150,000 pa low-cost homes being built when we can only manage a third of that, who is going to be allocated them?).
October 11, 2023
Devaluation, what devaluation at best a half hearted attempt to stroke like minded egos, then refuse the management for it to work.
UK Governments and their āmini-meāsā cant accept and recognise that every time they assume that they have the capability and the wear with all to carry out projects better than those doing the work and closer to the project ā they just fail. The Centralised bureaucratic mentality is the cause of the failure. No Government in the UK has successfully delivered on a project that they directly get involved in ā prime example but not alone, the NHS, lots of money reduced delivery. They always refuse to manage.
The UK parliament and the bulk of those their as elected representatives have lost all sense of reasoning as to their purpose. What starts out as getting and elected, empowered to serve a constituency, the country, uphold freedoms and democracy soon evaporates. Its a case of follow my leader, they see one of the crowd preening their ego for self gratification, then instead of challenging that, they fall into line and follow suit.
MPās instead of grasping their purpose to serve, they adopt a contradictory position. They want to make, amend and appeal the countries framework of laws, they then adopt laws rules and regulations, of remote entities that have no democratic over-site and for the most part have no vested interest in the UK or freedoms. They(the MPās, Parliment) are creating all the mess the Country experiences daily
October 11, 2023
Full union or no union ā¦.everything in-between is just a political power grab
October 11, 2023
I am in favour of a smaller state and devolved powers.āBut we currently lack quality in many of our MPs: senior experience before politics, understanding of various economic systems and political philosophies, etc.āBy the time we come down a notch or two to a devolved level, things are worse.
Why this deterioration in quality?āYes, politicians really did used to be better at all levels.āI think it’s partly education.āPeople are the product of the state’s indoctrination through education.āAndrew Neil’s documentary ‘Posh and posher’ covered the impact of Shirley Williams’ axing of grammar schools on today’s politicians.ā(Why hasn’t the BBC shown this again since 2011?) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y37gk
Today’s teachers are the product of the Blob’s indoctrination rather than the state’s.āAnd they propagate this into their grade-inflated products who in turn become teachers.āAnd it’s the Blob again who put off accomplished people entering politics as a second career because they know the levers of power available to them are hard to move and ineffectual even then.
October 11, 2023
Small states canāt defend themselves. Watch Armenia. Itās told itās big brother (Russia) to go jump. Azerbaijan has taken bite 1 already. It will be back for more.
The United Kingdom is more than small enough United. Divided we are just Armenia.
October 12, 2023
but by stealth we are ensuring the UK becomes toothless. Donate military arms previously paid for our protection. Disable internal power generation, become reliant on Russian, US, Scandinavian sources. Tax home businesses to within an inch of existence, but remove any barriers to foreign trade dumping poor quality goods here. Ensure subserviance to all laws, codes, agreements even when UK disadvantaged.
October 12, 2023
Or the Republic of Ireland Lynn.
Doing so well, we are told, massive GDP per capita
Able to set their own ultra-low tax rates,
Don’t contribute their 2% GDP to NATO, even for peacekeeping and repairs,
Given as much status and prominence as significant EU member leaders.
It’s no wonder Drakeford wants a bit of that.
October 13, 2023
Hi Lynn, Small states club together in defence pacts.āI wouldn’t be surprised if the UK couldn’t defend itself for the last twenty years or more.āThat’s why the UK is in a defence pact.
October 11, 2023
The BBC is the enemy within so why doesn’t Sir John and his Tory colleagues call for its obliteration and why does OFCOM sanction GB News but fall silent when the BBC refuses to condemn terrorism and acts like an extremist organisation?
The BBC and OFCOM must be disbanded. I want to know why this Tory government and its MPs conspire with the Left to maintain the status quo which is destroying this nation?
October 11, 2023
I agree that devolution has not worked, but I doubt it can be reversed. The UK Government should cut all subsidies to Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland. Let them live within their means and maybe that will force them to elect non-socialist governments who actually seek to make them prosper. They are all proud people they claim, but not too proud to take English taxpayer’s money!
But that would take a tough Government, focused on the well-being of the whole of the UK.
But if you keep voting for a Sturgeon, Drakeford and in London Khan, you get what you deserve. ULEZ and 20 mph speed limits. If Labour win the next GE they will spread all over the UK. If only we had a proper conservative Government the gap b between England & Scotland would be even larger.
October 11, 2023
We know Sir John you were against devolution and perhaps the title of todays Diary reflects this standpoint/view. The real point here is how have the Nationalist parties performed compared to the Party ruling England( by default)-the Federal(UK) Government rules England, there is no English Parliament to compare like with like.
It is worth pointing out that the population of Scotland is 5,436,600 London 9,648,000 and England 67,736,800.
London has more self-government, as a group, than the rest of England. The ruler of London being the mayor of London.
This is an issue of political parties not devolution or more that the regions don’t what to be governed by the London centric political class.
We have always had a tradition of highlighting that the UK is made up of more than one country and proud of this fact. For those in England who feel the English should not subsidise Scotland. Remember the oil, gas, scientific, and industrial contribution made to the UK by Scotland,
Now that the UK is no longer governed by the EU, The Lords should be replaced by an elected UK Government and then there should be a Parliament for England. The creation of City mayoral states like London has done more harm to the democratic government of the UK than devolution.
October 11, 2023
@John McDonald +1
Even Yorkshire has a bigger population than Scotland. More people voted for the actiual London Mayor (1.2 million) the PM (just 36,693)
You are right the House of Lords has no place in a Democracy, its exsitance is insulting to the people of the UK
October 12, 2023
As many of us have said on this diary, all we need is a smallish body of varied experience to review Bills for unwise and unintended consequences. But of course the 1000 made redundant have friends and families who have vested interests, and the Lords is a useful home for problem politicians to be relocated.
October 11, 2023
@ John McDonald “Remember the oil, gas, scientific, and industrial contribution made to the UK by Scotland” – past achievements fondly remembered but those butter no parsnips now.
Contemporary Scotland, an unpleasant one party state under SNP whinging, will surely not be producing another David Hume or Adam Smith, a second Scottish enlightenment. Jettison before dragging us all down please.
October 11, 2023
Citing raw NHS waiting list numbers is meaningless unless broken down into stages of referral and treatment types, then of course there are the uncounted who never show up on any waiting list because they never get an appointment that puts them on a waiting list!
Perhaps more people in Scotland are simply getting to see doctors, dentists, consultants etc. than in England, hence more people in Scotland are officially “waiting”…
October 12, 2023
net result is Scottish patients get treated south of the border…
October 12, 2023
Well Scottish Doctors are probably not leaving in their droves the way they are in England. Despite having no millstone hanging around their necks the way English Doctors have, theyāve also thanks to the skewed Barnett Formula just received a 12.4% payrise. Sunak says 6% is the limit in England hence low morale and mass exodus. Open your eyes. England is discriminated against at every turn by the Con/Lab parties.
October 11, 2023
I’ll try again Sir JR, as you have not posted my morning comment.
Devolutions primary purpose was to eradicate England politically, and it’s well on the way to doing so.
This Union is now Scotland/Wales/N.Ireland and UK
You used to care; What happened??
October 11, 2023
Albion if you read Kipling you will know that the colonies used the name of āEnglandā when referring to the U.K. Even my Scottish grandmother from Tain and my Irish grandfather from Cork always referred to āEnglandā.
In fact the U.K. is England and the Celtic fringe are the fringe tribes currently being absorbed into what I wish was the single U.K. gene entity.
We have massive problems with minorities and their subsidies, but Scotland, Wales and Ireland are NOT the problem. I donāt in the least mind subsidising them. They are our relations!
October 12, 2023
Subsidising them? You mean spending more on those per capita than the actual English residents!
October 11, 2023
@OA; Utter bilge-water. How are 522 English Westminster MPs, out of a total 650, eradicated from the “Union”?!
If you mean those 522 English MPs are now unable to create certain policies and laws for Scotland, Wales or NI fine, but that is still not eradicating English MPs from the wider political process as there is still a lot of reserved powers that sit solely in Whitehall and Westminster. It should also be noted that NI always used to be self governing, until the early 1970s when due to the security situation direct rule was imposed.
October 12, 2023
That’s not what I said is it. MP’s for English constituencies have betrayed the English nation by not demanding equality and fairness with the other three (dis)UK nations. They talk of and promote the Union whilst ignoring the existence of England. It us the English nation they are seeking to eradicate.
Read JoolsB ‘s post approx. 26 posts above and learn.
October 12, 2023
@OA; Apart from the very small number of Private Members Bills, no MP can do more than the govt of the day wants done, the govt controls parliamentary businesses, not MPs. The Scots, the Welsh, NI, get more because their devolved govts want to provide more, we even see this to some degree in England were there are City and Metro Mayors.
October 12, 2023
Jerry, try looking at the political map. England does not exist, only Scotland, Wales, NI and the UK. And there are no such things as English MPs, only UK constituency MPs with English seats. If they were English MPs you might find them standing up for England now and again but they donāt and as for mentioning England by name, good luck on that one because it never happens. Their priority is keeping their beloved Union together and if that means pandering to the Scots at the expense of England, so be it.
October 11, 2023
and for those forgotten in little England – The NHS must modernise or die, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says. In a speech to the Labour Party conference, he said the ageing population and rise in conditions such as heart disease, dementia and diabetes threatened to “bankrupt” the NHS. Mr Streeting also promised more GPs and closer integration between the community and hospitals, creating what he called a neighbourhood health service. Currently, the system was too focused on hospitals and dealing with late diagnosis and treatment, he said.
“Pouring ever increasing amounts of money into a system that isn’t working is wasteful in every sense,” he told delegates.
—More GPs? – wave the magic wand and problem solved. Perhaps changing the pension paid to GPs later to at least 55 might have an effect. Insisting more patient consultations are face to face – at least 60%? might identify more conditions needing referral and reducing the advanced stage late discovery when they finally get to hospital. Expensive under-utilised equipment should be staffed at weekends and longer hours of operation. More radiographers required.
October 11, 2023
@MT; Perhaps he meant the same number of GPs (and Dentists) being incentivized to increase their productivity, no “magic-wand” required, a lesson taken from the same textbook the Conservatives have used…
October 12, 2023
he said ‘more’ GPs. And he thinks it can be solved by paying staff the level of they earn from private work.
Now if that isn’t increasing cost, what is?
October 12, 2023
MT – https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/gloating-gps-delighted-with-lucrative-pay-deal-7248878.html
GPs lost all night and weekend cover for just Ā£6000 pa. That was made up with other target bonuses.
Dentists contracts were fubarred by Labour “with its botched shake-up of the contract system. Now dentists are quitting in their droves… 500,000 fewer patients treated”
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/nhs-dentists-treat-500-000-fewer-patients-after-labour-s-controversial-new-contract-6648551.html
October 14, 2023
@a-tracy; That Labour botched shake-up was at least 13 years ago, yet doctors and dentists are only now leaving?! Sorry but the timeline suggests something else, since, has caused the current problems, and even if not 13 years is plenty of time for a subsequent govt to sort it out, IF then wanted…
October 11, 2023
Off topic, but vital to let you know, Sir John my view of events now in Israel and Gaza. The Government has done well to stand with Israel and against the terrorist clamour from Hamas in London and elsewhere in the UK. But let it be known also that the Israelis will lose credibility if they resort to collective punishment. A child is a child, a mother is a mother, an invalid is an invalid, whoever’s side they happen to be on, and more respect will be gained if mercy is exercised. I hope the Foreign Office agrees.
October 11, 2023
The Scottish devolved government brought in early the regulations this year to save the planet by enforcing āheat pumpsā ā¦I just wonder if the average joe in the Ukraine & Israel are thankful of the Scottish effort, with net-zero as a top priority
October 11, 2023
I suggest the SNP MO is to buy votes with benefits to ensure they perpetually remain in power. A great idea until it is discovered that there is more spent on these outgoings than income received from taxes. The solution?
Easy – to increase the taxes on those who work of course.
This action in turn, suggests to some employees that not working and relying solely upon benefits is now a good proposition, so they join the rest of the unemployed, increasing the outgoings even more.
The snowball rolls and the dominoes fall. Such is the way of socialism, which is a reason it fails.
Any government should enforce good accounting procedures to protect the citizens and their money. To ignore them is to guarantee removal at the next GE.
October 11, 2023
With Labour likely to take up to 40 seats away from the SNP, the last glimmer of hope that the Conservatives might hang on to a tiny majority is becoming disappearingly small.
We are likely to end up with a small overall Labour majority but which could still leave the Conservatives with a small majority of seats in England.
This matters when it comes to Reeves pushing through a budget that only applies in England and Wales.
Time to dust off your “Speaking for England” slogan, Sir John, and for the party to update that famous poster, but this time with Starmer in Humza Yousaf’s top pocket.
October 12, 2023
Meanwhile back in England… Convicted rapists and burglars will be spared jail from next week after judges were told that the countryās prisons are full, judges have been ordered to delay sentencing hearings, and work is being done to quickly do early releases. Last Friday, the prison population in England and Wales was 88,016, just a few hundred below what officials have said is the estateās capacity of about 88,670. All in the Times.
October 12, 2023
Surely we can release some top criminals early: carpark fines unpaid, tv licence unpaid, abusing carpark staff, urinating in the street, drunken swearing, parking on double yellows outside surgeries, water bill unpaid, etc
Any with less than 6 months to serve?
October 12, 2023
too much common sense there
October 12, 2023
Practical stuff:
In Scotland music instrument lessons are free for school pupils. In England its chargeable, in one case I know its 500 quid per term, which for a talented young musician with poor parents is a big ask. I think there is a reasonable argument to be made that this should be free. Given the vast amounts of tax we get from the music industry. At the very least it should be tax deductable.
In Scotland car parking in NHS hospitals is largely free. In England its chargeable, often very large sums. A hidden tax on getting treatment. Something that simply would not happen if the patients had any buying power in the relationship with healthcare providers.
In Scotland prescriptions are free, in England they are chargeable.
In Scotland university education is free, in England you rely on student loans.
So, in all these ways practical benefits do flow to the people of Scotland, often paid for āthough the bulk is paid for by a bigger grant from UK taxesā, i.e., by English taxpayers cross subsidising Scotland.
So, I donāt buy the ālittle advantage from these higher sumsā argument. Sure a lot of Scotlandās extra spend is wasted on inefficient admin etc, which I do not support, but in the ways above there are clear visible advantages for the Scottish voters, and hence I donāt see them voting against such measures anytime soon (and indeed they would probably be net vote winners in England, although I would prefer they were done by handing the buying power over to individual voters rather than the service providers).
Scotland has massive problem with inner city drug taking, and deaths and lives destroyed by drugs, I donāt see any of the large spends on police, healthcare, education, etc making any impact on this, indeed itās just getting worse. If I was a politician hoping to win against the SNP I would be making a big deal of this.
Scottish economy is still largely driven by oil and tourism. Manufacturing is largely socially engineered to move abroad, as power is too expensive, safety kit is too expensive, anti pollution kit is too expensive, being honest and paying licence fees is expensive, and the state would rather the country imported stuff from India & China where none of those costs apply. The best intellectual property invented in Scotland, in for example software, leaks ever faster to competitor nations which donāt play by the rules, and use it to undercut us, aided and abetted by the confetti like issue of work visas so that foreigners can work here and learn our trade secrets. All of this explains for me āWhy is economic growth lagging so badly?ā
October 14, 2023
What about jacking them in and we give them complete freedom without the money? That is my suggestion.