Scottish independence, Is it a good idea?

[leo9]

I'm biased in the SNP's favour because they are the kind of successful socialist government I'd give my right ball to see in England, but that doesn't guarantee that their sums add up on a future Scots state. However, a lot of the objections Cameron and co. have offered sound so blatantly silly that one does suspect they have no sensible arguments against.

Regardless of ones views on nukes, Faslane is not a guaranteed money-spinner for the future: Trident is a completely useless prestige expense, and has been since the end of the Soviet Union, so it's only a matter of time before some English government gets the nerve to stop throwing money down that drain. Closing Faslane could be seen as doing in a controlled and prepared way what they will otherwise ahve to do in an unprepared scramble. And it's not as if they won't have a shipbuilding industry left: Cameron has done them the favour of closing an English Navy dockyard instead of a Scottish one.

As for the UK "paying" Scotland, is that before or after what Scots industries pay into the UK exchequer?

[IAN 2411]

As for the UK "paying" Scotland, is that before or after what Scots industries pay into the UK exchequer?

I think that could be swings and roundabouts...I think it is what is given to all people throughout the UK for National Health contributions....Each Surgery in England, Scotland, and Wales receives that per head per week for drugs, equipment and doctors.

Long before this all kicked off there was a program on TV about the money earned off of the oil....I don't think the UK will ever get rid of nuclear subs, there is far to much unrest in the middle east.