Smile of the day - What is yours?

[Bibio]

in some ways Holyrood does a far better job than Westminster. Scotland has free prescriptions and student fees along with as said above and a whole host of other stuff. ooohhh and Scotland has to do it on a measly, crappy budget of £50bill.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by Bibio

in some ways Holyrood does a far better job than Westminster. Scotland has free prescriptions and student fees along with as said above and a whole host of other stuff. ooohhh and Scotland has to do it on a measly, crappy budget of £50bill.

Don't know how the financing works, isn't it something to do with a
'Barnet' 'formula ?!

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by svenrico

Don't know how the financing works, isn't it something to do with a
'Barnet' 'formula ?!

sort of. you have to remember though that NI get more per head.

Scotland raises a lot of capital at home so getting less and less reliant on Westminster for handouts. if England suffers financially then so do the other three members. you also have to remember that if Westminster borrows NI and Scotland get nowt of that but are still held responsible for the debt... does the Barnet formula sound like a good deal now?

just think what Scotland would do with a raise in tax of say 2p.. our NHS would be the best in the world even though its already the best in the UK

England and Wales share the same currency while NI and Scotland have their own. fun fact though is that the Scottish pound is not legal tender anywhere including Scotland that also includes the GBP. Scotland has no tender and is still as far as i know under the "barter" system. this is one of the main reasons that Scotland wants independence but it would break the BOE due to every note printed in Scotland has to have the same kept at the BOE for security if Scotland gained its own tender the BOE would have to reimburse the Scottish banks who would then have to keep it in a new holding bank sort of like the BOE in England. one of the big arguments about having a Scottish legal tender is name and value.. well it can be called a Scottish Pound and it would be based on Scotlands GDP like any other country.

[TamSV]

With all due respect Bibio, most of that’s pish.

Have you been smokin something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by TamSV

With all due respect Bibio, most of that’s pish.

Have you been smokin something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

in what way? please tell as i'm always up for being corrected.

[garynortheast]

Made it out on the bike today. Had my regular 6 monthly hospital appointment. A mix of drizzle, sunshine, and fog but still good to be out on the bike.

Now though...

[TamSV]

Originally Posted by Bibio

Scotland raises a lot of capital at home so getting less and less reliant on Westminster for handouts.

More income has been devolved to Scotland rather than being collected centrally. That might seem like semantics but it’s important to the debate in Scotland IMO

if England suffers financially then so do the other three members. you also have to remember that if Westminster borrows NI and Scotland get nowt of that but are still held responsible for the debt... does the Barnet formula sound like a good deal now

When Westminster borrows we spend it on (1) things that benefit us all such as defence or (2) it gets spent in England (or England and Wales). If the latter, the Barnett Formula calculates how much is due to the devolved parliaments. So if we borrow to increase funding for the NHS in England, there is a consequential increase in the block grant to Scotland, Wales and NI. Our devolved parliaments can then decide how to spend it - we don’t need to spend it on health. We may choose to have things like free care, bus passes or higher education and spend less on the police and cancer drugs, for example. We have done this in Scotland. Much is said of the free stuff, little is said about the other side of those choices. But such is politics.

just think what Scotland would do with a raise in tax of say 2p.. our NHS would be the best in the world even though its already the best in the UK

Questionable. A wealth generating economy might be a better goal. Scotland already has the highest income tax rates in the UK but the benefits of that aren’t too obvious. Squeezing the same small fruit doesn’t generate much more juice.

England and Wales share the same currency while NI and Scotland have their own.

No we don’t. We all use GBP/pound Sterling. Retail banks in Scotland and NI can print notes but the currency is the same.

fun fact though is that the Scottish pound is not legal tender anywhere including Scotland that also includes the GBP.

No paper notes are legal tender in Scotland. Minted Pound Coins are legal tender and they’re all produced on behalf of the Bank of England. It doesn’t mean anything for your day to day life. Shops aren’t obliged to take anyone’s money anywhere.

Scotland has no tender and is still as far as i know under the "barter" system.

No. We’re definitely using money.

this is one of the main reasons that Scotland wants independence

According to most polling, Scotland doesn’t want independence. A large minority do but I don’t think that currency is one of the main reasons. Sovereignty and democratic accountability seem to be more important and, for some, history and tradition. Currency is however one of the main questions.

but it would break the BOE due to every note printed in Scotland has to have the same kept at the BOE for security if Scotland gained its own tender the BOE would have to reimburse the Scottish banks who would then have to keep it in a new holding bank sort of like the BOE in England. one of the big arguments about having a Scottish legal tender is name and value.. well it can be called a Scottish Pound and it would be based on Scotlands GDP like any other country.

Our money isn’t backed by anything. Most of it has never existed in cash form, Scottish notes or otherwise.

The choices for an Independent Scotland would be;
- use GBP within a currency union with rest of UK (hard to see what’s in that for rUK)
- use GBP without a formal union. You can use anyone’s currency - you don’t need permission. You do lose control or even input over monetary policy such as interest rates and probably would need to accept some supervision by BOE which might seem an unacceptable loss of sovereignty
- use a new free floating Scottish currency. Some uncertainty and potential volatility risks as well as problems of debt held in GBP and income in a Scottish pound. Exchange rate volatility can be a threat and an opportunity
- in time join the EU and use the Euro

I think in any of those situations the Bank of England would manage fine.

Sorry, this has derailed the Smile of the Day a bit so I’ll add, heated grips. Took the MT09 for its MOT last week. Heated grips are cool

[Ruffy]

Originally Posted by TamSV

Heated grips are cool

Whether you were being deliberately ironic or not with this last phrase, it made me smile!

[Seeker]

FIA reviews Mercedes F1 evidence...

https://tinyurl.com/2p88apw6

[Bibio]

Tam read the second paragraph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland

i cant remember the link of where i found the information but it was buried deep in Gov BOE text. due to Scotland not having a legal tender they still remain on a barter system, there was a court case here in Kdy about a second hand shop keeper refusing to barter for furniture with a customer. the customer won the case.

you may use notes in daily life but they are worthless just like everything you own unless you want to trade it for some sheep.

thanks for clarifying Westminster borrowing

you can come and take my bike for its MOT, its got heated grips