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f4f3So, this week the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party, the three biggest and generally antithetical forces in UK politics, united together to rule out a formal currency union with Scotland, in the event that we vote to become independent.
I won't talk too much about the economics of a currency union - I understand that most economists think it's a workable solution, and that any other choice will cost Scotland a lot of money, and the remaining UK a lot more money. I'm prepared to argue the toss over that in the (unlikely) event that anyone wants to comment.
So it's important to understand that this was a political manoeuvre. The Unionists have joined ranks to set aside their political differences (however narrow these may have become) and the financial interests of their own voters, in favour of promoting the outcome they want in the referendum.
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The Unionist politicians are behaving like, well, like politicians. They are making big threats, they are working together, they are out to win.
When Scotland becomes independent this is the sort of situation they'll face 100 times a year. Larger, more powerful countries are going to gang up on them, bully them, use their economic and political levers to get the best possibly outcomes for their own country.
I'm interested that the Unionists have started this phase of their attack on Independence so early - I'd have thought that they would keep their powder dry till around July or August, and pull some big scare stories and some big bribes out of the bag when it's too late for them to be analysed. I'm waiting for the stories about England's claim to North Sea Oil, for Spain to come out and confirm a veto of Scotland's EU membership, for NATO to threaten to expel Scotland if it removes the Trident nuclear weapons system, and probably a few other threats. Cameron has been lobbying other EU countries pretty hard, as well as courting Putin's views and those of big Scottish based companies (although multi-nationals are blase about having another government to deal with, their senior office holders can be encouraged to make "personal statements" which are reported as "BP/RBS will pull out of Scotland").
I think Labour has queered its pitch in Scotland, though, for a long time to come. I held a grudge against the SNP for 30 years for supporting the Tory no-confidence vote which opened the door for Thatcher's government in, er, 1979. I think that I'll be seeing this jolly picture of Ed Balls and Norman Osborne chuckling together on some BBC sofa for a long time to come.
I won't talk too much about the economics of a currency union - I understand that most economists think it's a workable solution, and that any other choice will cost Scotland a lot of money, and the remaining UK a lot more money. I'm prepared to argue the toss over that in the (unlikely) event that anyone wants to comment.
So it's important to understand that this was a political manoeuvre. The Unionists have joined ranks to set aside their political differences (however narrow these may have become) and the financial interests of their own voters, in favour of promoting the outcome they want in the referendum.
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The Unionist politicians are behaving like, well, like politicians. They are making big threats, they are working together, they are out to win.
When Scotland becomes independent this is the sort of situation they'll face 100 times a year. Larger, more powerful countries are going to gang up on them, bully them, use their economic and political levers to get the best possibly outcomes for their own country.
I'm interested that the Unionists have started this phase of their attack on Independence so early - I'd have thought that they would keep their powder dry till around July or August, and pull some big scare stories and some big bribes out of the bag when it's too late for them to be analysed. I'm waiting for the stories about England's claim to North Sea Oil, for Spain to come out and confirm a veto of Scotland's EU membership, for NATO to threaten to expel Scotland if it removes the Trident nuclear weapons system, and probably a few other threats. Cameron has been lobbying other EU countries pretty hard, as well as courting Putin's views and those of big Scottish based companies (although multi-nationals are blase about having another government to deal with, their senior office holders can be encouraged to make "personal statements" which are reported as "BP/RBS will pull out of Scotland").
I think Labour has queered its pitch in Scotland, though, for a long time to come. I held a grudge against the SNP for 30 years for supporting the Tory no-confidence vote which opened the door for Thatcher's government in, er, 1979. I think that I'll be seeing this jolly picture of Ed Balls and Norman Osborne chuckling together on some BBC sofa for a long time to come.
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Date: 2014-02-16 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-16 11:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-16 06:16 pm (UTC)