Oil - An epic example of Westminster's economic mismanagement
Now, let's look at a specific, epic case study of Westminster's economic mismanagement. Norway and the UK have managed their oil and gas industries very differently, resulting in a substantial contrast of fortunes in their economies. A key argument against independence is the claim that Scotland would be too small a nation to maximise the benefit of its oil and gas industry. However, when comparing the UK and Norway's oil and gas production and the revenues generated from this industry, we can see that Norway has generated £572.7bn more than the UK Government in tax revenues since the production of oil and gas began. 472
Britain's Broken Economy is holding Scotland back
Throughout the articles in this series, we have already seen that the UK is in no position to bail out or subsidise Scotland. In reality, that subsidy has gone the other way. Brexit may be a case study on the Westminster Government's incompetence and following its implementation we have seen:
The Barnett Formula Myth Destroyed - It does not subsidise Scotland
Arguably the most misunderstood part of the UK public sector budgeting mechanism is the Barnett Formula. The vast majority of people, politicians and the media seem to think that Barnett represents a subsidy to Scotland. Many Westminster MPs (mainly Conservatives) have described it as English taxpayers subsidising Scottish public spending, and the mainstream media have run headlines along those lines. There is just one little problem with that idea – it’s complete and utter nonsense.
The Croydon Principle - How Westminster secretly sends Scotland's budget south
Our previous article in this series explained how Scotland is not subsidised. However, there is another spending principle that also removes wealth from Scotland, which I call the Croydon Principle. This is summed up best by the former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who said:
What now that Boris has said No to a Scottish Independence Referendum?
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has written to the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to refuse her demand for Westminster to transfer the power to hold a second independence referendum to the Scottish parliament. The letter contains (attached) a clear falsehood that Nicola Sturgeon promised that the 2014 referendum would be a once in a lifetime opportunity - she said that she thought it would be, but made no such promise. That type of bluster and falsehood may win cheers in Westminster, but it will go down very badly with voters in Scotland.
Boris Johnson is repeating Swinson's error and it will end the Union
The Liberal Democrats had the opportunity of a lifetime to do well and maybe even hold the balance of power in GE 2019. Their stars were aligned but they threw it all away by committing the biggest and most basic error in politics. They adopted an idea that had majority support (stopping Brexit) but they turned it into an undemocratic policy.
The UK versus an independent Scotland - which would be better governed?
Scotland will soon be considering independence again, and how well an independent Scotland would be governed is a topical issue for undecided voters. It is important to note that the governance of a nation is not about specific political parties or politicians, it is about the structure and systems of government that deliver for the people and the trust that those people have in their Government in all its forms.
A tale of two governments: 7 key performance comparisons between the Scottish and Westminster Governments
With a general election on the way, focusing on Brexit and independence, there will be a blizzard of claims about government records. Therefore, we have compared and contrasted the two governments, the UK Conservatives and SNP in Scotland, in a number of significant areas.
Scotland’s NHS outperforms the rest of the UK - here’s why
The past seven years of Conservative government has been one in which “the health service has endured the longest period of austerity in its 70-year history”. The most recent data from 2017 shows that Conservative governments since 2010 have introduced more severe austerity on health spending than any of their predecessors. In fact, health spending has seen its lowest increases since records began. The rate of increase in the number of doctors per 1,000 people has slowed dramatically and the number of nurses per 1,000 people has actually fallen since 2010.
US trade deal would rip NHS Scotland from Holyrood's control
Donald Trump on his state visit to the UK confirmed that the NHS should be “on the table” as part of a post-Brexit UK/USA trade deal. The backlash against that statement has now led him to backtrack but the whole point of the UK Government taking the Scottish Government to the Supreme Court to intercept powers over procurement was purely to allow post-Brexit trade deals to happen.