Scottish Independance

I've just voted Yes as I think it's now better if they just go, but unfortunately once they're independent we (rest of UK) can't stop them having another referendum about wanting to re-join if it all goes pear shaped and 'Scottish Unionists' re-gain a majority.

And then the SNP will try and overturn that decision and so it will go on and on. There seems to be plenty of reports of those who think they'll 'give independence a go' and believe they can reverse it if things don't work out as the rest of UK wants them so much.

 

Yes they both have the dollar! So what's the problem with the Scots keeping the pound?

 

Err its the Canadian dollar and the US dollar.
They have different values.

 

Full independence. Except for the currency. And the banks that underwrite the currency. And the policy makers that tell the banks that underwrite the currency what to do. Oh, and the laws. Most of our laws are identical between the jurisdiction of England and Wales and the jurisdiction of Scotland, which in turn are mostly in line with the EU now.

So apart from the currency, the policy that influences the currency, and the laws, full independence. Except for business. There'll need to be some common ground if any reliable trade is going to continue, which it will have to, for both sides of the border.

But apart from currency, the policy that influences currency, the laws, and the trade terms, they can have full independence. Unless someone threatens them. Then with their circa 900 service personnel, they'll probably want some sort of alliance with the rest of the UK, or NATO. NATO's terms of entry include that a nation has to be able to offer a viable contribution, so that means they'll probably want to keep the rest of the UK handy for any scrapes they might get into.

So, they can have full independence in every respect, apart from the currency, the banks, financial policy, law, trade and military.

 

Just makes you wonder who they want independence from, the rest of the UK, presumably, but not Europe.
The way things are going in Europe, its likely that they will have a stronger hold on them than the UK in the future.
So instead of being dominated, (as they think they are at the moment), by Westminster, they will be dominated by Brussels in the future.

Doesn't really sound like independence to me.

 

Yes, I know that Pete, I have children living in both countries. I was picking up on Kristen's point. Although they both have the dollar and separate currencies it doesn't stop them trading with each other. So why have the English got a problem with the Scots keeping the pound?

 

Ah I think I see what you mean. Nothing to stop them having a Scottish Pound (Egypt has a Pound ), provided that it has a different value to the English one (although they could track each other, and even be 1:1, but it would still be possible for the relative values to change in the future if they needed to - e.g. if there was economic turmoil at some future date).

What they shouldn't have is the same Pound as the English - without political union you can't really share the same currency. In Boom & Bust you have different political opinions - in a recession the canny Scots decide to save and be austere, the English decide to borrow & spend on Roads and infrastructure; interest rates will be different in both scenarios/countries, foreign investors will see the value of each nation's currency differently, and so on. That's why the Euro is in such a mess just now - worked OK when everyone was making hay, but fell to bits when times turned hard (and the German economy was still strong, but many of the others were weak)

 

P.S. I thought US$ and CA$ tracked each other, but just looked at a comparison graph and they have varied by up to 30% over the last 10 years ...

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=CAD&view=10Y

 

Scottish pounds are being printed now ... OK so they will need a different "picture" otherwise the existing ones in circulation will suddenly become worth more/less as the currencies split, but basically all that has to happen is that England stops paying for them to be printed. The system is already tooled up

If they retain the English pound I assume they will still have to pay to have their "share" of new note printed (another thing to argue & fall out about over currency union - dunno how the EU figured out how to portion out Euro printing costs ??), so perhaps no significant difference in terms of just getting the stuff printed?

 

Would it change the union jack flag? we wouldn't actually need the 'blue' anymore!! we could add a dragon and include Wales a bit more! I feel kinda sad about all this and so hope it is a NO vote!

Val