Letters / The negative people
I have just received two leaflets this morning, one from Yes and the other from those other negatively disposed people.
Oddly enough, BOTH of them encourage me to vote for them because it is the “only” way to save the NHS in Scotland. Funny that!
The negative people tell me that Scotland has full devolved power over the NHS already, and this is actually true, but for ONE important thing; funding.
Being that it is well known (and this is again repeated on the Yes leaflet) that the Tories in Westminster are busily beavering away contracting lucrative services out to private companies in which they have pecuniary interests and even directorships, the amount the state will have to spend funding the English NHS will diminish over time.
They will then be able to reduce funding to the Scottish NHS pro rata, thereby meaning that we can no longer afford to carry on funding certain aspects of it without doing the unthinkable and cutting services, or contracting out ourselves.
They tell us that “voting No means more jobs”. If that is the case, why do we not have them already?
Why did Thatcher’s government devastate Scottish industry in the 80s by privatising the steel industry and then demolishing Ravenscraig?
Why did they let upper Clyde shipbuilders go to the wall by refusing government intervention at a time when almost every other country in Europe was giving their industries a helping hand?
They tell us that we get £1,200 higher public spending per Scot. Yes we do… Just now! The amount we receive under the Barnett formula takes into account the fact that Scotland is not as densely populated as England, and that it costs more per capita to provide a similar level of service.
What it doesn’t mention is that, of the revenues generated into the exchequer by Scottish enterprise, including king oil; we only get approximately 70 per cent returned to us, a sum that equates to about an extra £1,700 per person.
Adding to that the groundswell of opinion from Tories that the Barnett formula should be replaced by a system based on “need”, so goodbye to the extra £1200! Let alone the rest!
“Voting No means safer pensions”: The DWP have guaranteed that anyone who has contributed to their pension by paying UK National insurance, will be entitled to a UK pension.
You can still get your UK pension even if you go and live in a foreign country; Spain is a popular bolt hole for many English pensioners I believe.
Are they still getting theirs? Of course they are! Why would we be different? In fact, if you are young enough to have contributed to the UK one and then contribute to a Scottish one, you may well end up better off.
Can’t be any worse anyhow since the UK state pension is about the poorest in Europe!
They also tell us that “losing the pound means higher interest rates”. Not good if you have a mortgage, and if it is, in fact true.
But what about people who don’t? People like myself, who are lucky enough to have cleared their mortgage, or people who are in rented accommodation? Or people who rely on a bit of income from savings, which at present would be safer and just as productive under the bed?
“Leaving the UK will mean more expensive shopping”: OK, if that’s what it takes then so be it!
I’ll just have to buy cheaper stuff, instead of branded goods for a while, until those magical market forces drive prices down again. I could do with eating a bit less anyway so I might be able to get back into some of my old clothes again, meaning that I don’t have to spend money buying more expensive new ones. Result!
The negative people also tell me that voting No will “guarantee” more powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament, but these very same people insisted that the “Devo Max” option on the ballot paper was removed.
It would have given us all powers except those over defence and foreign policy and would truly have been the best of both worlds: preserving the Union while giving Scotland the political and fiscal freedom that now only a Yes vote will guarantee.
In other words, they gave people like me no other viable choice but to vote Yes.
Now they are panicking and falling over themselves, promising things that they probably won’t deliver at the end of the day.
And bear in mind that Brown, Darling, Miliband and Murphy are NOT in power at present and have no more authority to promise anything that I do!
Then I turn it over and find that none other than JK Rowling is imploring me to vote No!
It is indeed ironic that someone who has made a fortune from writing works of complete fantasy and fiction should appear on this document. You couldn’t make it up! Not even her!
Colin Hunter,
Brecknaheim,
Busta,
Brae
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