Would scotland actually benefit from independence?

Question

Correct me if i'm wrong, but Scotland (and Wales, to be fair) is pretty much subsidised by England. It's the only country in the UK with it's population actually declining, and i can guarantee more Tax goes into Scotland than comes out. If it were to achieve independence, how would Scotland's economy cope? I know the majority of the Scottish aren't foolish enough to believe they are better off seperate from the rest of the UK, but could the arrogance of the few influence the voting of the many?
Finally, Would the UK suffer from the loss of Scotland? Sentiment aside, i'm not entirely convinced it would.

Answer 1

I really didn't plan on contributing to this real but somehow provoking dilemma , but I'm here now so as a Scottish / Irish individual,i would just like to say as a nation which has shot itself in the foot on occasion ,(take to long to explain why we had to give up our Independence all those long years ago)benefits are not an issue in my mind,but just think for a second the next time you put the kettle on who supplied the electricity and all probability the water in your cup!!

Answer 2

Comment!

The Scottish national party would like to think Scotland would be better off without being part of Great Britain!.

They would have the Scottish people think that everything would be rosy and nothing much would change, "or things would change for the good almost overnight"!. Sadly they are very wrong and if Scotland left the union they would suffer enormously.

What they don't seem to realise is that " its the being part of Britain" - that brings the benefits of prosperity investment and social development. Scotland by itself has no influence on anything!.

At the moment Westminster government gives Scotland substantial monetary grant related to its needs, this goes to run the economy of the country. The amount runs into billions, of pounds each year - If this money where to stop, which it would if Scotland went its own way. Then the same amount would have to be raised elsewhere, by higher taxes. The nationalists don't mention the higher taxes in their speeches and rhetoric.

In a sense Scotland and southern Ireland are very similar in nature and size of population. The nationalists like to cite the great economic improvement of southern Ireland as a model in which they would follow and succeed. Ireland has only become prosperous because of being a member off The EC, which has allowed billions of euros to be spent in Ireland, which otherwise would not have been available..

Since Scotland would not be a member EC and would have to apply for membership which could take years to negotiate its before any money became available from that source then its unlikely that would be better of leaving the union.

At the moment the British nuclear submarines fleet is based on the Clyde river close to Glasgow. its said that there are 30000 people either directly or indirectly employed looking after these assets. The nationalists want to see the subs moved away which would automatically cause the loss of all those jobs.

In the event of Scotland leaving the union, then out the two countries things wouldn't really change much in England, the prosperity would continue to raise its payments to the EC would go down because it wouldn't have to pay for Scotland anymore while things really would change in Scotland .If I were Scottish id think twice before voting for something that could be so damaging.

If they really want to go then they should, but they should understand that once gone we don't want emm back!.

Answer 3

I honestly dont think Scotland would do very well if it were an independant nation. Initially we will rely on oil revenue from the North Sea, which will run out in the not to distant future, despite claims they are finding new feilds all the time....this will run out!
Tourism accounts for a huge quantity of our economy, the worry is how much will this fall when tourists visiting England (in particular London) stop making the trip north due to possibly haveing to gain a seperate touist visa into the country.
Also we have to contend with a rapidly declining population only sustained in the 18-25 age groups by the massive influx of students attending university in the country, this is a massive worry as students are being educated here then leaving to find employment in other countries within 5 years of being completing their degrees. The income generated from students in university towns such as Dundee is vital for the economy. A massive worry is that once we have independance will english, welsh and irish students have to pay fees at similar rates to those from outwith the UK (i believe which can be as much as £27,000 per year to study medicine in Edinburgh) Will these students decide not to move up north? This i feel will ahve a detrimental effect ont eh scottish further education system, with the worry that universities will push for the reversal of the current fees situation for domestic students. Without the income from english students will they push the government to start charging fees as is currently done in England. Here in Scotland we dont pay fees at the moment but how long will this last.

All in all i think independance for Scotland is a terrible idea especially if this gives power tot he SNP and their religion based/biased policies!!

Answer 4

On one hand, it's less about economy than it is about Independence, some Scots want to have their own government, completely free from Westminster.

Other Scots claim that north sea oil and some other natural resources belong to them, and want them to be sole property of Scotland.

If Scotland were to become an independent state, it would have 2 major problems. The constitutional problem, combined with the loss of her benefits from Westminster, and then an international problem concerning ownership of north sea oil.

I believe the biggest problem with Scottish Independence is that the economy is too specialised, and not broad enough to survive without being part of the union. IT would be out-competed by the Union in the service sector, and has no real aggrarian market to fall back on.

Answer 5

More of an answer to mowhok1, I'm afraid, than to the question itself.

The Scottish Executive's figures show that, during the fiscal year 2004-05 (the latest for which figures are currently available), total tax receipts EXCLUDING North Sea oil were £36.4bn (8.1% of the UK total). INCLUDING North Sea oil, they were £47.6bn (~9.3% of UK total). This obviously includes revenues from things like the Whisky and tourism industries.

Total government spending attributable to Scotland was £47.7bn (or 9.7% of the UK total).

(These figures include local government receipts/spending.)

So if we include North sea oil, Scotland pays about £100m less in tax than it gets back in public spending. That doesn't sound like much of a difference. However, there are a couple of things to note:

1) The spending figure doesn't include government spending in relation to the North Sea oilfields. Probably not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but it all adds up.

2) If we take North Sea oil revenue out, there's a deficit of £11.3bn. Even in the highly unlikely event of a newly-independent Scotland having managing to secure 100% of North sea oil revenue for its own coffers, we will still have to find a way to plug that gap within the next 30 years.

3) Another worrying statistic is that Scotland, with 8.5% of the UK population, accounts for only 8.2% of its GDP. Are some people spending too much time in the office spent writing drivel on Yahoo Answers instead of working?

Of course, one can argue that going it alone will be a massive boost to the economy, and that Scoltand the Brand will flourish free from the shackles of its Sassenach occupiers.

Perhaps. I don't care, anyway. As soon as I get my first novel published and don't have to do any more bloody work ever again I'm getting out of this whole cr@phouse of a country (the UK, that is) to live the life of a nomad/international playboy!

Answer 6

In some techniques and for some people it may be ok yet common sure it extremely is a romantic imaginative and prescient of misty eyed Scottishness (to which i'm not thoroughly destructive). besides the undeniable fact that Britain is purely lots extra desirable for each individual it purely isn't a actual runner on the triumphing time. the united kingdom is a lot extra desirable off collectively than it extremely is aside. the alternative of being dictated to via the ecu and its unelected bureaucrats particularly does make Westminster look like suited no count number how incorrect it may be.

Answer 7

No Scotland wouldn't benefit from independence, but yes the UK would suffer as Scotland is the country with the best water in the UK so we could refuse it to the rest of the UK.

Answer 8

YES IT WOULD !!!! just think of all the tax revenue that Westminster have been taking off the Scots for years.......at last we would get that back, and the only reason that the English don't want Scotland to become independent, is because of all the money they would be missing out on. And another thing, England and Europe for years and years have been taking the fishing rights and the rights of the farmers off them, they have been trying to run this country down to the ground If we get independence, we will get it all back !!!!!!!

Answer 9

what a load of bollocks. i want you to prove we are subsidised by england; i bet you cant. scotland pays in more than it takes out. you need to look at london as they are the ones getting subsidised by the whole uk.

zacchaeu… i have seen various lists comiled by people over the last few months and they back up both sideds of the argument. i however believe you can compile statistics to show what you want. i dont want indpendance as i feel it would damage the whole of the uk; however to say scotland cant go it alone becouse our ecomomy would colapse is rubbish. and to say we are a burdon on the rest of the uk is pure propaganda. good job on your research though

Answer 10

This is a rather interesting quote. :-)

"It’s most probably true that Scotland subsidises the rest of Britain if you take into account a classic international law interpretation of who the oil belongs to. It’s northern England that is the major beneficiary of our subsidy, and Northern Ireland as well." - Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London