Tag: finance

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Putting the Scotland’s below inflation cost increases into context

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By stewartb Mr Whittle chooses to be a Tory. He has no doubt been delighted that the UK had a Tory government in Westminster for more than a decade prior to mid-2024, with his Tory colleagues responsible for setting most UK fiscal and all monetary policies. Plus responsibility for determining the financing of local government in England, with its knock on impacts for the ‘block grant’ transferred to NI, Scotland and Wales. And so he really does need to face up to and acknowledge his own party’s impact! in government! From the Swim England website dated November 21, 2023: ‘Ongoing high … Continue reading Putting the Scotland’s below inflation cost increases into context

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Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

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Thanks once more to Dottie for alerting me to this. From Richard Murphy, today: The national debt has just fallen by £1.5 trillion There is a very strange feature that, as far as I can see, has not had much attention paid to it so far within the Whole of Government Accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 that were published yesterday. Ignoring the fact that, as I noted yesterday, these accounts were subject to qualification by the National Audit Office because about 90% of the data from local authorities required for their preparation was either unavailable or had not itself been audited, some … Continue reading Latest UK national debt has fallen by £1.5 TRILLION so Labour cannot deny pensioners a country in which it is possible to live in their old age

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Scotland’s free prescription costs static in line with inflation despite 29% increase in those over 75, over 10 years

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland, yesterday: The total (net) cost for dispensing items and providing services in 2023/24 was £1.62 billion, increasing by 6.5% from £1.52 billion in 2022/23. This follows a period of largely rising cost, increasing by 35.3% over the last 10 years.1 UK general inflation in the same period was 34%.2 The inflation rate specifically for pharmaceuticals from 2015, was 33.5%.3 For 2014 it was 1.45%4, giving a total of 34.9%, almost exactly the same as the 35.3% for the cost of prescriptions. In the same period: The number of people aged 75 … Continue reading Scotland’s free prescription costs static in line with inflation despite 29% increase in those over 75, over 10 years

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Arran – history of remarkable transformation enabled by a ferry service delivered by a publicly-owned company subsidised by tax payers across Scotland.

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stewartb How hard is it for companies operating on Arran – how hard relative to businesses elsewhere? The ‘Auchrannie Resort’ is one of the largest, plushest hotel, spa and leisure offerings to tourists visiting Arran. It must be one of the island’s largest companies and wholly dependent on its customers wanting to – and being able to – get to the island. On the home page of its web site its states: ‘Did you know that 750,000 journeys are made to and from Arran each year?’ The company web site describes its history in the following terms: ‘Auchrannie was acquired by … Continue reading Arran – history of remarkable transformation enabled by a ferry service delivered by a publicly-owned company subsidised by tax payers across Scotland.

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England’s national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century

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BBC Business yesterday, reported: UK [sic] national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century due to several pressures, according to the government’s official forecaster. Those pressures include an ageing population, climate change, and rising geopolitical tensions, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said in a report. Remarkably, the report does not mention the most important reason for the UK’s historical debt going back decades now, since the British Empire could no longer force its manufactured goods onto colonies and extract their raw materials free of charge. England does have a surplus of around £130 billion … Continue reading England’s national debt is on course to treble over the next half a century

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England’s national debt is 885 times Scotland’s borrowing limit

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The Herald today reports: UK public sector borrowing came in higher than expected in June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Borrowing was £14.5 billion in June, £3.2 billion less than June last year, but well above the £11.6 billion forecast by the Government’s spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Scotland can borrow a bit, contrary to some claims. From the Ferret: Under the fiscal framework, Scotland’s borrowing powers are limited. However, they do have some ability to borrow within the fiscal rules.  The Scottish Government is able to borrow for both resource and capital spending, but does not … Continue reading England’s national debt is 885 times Scotland’s borrowing limit

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If Mrs Thatcher had not existed then Labour would have had to invent her

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By Legerwood If Mrs Thatcher had not existed then Labour would have had to invent her in order to hide their culpability in the demise of Scottish industry which started long before she became PM. Labour had two periods in power in the ’60s and ’70s but did not do anything to stop the closure of pits and shipyards or help the communities so badly affected by these closures. At the time of nationalisation of the coal mines by the Attlee Gov there were 225 mines across Central Scotland. By the time Mrs Thatcher became PM in 1979 there were … Continue reading If Mrs Thatcher had not existed then Labour would have had to invent her

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Scotland’s extraordinary fiscal contribution to UK economy revealed and that’s before Oil and gas revenue!

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Many thanks to Andrew for spotting this From The London Economic yesterday but largely ignored elsewhere: Scotland’s annual tax contributions to the UK have increased by £14.2 billion over the last decade, with income tax, capital gains tax and taxes on productions such as environmental levies driving this increased contribution. New analysis shows that the Scottish public sector generated an annual revenue of £73.3 billion during the last financial year, a 24 per cent increase versus a decade ago, equating to an increased contribution of £14.2 billion to the UK economy. As a result, Scotland now accounts for 8 per … Continue reading Scotland’s extraordinary fiscal contribution to UK economy revealed and that’s before Oil and gas revenue!

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Should Scotland follow Ireland, Denmark, Portugal or Slovakia

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By Alasdair Galloway Jill Stephenson, retired Prof of Modern German History at Edinburgh University, but for our purposes an indefatigable defender of the Union while equally contemptuous of Independence, has a letter in this morning’s Herald, which illustrates some important issues, not least the limitations of infantile Economics. I have to admit that I was concerned about Humza Yousaf’s use of Denmark, Finland and Ireland as comparators to illustrate Scotland’s potential if independent. The main point of contact between Scotland and these three countries seems to me to be population size, but beyond that comparisons become more difficult. For instance, … Continue reading Should Scotland follow Ireland, Denmark, Portugal or Slovakia

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An Independent Scotland could use the power of its sovereign currency to improve people’s lives

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And is an excellent reason to leave the failing UK Leah Gunn Barrett The letter below was published in the December 30th edition of The Scotsman. In it, I respond to Jill Stephenson, a member of the Scotland in Union group of letter writers. She appears regularly in the unionist papers letters pages. A retired professor of modern German history, she should stick to history and steer clear of economics, a subject about which she knows very little. Jill Stephenson (Scotsman letters page, December 29th, 2023) again displays her economic ignorance.  First, why shouldn’t Scotland benefit from pandemic financial support as it’s … Continue reading An Independent Scotland could use the power of its sovereign currency to improve people’s lives