Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

I blame the government!

8-)

So do I.

And I do too....crikey ....we all agree...

Watch it RF Hays will be calling you a lefty.

Please believe that I do have some, what you call leftish ideas.....I don't like unfairness and people being badly treated ..(I could write a book about that)...the problem I have with the left and in particular the left we see today is that the ultra-rich can do anything they like...the benefit-scroungers....(I don't mean people that are looking for work and the really needy)....can get away with just about anything when Labour are in power and the middle-class are taxed up to the eyebrows !....

New Poll out, floods not doing Tories any favours................

electionista ‏@electionista
UK - YouGov/Sun poll:

CON 32%
LAB 39%
LD 8%
UKIP 13%

Glad to hear Scotland will lose the pound if they leave the UK, thats clearly the right call I think. You only have to look at Europe to know a currency union doen't work.

Cameron and Osborne are playing a blinder. Bully boy tactics of the school yard.

I would think a lot of Scots will say to hell with the the UK. and the majority are not as Euro-phobic as the little Englanders.

I have a guess that this act of stupidity will push more towards the wish for independence.


Many small states use the Euro as currency without being within the EU and many Scots would be happier to be within the EU.

I was in Yugoslavia at the time of the "upheaval" and the currency for everyday life was the Euro or dollar.

Money was changed on a day to day basis if or when necessary.

Some of the remaining states still do a large amount of their business with the dollars or Euro.

========

All three parties are saying no pound for Scotland. It is not just the Conservatives. Currency union has been bad for Europe and we don't want it.

There wouldn't be anything whatsoever preventing an independent Scotland from calling their currency whatever they wanted. They could call it the Pound, the Euro, or even the Jockoty if they wanted.

The point here isn't about what currency they choose to use or what name they give it, it's about who the central bank is that control distribution of that currency, set interest rates, provide monetary policy and guidance and, if necessary, act as a lender of last resort. What Cameron and all the UK mainstream political parties are saying here is that if Scotland obtain independence, the BoE will not be prepared to act as their central bank.

So Scotland would need to either seek the permission of an institution like the ECB to act as their central bank (there's no guarantee that the EU would say yes to this and, if they did, it would almost certainly mean them forcibly joining the EU and adopting the Euro) or they'd need to set up their own central bank. Most importantly, if a Scottish bank got into trouble, the BoE would not help bail them out (and why should they if they're no longer part of the UK?).

Its not bully boy tactics at all, thats the spin the Scotts have put on it but the approach is common sense. You cant have a single currency union and two two governments with different agendas, it doesn't work. You only have to look at Europe to understand the potential issues.

If Scotland want independance then fine, but they should committ to it 100% and have their own monetary policy and interest rates rather then make the argument, set the date to vote but have an exit clause if it all goes wrong.

On edit- Very Well said Hilary

Wee Eck and partners want a free ride, let them join the €uro...oops, the €urobuns don't want them either.

Who uses the euro outside the euro area?

A currency union with Scotland would be pointless for the UK. What would be the benefits for us? We would have to set Scotland's interest rates, influence or even set their budget. We would also have to be their lender of last resort to bail out their banks. Why would we want to do any of it. If we did it then we should charge Scotland a large fee every year.

If Scotland were to get independence then on the subject of banks being bailed out by government where would Scotlands government stand on RBS being majority owned by the UK taxpayer...

It was Alistair Darling that brokered the deal for all three parties to refuse to give Scotland the pound.

So!

Is Cameron and henchmen are so much in favour of the union why is he as "leader" still ducking a debate face to face with Salmond?

Hasn't got courage of his convictions.

I suspect he doesn't have many convictions other than those of convenience.