Have you noticed the opoor seem to be getting a better deal in Scotland and Wales?

Concordia - SNP MPs have never voted on purely English matters for the very reason that it wouldn't be fair. Labour on the other hand would bever have got anything through without the votes of Scottish Labour Mps. There are some issues which although being about spending on England, have a knock-on effect (to do with the Barnett formula and consequensials, which I don't fully understand). I think along the lines of, if there is a cut in the spending in England, there will a percentage cut in the equivalent budget to Scotland. SNP MPs would vote on those issues, asit would therefore impact on their constituents.
However, simple answer - independence for all!

'Btw, it's so sad reading about people's experiences on here. Why don't we rejoice in our differences and enjoy them, rather than attack anyone who speaks with a different accent.'

I meant to write this on another thread, not here. I really am losing my marbles ...

Dont worry about it, now wales has the 'yes' vote things will slowly go downhill. I think people forget that all the things like free prescriptions are done because we can take mobey from th english coffers, and that wont happen now so we're up the creek without a paddle, no way can wales continue the way it is at the moment with uni fees and prescription charges

I think the way school places are allocated here (Scotland) is the same as in England. If you are in the catchment area you get in. But if you want a school outwith the catchment area, you have to have points for nine things like disabilities or siblings already at the school of choice. Not a good system, imo, but a thorny issue, and probably not best explored here (don't want to hijack the OP).

Btw, it's so sad reading about people's experiences on here. Why don't we rejoice in our differences and enjoy them, rather than attack anyone who speaks with a different accent.

also aren't England well known for having laughable systems, school places for example.

It is called being Proactive I think.

Yes and I didn't pick her up on it, but as far as I know we have greater poverty and deprivation in Scotland than in England - but who's scoring points!

"Have you noticed the opoor seem to be getting a better deal in Scotland and Wales?"

Surely the o'poor are in Ireland...

I don't know what the figures are, but assuming you are correct, I don't defend teh disparity in amounts. All I think is that if we have one good system (Scotland) and one bad one (England) it makes more sense to change the bad one.

I agree that English students also deserve to go to uni without having to pay tuition fees, and English old people should also have free personal care.

In Scotland, we voted in a government (the previous ones and the present) who gave us these things. The English need a similar government.

mellow - scotland can only afford it because it gets more per head of funding from central gov - 1496 more per person than in England.

Well then we all need to vote for the political party that will deliver it! Clearly if Scotland can afford it, England can - you have far more millionaires per metre than we do. It's just a matter of priorities.

mellow - good idea. england just needs the same funding as scotland and wales to enable us to do this.

Sorry I'm a bit late to the debate, but surely the best solution is for the Westminster government to adopt the good policies in Scotland (free care for the elderly, no tuition fees etc), not for Scotland to lose their democratic rights in the same way as the rest of the UK are.

Also, that would undermine the calls from Scotland for independence.

lisa mca i draw your attention to the following research as reported in the Times
a recent calculation estimates that just 163,000 Scottish taxpayers, from a population of 5m, make any net contribution to the British exchequer. The rest receive more than they pay out in reliefs, subsidies and benefit

80% of money spent by the scottish Government comes from England. i am sure they could make this money up, mainly by a 5p in the pound (minimum) tax rise , and massive cuts and cost increases

Simply put, the Welsh and Scottish parliaments have far less tories voting on issues like this, therefore poorer people there are always going to benefit more than they would in England.

and that scottish and welsh mps vote on the english budget, so they have no duty of care to their constituents and just vote for what is cheapest!

itsallgoing - many areas in england don't have grammar schools and even where they do exist its very hard to get into one - even if you are top 20% of class.

How about we swap and you have SATS and we'll have all the free stuff i listed in my previous thread

Mozette - yes its up to them how they allocate their budgets - the unfair thing is that their budgets are so much higher than englands to start with.

DONT MENTION THE OIL!

but as someone has already pointed out there are lots of things we don't have in scotland - e.g. We don't have SATS or grammar schools.

Also AFAIK scotland pays back more in taxes to the westminster government than it recieves. And then of course there is the oil revenue...

But surely it is up to those devolved countries how they allocate their budgets?

minkyjj - according to the gov report i've just read yes - expenditure on services last year is listed at bottom of my note. this explains why wales/scotland get free perscriptions, free school breakfast clubs, cheap hospital car parking, cheaper care for the old and low/no tuition fees and student grants (remember those things we used to get?!). they obviously don't need this level of gov money if they can afford to provide so much more than we get in england - or perhaps we need more money in england to address the imbalance?

8399 england
9895 scotland
9418 wales
10463 NI

Dont some areas of the UK get a higher budget per head though than others ?