to wonder why people in England have to pay for prescriptions

[AtYourCervix]

and in Scotland and Wales they are free?

How the fuck can that happen?

dreaming... all this 'it's not fair' stuff, that's hardly the spirit, is it? stop the foot-stamping and get an independence party going.

re the £12.9 billion, the thinking rather tallies with what the american prof was saying, although iirc his figures were more modest.

but as habs says... what is it with the tories and the union? why keep us tgether if we're so shit for you guys? it just doesn't make sense.

niceguy we're not regions we're countries. FFS

that is all

and Salmond is a big plum.

he is a bit. did really well on here, mind you.

Salmond did do really well on here. Although I did notice that none of the "it's not fair" brigade didn't come on and ask him questions abut how unfair it is that Scotland apparently gets everything

You know how there are scottish MPs in London Parliament?

Well, do we have English MPs in the Scottish/Welsh and NI Parliaments?

I agree with Jolly Segeant - it should either be that there is one parliament or 4 -surely they're all rubbing their hands together in NI, Wales and Scotland and thinking how gulliable the English are??

Is surely doesn't cost more to administer rural areas? As peripheral countries, I'm sure Wales, NI (and Eire) and Scotland get EU boosts anyway. Not sure if this still exists but it used to.

and if they are also free in Wales, and NI gets more money per head than any other UK region country, then how come it's all Scots bashing that goes on?

Doesn't cost more to administer rural areas???

Try £160 million a year in subsidies to provide lifeline ferry services to the Western Isles alone (ie not including Orkney and Shetland).

And that's just one example.

And Holyrood pay for that - not Westminster.

It really does feel like Scots get bashed Saltire, more so than Wales and Ireland. I'm a Scot, living in one of Europes must deprived cities (apparently). I work full time, I pay my taxes and I do get a bit annoyed at some comments which make it sound like Scotland is this incredible haven where we get everything for nothing and don't contribute. It's infuriating.
I do understand it's infuriating if you live in England also, but as a Scot there is nothing I can personally do. You need to make a stand. I have no idea why Scottish MP's can vote on English only laws. Possibly they make a swing vote or something.
Stop bashing us ordinary people though, we just live day to day and I can tell you it's not easy street.

During the westiminster elections there were lots of threads on here along the lines of "why do Scots people get to vote in this election, what's it got to do with them, why do they have MPs down here".
No criticsm mention fo the fact that NI and Wales also ahve westminster MPs.
It's not the Scots "fault". The devolved governments make the decisions

Vintage - The Highlands and Islands did qualify for EU Objective 1 funding in the past. This redevelops regions seriously lagging behind the EU average.

It is no longer eligible although obviously still faces the problems of remoteness and low population density.

England is getting a bad deal out of the UK. And I'm sure if the question was put the the English people, the Barnett formula would be scrapped. However, it will never be since it would be voted down by MP's who are afraid they'd lose out, afraid it would spell the end of the union and with it the global influence of the UK.

So if it is bad for the Union to split, what's the complaints about?

Can y'all stop including Ireland in this, if you mean NI, say so, Irelands an entirely different, foreign country.

I don't think Geekcool that we're cross that the 3 other countries have these benefits; just cross that the english don't.

It's our nonny, too-scared-to-say-boo-to-a-goose government that's to blame.

I don't think anyone with an NHS should pay for prescriptions.

My apologies Winter, I should know better.

nah, I'm being snippy ignore me. Just a pet peeve.

No you are quite right, it would annoy me too.

Vintage - Difference is that England voted for this government. Scotland didn't and yet we get subjected to them too. How's that for unfair?

I personally don't want free prescriptions (but that is because I had seen evidence that people are more likely to comply with finishing the course, actually taking the meds if they have paid a nominal amount). That aside, there are plenty of things that the Scottish NHS has cut back on, they are just not as visible. You are much less likely to get an experimental, expensive, life prolonging drug for example. You are also more likely to have surgery with sterilised, not brand new, instruments for low risk operations. There are less surgical positions this year, so those junior doctors trained free in Scotland are off to England. The Scottish NHS funded its own people to computerise the records, which was way cheaper than getting lots of different private companies to do different bits, so that was a good saving that looked expensive at the outset.

We also have less of a bad news culture when it comes to Scottish policies, there is almost a misplaced degree of pride just from doing it for ourselves. The Britain-wide papers are really bad for picking up on bad things and petty differences but you just don't read any of the cut backs the Scottish NHS makes - not scandalous enough and the Scots aren't sufficiently outraged.

I do agree that Scottish MPs should not vote on England only matters, but similarly think the Church of England Lords should only vote on England only matters, not Britain wide - there's always some "unfairness" if you want to find it.

Interesting about the sterilised instrument thing runner.

I just think the whole UK thing needs a bit of an overhaul with a serious report looking into how everything can be made more fair for all the countries in the UK.

I also wouldn't call £7.40 per item a nominal fee!

Its a nominal fee compared to countries where you pay the entire cost of your drugs, 7.40 would buy you a couple of aspirin.

Vintage - what you're talking about is basically bringing devolution to an end.

Yes, it is bloody annoying that not everyone in this country has to pay for prescriptions, but I for one, consider myself lucky that I live in a country where prescriptions for children , the elderly, and the long term sick are free, and if I am in need of an item of medication that would cost hundreds of pounds, it will cost me less than a tenner.
A friend of mine in the states who is seriously ill has a mediator from her Insurance company who has to liase with her doctors and herself over whether it is better to take Pill A , 4 times a day for a week; or Pill B 3 times a day for 10 days; which is better value for the insurance company, and will therefore stop her insurance premiums/excess rising...

Yes molly - if it means that each UK country is equal where it can be.

If not, then all of the 4 countries should have their own financial system totally - completely separate.

Well said Emmanana. I watched a Panorama on the US healthcare system a while back. Terrifying. One couple had had to sell their house and were living in a tent in order to fund the wifes chemo.

Healthcare insurance costs hundreds of pounds a month from memory which is why so many don't have it (remember thinking that we wouldn't be able to afford it which was sobering).

We're really not that hard done by.