Deeedeee So how will staying in the uk tackle povert? Is it simply because it's not a risk to the economy to stay in the uk? Or do you see this centre politics of the last 20 years changing?
You will find that countries like The Netherlands and Sweden very much tag welfare benefits onto a record of previous employment. Unemployment is stigmatised, and people are encouraged to work. In other words, a link between what they pay in and what they get out is encouraged, even in high tax, socialist regimes like Sweden. That's the only way it works. Obviously its realised that there is a certain percentage who cannot be expected to work, but the money available is protected.
Socialist Sweden is also opting for a private-public model of health provision. Ireland charges for visiting a GP, and has seen massive property devaluation.
Other parts of the world don't have welfare benefits at all. You do realise that to someone in one of these parts of the world, not that they would have the benefit of sitting on mumsnet, that your comments about poverty and the welfare state sounds like the comments of the rich misunderstanding real and genuine poverty?
The high tax, socialist Scandinavian countries also operate on the basis of very Scandinavian behaviour. Corruption is low, people tend to behave in a law abiding way and work together as a cohesive nation, overall your typical Scandinavian behaves in a very Scandinavian way which isn't really a feature of Scottish society, which loves the pub culture for example. You could be critical and say that the Scandinavian countries are boring, homogenised and almost like the people have been brainwashed. I don't think high taxes and non-Scandinavian style behaviour is likely to work. Its the worst of both worlds.
You are in danger of pissing off the hard working, high achieving people Scotland needs by berating them for doing so, and constantly pushing the interests of the poor. Being critical, I would say there are more than a few employed in "helping" the poor in public roles who have a vested interest in the industry of the poor. I don't think its deliberate, but I often think the way they see the poor and exaggerate their plight (in this rich country), it can act as a barrier to escaping poverty. I know for instance that, growing up in a mixed area, I was subjected to quite limiting comments by teachers and careers advisors at school, despite high grades, for some unfathomable reason that they just thought it wasn't right that someone shouldn't have ambition and push themselves.