Can someone please explain why UK is trying to keep Scotland?

[Kellymum]

I am a bit confused. Scotland has been told from the start of the Referendum campaign that it cannot stand on its own two feet and will be worse off without the UK but surely then the rest of the UK will be BETTER OFF without Scotland?
I lived in London for 4 years and the general consensus was that Scotland was heavily subsidized by the rest of the UK. Again why? This does not seem fair to other parts of the UK. I keep hearing now from some people in England that Scotland should not get further preferential treatment. Why does Scotland get preferential treatment?
Again, if Scotland went independent, the "so called" money that has been used to subsidise them would then be redirected back to the rest of the UK. Why do they (Westminster) want to carry a dead horse?! Why oh why is Westminster so determined to keep Scotland that it has used its might through the media and corporations to not let Scotland go. It makes no sense to me. I work in business and the basic principle of business is to keep your assets and get rid of your liabilities!!! The pound should soar when Scotland is gone from the UK as a huge amount of debt would be gone? Why are the politicians sending every MP possible to woo them back? It is clear that Scotland must have something that Westminster wants. What do you think?

@niceguy2 Bullying? Well we know what happened after 2014 now, dont we? And yes, it would indeed appear that Scotland will be re-joining the Eu when it leave the Uk.

Knownbyanothername, yes, I work in the sector and that's exactly what's happening in Higher Ed.

The prolific poster is obviously out to win friends and influence people.

@Kellymum Hi Kellymum, so Scotlands oil is underwriting England's Pound Sterling (it has been doing that for over 40 years now) and when Scotland leaves, projections are that the English pound will fall to be worth less than the United States Dollar. Also, Scotland has no debt whatsoever. For one thing, Scotland isnt allowed to borrow any money, so it doesnt have any debts. Secondly, Scotland has an embarrassingly large surplus of wealth, but that has been 'taken' by Westminster ever since the oil revenues came into being in the late 1970s.

@depremesnil excellent point! lol 😜

They won't leave. It's all pie in the sky. They had their chance to leave and they voted to stay.

@Gohugatree 😜 lol! Nooooo just out to answer some questions with facts. They've already got the yes vote in Scotland, and the Uk will effectively be over. But.... by all means dont respond to my facts, and that way you can try to be rude and talk about me like I'm not there haha! lol! Isnt it interesting that you can post as often as you like in a public forum? 😜 You're funny!

@Viviennemary No.... its the notion of 'Britishness' that does indeed appear to be 'pie in the sky' as you say. 😁

@RobG perhaps you’d care to comment on my earlier post about higher education? Or are you just conveniently ignoring it?

@Knownbyanothername Hi 😊 no, not ignoring anything. What's your question?

@UpAwfYerSeatWeeNippy 🤣🤣🤣 lol!

Do you feel that £1800 is enough money to pay universities per annum for a Scottish student? Do you not see that it has totally limited the number of place available to Scottish students because the universities can’t afford this? Are you not concerned?

@Knownbyanothername Yes I do. The Universities in Scotland that I know of are doing very well financially. A friend of mine lectures in two of them.

@Libelula21 -Agreed, the Uk is over.

www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/uploads/docs/report/2019/nr_190919_finances_universities.pdf

@RobG I’m really not interesting what your mate does. Scottish Government funding to universities has dropped by 7% in real terms since 2014/15 . In order to make up the shortfall universities have had to look to overseas students. Places to Scottish students are being capped. Does this not bother you?

@Knownbyanothername No it doesnt, -not really. As I said previously, there are only two Universities I could comment on with any authority, and both of them are making a lot of money. Besides, its not always what money is allocated, its where the money is spent, or not spent. AFAIK the Scottish Universities are doing fine. I worked for one myself briefly and in my experience they are always pleading poverty, regardless of increases in profits. 😊

Obviously anything that doesn't fit the narrative can be dismissed out of hand. Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow may be doing OK but other Scottish universities are chasing students from China, Nigeria, India because they pay £15k in fees, not the paltry amount paid for local students. Meaning there aren't the places for Scottish students.

You’re missing the point totally @RobG. I am deeply concerned that our young people are missing out on further education! Does that not concern you at all?
If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say it fits with the narrative of dumbing down the populace so they can’t argue with the state, but thankfully I’m not. It’s just another unintended consequence of a poorly thought out policy.

@Knownbyanothername Really? All the young people arent concerned at all, (none that I know) and in Scotland at least they dont need to pay tuition fees. Education is Free 👍😊

@Knownbyanothername I get what you’re saying, I think.

If there aren’t enough places to meet demand from Scottish students, then that’s not good. However could there be some indirect benefits e.g. driving up standards through increased competition, and universities with a much more international outlook and connections? Maybe what’s missing is a focus on vocational / technical qualifications.

If we were to rejoin the EU, Scots would have the opportunity to study in EU member state universities, many of which have courses in English, and some of which at affordable prices (I think).

Universities seem to be facing multiple problems these days, and I’m sure thing could be better.

@Knownbyanothername Things are better in Scotland than in England thanks in no small part to Scotlands Government. I think the Scottish people are tired of the mess that those London Governments keep making of things.

One thing is for sure, Scotland will be HUGELY better off financially once they get rid of the unelected Governments England keeps voting in.

Its awful the way the people in Scotland have been treated, and now hostile Governments in England fight to restrain Scotland and stop her from leaving. Why? Because when Scotland has left Sterling will fall below a dollar and the rest of the Uk will need to pay for the energy etc that it currently just takes from Scotland for free.

It was a very successful conspiracy, running for over 40 years:

www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence-blog/2013/may/29/scottish-independence-oil-healey

And according to Ian Wood, former head of the Wood Group, the Uk (England, Wales, N.Ireland) will struggle to make its balance of payments without the N. Sea oil. Not to mention all the other benefits that Scotland subsidises the 'Untied' Kingdom with.

RobG if all this is true and the pound crashes I can’t see how this would benefit Scotland because it shares the same currency. Economic problems in England would be disastrous for an independent Scotland.

@RobG Your rose tinted glasses approach is deeply concerning. It’s the usual head in the sand everything will be ok, but the mess that’s been made of education, the named persons fiasco, the dire NHS, the ferry disaster, the failure to get the A9 dualled in a timely manner, the nightmare of the trains, failure to properly tender out large government projects, our crappy vacc passport app which can’t even support boosters ( oh yes a Danish company did that one- are there no app developers in Scotland?) and the ongoing erasure of women/Stonewall/Mermaids/ gender malarkey mean I will never vote for independence.
We’re not going to get back into the EU because we don’t meet the criteria. We will have no credible currency, no central bank, no military. We had to refuse taking on more of our benefits administration because we lacked the capacity to cope with it. Everyone’s pension investment, both public and private sector, is tied up in uk investment funds. How are you going to separate that out?
Oh and oil? Now you’re in bed with the the greens you can forget all of that. The list goes on and on .

Loss of international standing- we wouldn't be the United Kingdom anymore. It could potentially have a domino effect, Northern Ireland could decide to have a referendum to rejoin the south and tbh that makes a lot more sense than Scottish independence given that the union itself is hundreds of years old.

United Kingdom of England and Wales sounds pathetic tbh.

@onlychildhamster "Northern Ireland could decide to have a referendum to rejoin the south and tbh that makes a lot more sense than Scottish independence given that the union itself is hundreds of years old. "

Hmmmm dont see where you get THAT idea from, - SLAVERY was hundreds of years old. 😉

The Union has been a calamity for Scottish people and continues to be, BREXIT being the latest slap to the face of the people of Scotland, and their Democracy.