A thread for people who admire and like Nicola Sturgeon

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Just what it says really. I think she's done a great job. She has made mistakes and owned them. She has taken advice and is willing to change policy where necessary. I think she's done pretty well and our virus figures are improving daily. So a thread for some positive things!

I'm not an economist myself, but I believe the IFS (who know what they're talking about) when they assessed the Growth Commission report. [[https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13072 Their conclusion was] that a "Weak public finance position implies more austerity for an independent Scotland". They commend the SNP for at least trying to be honest, but conclude that public finances would be restrained for a further decade under the proposals. Those many families that are struggling @Scotslassie1 won't be seeing their lot improve any time soon if this holds true. And this was before COVID19 which has knocked the world for six. The UK economy might well take the biggest hit in the G7 but it is at least IN the G7 and I'm glad to have that level of security right now.

Incidentally, whatever the quirks of the Lords, I am at least glad that the UK HAS a second chamber as this is an important line of defence against badly written legislation being rubber stamped and passed by whoever has a majority at the time. The Scottish parliament has no such checks and balances, which isn't their fault - it wasn't set up to rule an independent country and their powers have increased from its original inception. I think this has to be addressed urgently if/when Scotland becomes independent as our law-making setup isn't fit for that purpose.

This is an interesting discussion - I am very tempted to take it over to craicnet and ask if anyone in Ireland would rather be part of the UK again or not? If not, why not?

My feeling is that people Ireland, with a smaller population than Scotland, are quite happy running their own affairs whilst being fully fledged member of the EU with veto and seat at the top table....and the special relationship with the US. 👍

Ireland now the 2nd biggest contribufer to the EU.

Yes and what do they get out of it? An awful lot!

I thought Ireland was now 5th largest contributor, but yes, there does seem to be some unhappiness there about paying out so much for less in return.

But Ireland’s position now, as a full EU member that is already set up as an independent state, is obviously different to the position Scotland finds itself in anyway. It is already an EU member (unlike an independent Scotland who would likely be outside for a few years at least) who has already done the work of setting themselves up as a country which I seem to recall was pretty tough on them. We would have to disentangle ourselves from the U.K. and then set up all the institutions that an independent state needs, not least a central bank. The very least we owe future generations is to fully consider the costs of all that before leaping into the unknown in the midst of the biggest global crisis in my lifetime.

You might be right with 5th, someone told me 2nd and I didn't check. Apologies for any misinformation.

The Elephant in the room is definitely “ the financials“. As stated above
austerity isn’t going to help the poorest families especially after the Covid crisis. Suspect if academics think 10 years to get back on our feet then it’s more likely to be 20 or 30 . We also need a vast pot to fund our Central bank if we are independent. Do we want the Euro ?

Just had a look on google and there are more than 200,000 children living in poverty in Eire .

Love NS. Clear messaging, down to earth, shows compassion. So glad to be living in Scotland with her as leader.

The SNP are actually taking forward the creation of a citizen's chamber in Parliament. So you're in agreement with them on something @Y0u 😉
Re the IFS report, revenues are actually higher than even the growth commission report projected. Our deficit is 7 per cent because of the multitude of projects that Scotland must pay towards if the UK Gov sees fit. Our deficit is smaller than Wales and NI who have the same problem of being at the UK (Eng) Gov's beck and call to pay towards projects like HS2 which cost billions and give Wales/ NI and Sc no benefit whatsoever.
That would be interesting @user although of course none of the countries who have gained independence from the UK have ever asked to go back.