Author: YiP
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Labour’s Great British Railways – what’s the big deal?
Before one of the last traditional-Labour ministers, Louis Haigh, was told by Starmer’s paid help Morgan McSweeney that she’d been booted out of Government, she announced with much noise the creation of Great British Railways (GBR). A “cultural reset” that would “bring passenger services into public hands” “with a relentless focus on passengers … would…
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Should the SNP and Greens be in Coalition?
Should the SNP and Greens be in coalition in a future Scottish Government? This is usually a question posed by SNP supporters, but sometimes also those from other Scottish parties. To answer this question you need to put aside your feelings about the Scottish Greens and first consider how Scotland’s Parliament works. Should Democracy be…
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Predicting Holyrood 2026
The next elections for members of the Scottish Parliament are likely to be held in May 2026. Parties from Unionist parties based in England will be competing with Scottish parties that support Scotland regaining independence. How easy it is it to predict their success? This page covers: Each scenario is explained in detail below. But…
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Does the NHS perform better in England than Scotland?
Does the NHS perform better under Labour and the Tories in Wales and Westminster than The SNP Scottish Government does? No. In Wales Labour has been responsible for the NHS for decades. In Westminster the Tories were most recently responsible for the NHS in England from 2010 to 2024. And in Scotland it’s The SNP.…
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So you think Labour brings Scotland to the “heart of Government”?
During the Westminster election Labour in Scotland made a lot of noise claiming that a vote for them would bring Scotland into the “heart of Westminster Government” (and in doing so, acknowledging that our Scottish parties have never been part of the UK’s government since Scotland was persueded to join the union). So Labour have…
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Would we have hard borders after Indy?
No. After Scotland regains independence you’d be able to travel freely between Scotland and the continuing UK. What’s more goods would be able to travel freely too. But even more than this, with your EU Citizenship returned you’d be able to travel freely (and live and work) in any other EU country. Firstly, as the…
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Scotland’s ferries – a success story
Scotland has over 790 islands – some 94 inhabited – so getting around them via ferr is rightly treated as a “lifeline” service by our Government. Whilst the contract to run them is delivered by private company, the Government overseas this – ensuring reliable performance and afforrdable pricing. In England ferriers are not considered an…
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Does England subsidise Scotland?
No! Westminster’s calculation of both revenue and expenditure for Scotland is artificial. Our revenues are much higher. Westminster loves to claim that the rest of the UK – and England in particular – does subsidise Scotland. And they use an annual bunch of estimates called GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) to “prove” this. But…
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Does Scotland decide its Government’s Budget?
No! Westminster decides our Government’s budget, based on what they want for England. Voters in England decide who’s in Government in Westminster. UK Democracy centers around Westminster – the former English Parliament, that was adopted as the UK’s when Scotland was persueded to join in a union. The UK Parliament includes the Commons, where Members…
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Currency Options for an Independent Wales
The following is a transcription of a presentation made by Professor Thiebault Laurentjoye from Aalborg University Business School to the Scottish Currency Group 2024 Conference in Dunfermline. The full video of his presentation is here: There’ll be a lot of ideas swimming around, but be confident, be open to having a clarity of purpose, and…