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 of Parliament (MPs) meet; and the House of Lords, where people appointed by the Westminster Government sit.

Since Westminster was formed voters in England have decided which party is in power. As a result no Scottish parties have ever been represented. What’s more no Scottish parties have ever proposed members for the House of Lords, either. So UK Democracy is really England’s democracy. What does this meen financially?

Well, the Westminster government reviews its spending priorities – and depending on whether the Tories or Labour are in charge, these are either right wing or very right wing in bias. These are priorities for England, and Scottish parties are not part of the discussion. Not even in the areas of power that are devolved to Scotland’s Parliament!

So a budget is formulated based on England’s priorities – and this is put before the Westminster Parliament for approval. Again, the Scottish Parliament has no input. In this way the government spending for England (and Wales) is set.

By convention, the “Barnett Formula” is then used to calculate how big the Scottish Government budget should be – but this is only for the areas of power devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Spending for Scotland in all the other areas has already been decided (see above).

And thus the Scottish Government’s budget is set. It must then find a way to fit this to its priorities – whatever its size. In fact for many years the budget calculated in this way has got smaller and smaller in real terms:

Scotland is in the unique position of being able to decide its Government – but have the voters in another country decide that Government’s budget!