"I think Scotland’s been pretty much dragged in to this recession – our fundamentals were pretty good."
So, an independent Scotland would have escaped The World (there’s the clue) recession?
Next please...
ENTERPRISE Minister Jim Mather was derided by his political opponents yesterday for sticking by the SNP's controversial claims that Scotland should follow the so-called "arc of prosperity" of Iceland, Ireland and Norway.
When Mr Mather's office was contacted by The Scotsman yesterday, officials stuck to the same view, despite the fact that Iceland is in the grip of an economic disaster and Ireland's economy is suffering from a deep recession.
The SNP surely has done the decent thing by now and given the “Arc” a quiet and dignified burial?
Not on your nelly; they might be in that hole, but instead of pushing back the earth ,they’re still feverishly digging away:
Instead, a spokesman for Mr Mather stressed that the blog had been written in December 2007 and that Norway was expecting growth of 1.3 per cent this year.
He added: "And while Ireland is certainly in recession, it is far wealthier per head than the UK, and likely will emerge from the recession more prosperous than the UK."
Really? Says who?
I may think it’s “likely” Manchester City will win this season’s Premiership, however without a bit more than simple bombast to back up my prediction, most sensible people will probably laugh at me.
6 comments:
I suppose it is a bit like the Prime Minister claiming that all the present financial problems were caused by America.
Keep to the script-----
Concerning Mather's comments, I think the jury is still out for a while who is going to come of this well and who will not. Wait till the end of the recession.
Really? Says who?
I've no idea what'll happen, and it's getting serious down South but who says they won't?
The UK is also in the throes of a particularly nasty recession and is expected to do worse than many fot he other large economies. The Republic would have to do significant worse compared witht he UK for it to lose all the gains it made over the past ten years.
The SNP is right that it is a long run game.
Right idea, wrong direction.
England has been dragged into recession by Scotland.
We have suffered misrule by 2 Scottish Prime Ministers and 2 Scottish Chancellors who have wrecked our pensions, sold off our gold at an artificially low price, racked up an enormous budget deficit and plunged us massively into debt.
The biggest problems in the UK banking industry have both been caused by Scottish banks.
The 1707 Act of Union came about because Scotland had bankrupted itself with the insane Darien scheme.
This time around they're trying to bankrupt us all, presumably expecting Europe to bail them out whilst guaranteeing them their usual privileged position.
I can't see them getting away with it this time though...
Wildgoose
To be pedantic, Blair is not Scottish. He may have been born here, he may have gone to public school here, he may have Scottish parents (Leo was of course born in Durham but raised in Glasgow), but he is in reality an "Anglo".
Bonar Law was born and partly raised in Canada but nobody really calls him Canadian. He is either Scottish (he spent most his life in Glasgow) and I am sure O'Neill would claim him for Northern Ireland due to his father and also his interest in Ulster affairs.
Blair does not not really consider himself Scottish. He did give a guitar to the national museum but that is about his lot.
On the other hand nobody says Gladstone was Scottish despite being of Scottish parentage, owning a home in Scotland (near Aberdeen in fact where his parents are buried - the House of Farsque) and represented Midlothian in the Commons. Indeed there is a section devoted to him as a Scottish national hero alongside Burns, Bruce etc which would surprise most people today.
As for HBOS etc, these institutions, whilst still culpable for their mistakes, were influenced by the City of London and its "barrow boy-yuppie" culture which is the root of many of our problems. And remember that other non-Scottish banks have fallen into trouble as well. Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingly, the forced merger of a number of small English building societies etc.
Aberdonian and Kensei,
The SNP is right that it is a long run game
But the point is that they are already making assumptions for the result of that game. On reflection the Man City comparison was probably too harsh...but the SNP, like the rest of us, have no clue what way things will workout re the ROI.
O'Neill
the SNP, like the rest of us, have no clue what way things will workout re the ROI.
I can hazard a guess. Rich countries tend to stay rich. Look back on history, there are very few that do.
The world is probably not going to end down South, any more than it is likely to end in the UK. There is probably going to be a nasty, U-shaped recession which the UK and the Republic will deal with in differnet manners, at the end of which they'll both have a pile more debt than they have now. I'll hazard a guess and say that the Republic will keep its GDP differential, just about -- the decline in financial revenues to the UK is severe. But its not the whole story.
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