Port De Soller Mallorca

Port De Soller Mallorca
Sunset

Tuesday 10 January 2012

A Question For Scots

The debate over Scottish Independence from the rest of the Union is turning into a bit of a political hot potato since the British Prime Minister opened it up fully on the Andrew Mar Show on Sunday last.

Now my feelings have already been made known on this subject through my previous post last October in Scottish Independence  when I nailed my colours to the mast in favour of maintaining the three hundred year old Union.

Everyone is laying into the debate and apparently the British Parliament through the current government are letting it be known that if Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and the SNP, the ruling party in the devolved Scottish Parliament, ignores the law and tries to hold a referendum without the consent and agreement of the UK Parliament, they, the UK Parliament will go to court over the matter.

Something happened today to make me think about this again, something close to home that is.  You may recall that I have mentioned that Ishbel suffers from something called Laryngeal Dystonia This is a condition that affects the vocal chords of sufferers and makes it difficult for them to speak.  There is no cure but it can be moderated through continued visits to the hospital for specialist treatment every three or four months, resulting in a painful injection into the vocal chords.

Now a few years ago Ishbel told me that she met people when attending the clinic in London who were also waiting for their injections, and she told me that they came from all over the country as there is only one consultant in the country who specialises in this.  Well, today she came home from her treatment and told me that she met a very nice man who had come all the way from Scotland, with the NHS picking up his travel costs and hotel for an overnight stay......

Now there are a couple of points that this raises, one being why the hell is there only one clinic seemingly in the whole of the UNITED KINGDOM, that offers this treatment or which has the expertise for it, I am sure that there are probably reasonable answers to that question? But, the far more important question for Scots, is this.

If the SNP get their way and become the architects of the breakup of the Union, what happens to all the UK wide services that are currently offered, even under Devolved countries, such as sharing NHS facilities.  yes, I know that NHS services are currently different in the UK with free prescriptions, and care homes for the elderly in some parts, but not in others.  But, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland are funded by the UK exchequer from revenue raised, mainly through taxation.  Now taxation as we all know takes many forms from income tax to corporation tax to VAT, to fuel tax and energy surcharges and so on and on and on.

But I keep coming back to that same point, will there be enough people and jobs for an estranged Scotland to raise the taxes for the country to be self sufficient?  And, will people in Scotland, and eventually Wales and Northern Ireland, if they see Scotland achieving Independence, will they go the same way, and will those who suffer from these obscure illnesses suffer, because the English NHS will not fund treatment for them and will the NHS of those countries be able to provide the treatment that they need to maintain  a decent and comfortable lifestyle that is provided through the treatment they receive at the moment?

BBC News article


7 comments:

  1. You know me, Unky Tom, I am extremely proud to be Scottish, and consider myself Scottish first, British second. But I still consider myself British. And as much as we joke about England etc, I still think we're very lucky to be able to travel all around GB without any bother and to share resources etc. Britain is only great because of the differences each of its parts contribute.
    For the most part I'm happy with the way things are at the moment for us. Surely we are best, and strongest, united?

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  2. I agree completely, I think 2 deprecate countries would be 2 lesser countries. Right now we have the best of both worlds, enough separation for our cultures to flourish and enough unity for us all to benefit. Apart from giving another group of politicians more power I see no benefit to any of us.

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  3. Well, says it all really, one of my two favourite nieces (Lesley)and one of my favourite Twitter friends (Emma). One English and one Scots and both in favour of the Union, as I am. That's the vox pop over with as far as I am concerned, can we now continue as we are (wish it was that simple)

    Love to you both

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  4. Wow. Well you've been united for longer than we've been a country. Since James I. That's quite a legacy. But if I'm correct, the union hasn't always been easy.
    Do you seriously think you'd separate? And what would that look like? Your economy is, well, it's one.

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  5. Julia, Yes it has been a while since the Union was formed and while I am first and foremost Scottish, I am also proud to be British.

    The problem is, like most Scots if they think they are being dictated to again by the English through the Westminster Parliament while there is no majority for de-unification at the moment, they would cut of their noses to spite themselves in the face of a Tory led government telling them not to!

    If that happens I believe it would be disastrous for Scotland and the rest of the UK. I just hope sanity prevails.

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  6. Well, at least you can settle the matter with words and shouting rather than swords and pikes.

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  7. those in favour would I think prefer swords and pikes

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