Glasgow's public transport

The SNP Government in Scotland has not done anything to help clean up the air pollution in Glasgow. Increasing studies have clearly shown the link between air quality and heart disease. Recently they spent about £250 million building a new motorway in the south of Glasgow. Since then, the congestion in Glasgow and the air pollution has increased. That money could have been spent to upgrade the bus services; build miles of cycle lanes; install the infrastructure for electric vehicles and improve the trains.

Glasgow City Council election hustings

I attended a hustings meeting to hear what candidates would do about the environment of Glasgow. A number of people in the audience were concerned about the damage that air pollution does to our health. The Conservative candidate talked about his plans to improve the cycling lanes, something much needed.
I was given a list of the Green Party's green priorities for 2012-17. It was full of economic policies such as: bringing in a living wage; harnessing the buying power of councils. There was no mention of tacking Glasgow's deteriorating air quality, no mention of improving our public transport, and nothing about our cycle lanes. Very disappointing.

Will Scotland join the Euro?

The SNP are at sixes and sevens over their economic policy. That's not surprising when you consider that Mr Salmond was an economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Initially they promissed that we would join the Euro after independence. Now they want to delay that and stay with Sterling for a while. This dithering is not good for businesses; which need stability. In reality, an independent Scotland would have little choice. If we want to join the European Union, we will probably have to accept the Euro as our currency.

Approximately 60% of Scottish exports go the rest of the United Kingdom. If we have a different currency from our main customers it will impede trade. Many Scots also work for British organisations;and it would be complicated to get paid in a foreign currency.

Even if Scotland were able to keep Sterling as its currency, there would be problems. Britain would have to impose strict supervision over our spending and borrowing so thay we didn't damage the currency. The Bank of England would be unlikely to bail out Scotland if we got into financial difficulties.

In either of the above currency scenarios, we would be less independent than we are today.

Glasgow city council elections

I have just heard the SNP leader for Glasgow City Council speaking about carers. Her party, she says, will have a "carers' champion".
Her party completely let me down when I was caring for my mother. I was having terrible problems with the management of the care home and asked my SNP councillor for help; he was not interested. The social workers supported the care home against me. I also contacted Nicola Sturgeon, she is the Secretary for Health after all. Twice I tried to contact her, and she never bothered to reply.

SNP anti-sectarian legislation

Legal guidance has been given as to which songs will be outlawed. If you sing songs which "glorify or mock events which caused loss of life", you risk being arrested. Surely this also means that singing "Scots wa hae" and "Flower of Scotland" will be illegal.  And what about church hymns that mention the crucifixion ?

Scottish Government environmental policy

The Scottish Government has made a big deal out of its environmental credentials. Official figures show that the road building projects it has completed, have increased emissions of Carbon Dioxide and other harmful gasses. The enormous sums of money spent, could have been used to improve public transport and provide charging stations for electric vehicles.

Free nursery care in Scotland

At their conference, the SNP promised 600 hours of free nursery care per year for each child. On top of this SNP councils will pay a minimum wage of £7.20 per hour. This sounds great; until you think about how we are going to pay for it. The country is already borrowing truly huge amounts of money, and we have seen what happens to countries that borrow too much.

Independence and business

The Chief Executives of two of Scotland's largest companies, Scottish & Southern Energy and Weirs, have said that the prospect of independence is causing uncertainty for business.  Now the boss of Aggreko has said something similar. In fact around 90% of the business community believe that independence would harm the Scottish economy. There are already signs that people are postponing investment in Scotland until the uncertainty is brought to an end.

Electric Cars

I have looked at electric cars with a view to buying one. They pay no road tax, and they get free parking in Glasgow. However, there is one factor holding me back: there are few charging points in Scotland. The Scottish Government pledged to install them, and it wouldn't be that expensive. It appears that they have made no progress, probably because they are spending too much time on their Referendum campaign.
Other British cities have installed hundreds of charging points, so it can be done.

Equality of the sexes

There is pressure from women's groups for a quota system so there will be more female directors of public companies. There are already women only shortlists in politics.
Women don't seem quite so keen on equality when it comes to dating. On a number of occasions I have noticed them scurrying off to the lavatory just before the bill arrives at a restaurant.

Scotland's Air Quality

I read that the Scottish Government has asked the EU if they can delay tackling our air pollution till 2020. It doesn't exactly sound like they are taking our health very seriously. It is not as if it would be difficult to improve the country's air quality, they would just prefer not to do anything about it.

Glasgow's Air Pollution

Glasgow's air quality has further deteriorated in the last three years, amid increasing evidence of the damage this does to health. Microscopic particulates cause heart disease and strokes and are a factor in cancer. At the last elections my Green councillor agreed to pursue a "low emissions zone" in my area. Since then there has been little progress; all the council does is monitor the increasing pollution. Other cities have introduced electric taxis, parking penalties for high polluters, and pedestrian zones. But not Glasgow. The Greens seem more interested in independence other issues.

Scottish Independence

Lord Wallace, a Liberal Democrat, was invited to speak to Loganair at a dinner. When the SNP heard about it they contacted Loganair and told them it would not "be in their interests" to invite him. So they rescinded the invite and asked the SNP Transport Minister instead.

Britain's role in the world

Mr Salmond is very keen to deride Britain's influential role in the world. Probably because he realises how little influence an independent Scotland would have. Do you think our membership of the International Monetary Fund is a waste of time? How about the United Nations? We are members also of the G8 and G20 groups of nations. We were also influential in the climate agreements such as Kyoto. Not eveyone loves NATO, but they have managed to prevent all out nuclear war, and we are members.
Obviously we are an important member of the Commonwealth group of countries. If the British Empire was so unpopular, why did so many members offer to fight for us during the Second World War?

Scotland's Credit Rating

Britain is one of the countries with a AAA credit rating. Considering that the USA and France lost theirs, that's a feather in our cap. Having a AAA credit rating is valuable; it means our government can borrow at low rates of interest, currently less than 2%. Italy and Spain have been paying about 7%. That means their governments pay billions more in interest, money that could be used for public services.
In explaining Britain's strengths, the ratings agencies said" Britain is a large diversified economy, it has a large domestic investor base, there is a willingness and ability of the central bank to undertake monetary policy".
These are three attributes an Independent Scotland would not have. We would not get a AAA rating.

SNP Green Credentials

I have heard it said that the SNP Government has a good record on the environment; well that's news to me.
They spent over £500 million building a new motorway through Glasgow. I notice that traffic congestion has got worse since then. Their transport minister seems to go everywhere in his limousine, apparently he has only made four train journeys since elected. Hardly setting an example.
They have a target of producing all of our electricity by renewable energy by 2020. I would say that is not realistic. Not enough has been done to reduce our consumption of electricity.

Scotland's health record

Some believe that independence might be good for your health, I don't think so. Scotland has some very serious health problems; we are world leaders in heart disease, strokes, bowel cancer and obesity. To add to this record, our cities have about the worst air pollution in the United Kingdom. Why is this?
It is because our Government shows little interest in health. For example, other British cities have taken positive action over air quality. London introduced congestion charging, a bike hire scheme and electric taxis. Even our Prime Minister takes an interest in his health and goes jogging, I don't see our First Minister following his lead.

being anti-Scottish

Members of the SNP Government accused those who disagreed with them of being anti-Scottish. It shows they have lost the argument when they say that. I note that the first minister has failed to rebuke them, evidently he agrees with the sentiment. I wonder how long it will be before  Mr Salmond introduces a law which penalises being anti-Scottish, with a spell in prison? I will have to watch out, I must be anti-Scottish for not agreeing with the SNP.

North Sea Oil

The SNP say that Scotland would be a rich country if it was independent, because of our oil. The fact that oil is running out is ignored, estimates are that we have perhaps 30 years of oil left and output is declining. How can you base the future prosperity of a country on that? Also, revenue from oil is very cyclical; and a country needs stable earnings. The is no mention of the fact that most of the companies drilling the oil are international, listed in the London Stock Exchange. Few are Scottish. If the Scottish Government tries to increase taxes; oil companies may well move operations somewhere else.

Finally, we know the damage being done to the climate by fossil fuels. We have to stop using them, the oil should remain under the sea. Our First Minister is always going on about his green credentials. He wants to have all our needs met by renewable energy. He can't have his cake and eat it. (Although by the look of him that is what he is doing)

The Tartan Army

Let us examine the SNP's defence policies. If Scotland became a separate country, do you think the United Kingdom would let us build any new warships for the Royal Navy? Not likely as we would be a foreign country.
You may not like nuclear weapons, but deterrence has prevented any hostile power attacking us. The world is a dangerous place. Being small and peaceful doesn't always protect you. Look at Norway, Finland and Czechslovakia.
The UK's nuclear submarines and warheads are stored in Scotland. These would have to be moved because they could not be kept in a foreign country. It would be a huge task to move them, taking at least ten years. During that period, the UK deterrence would be located in a an independent Scotland. This would be fraught with difficulties and may leave Britain vulnerable.

Scotland's Currency

The SNP are a bit confused about our finances. They seem to want to take us into the Euro. Can you imagine that? We would have a different currency than than the rest of Britain. Anyone who gets income from England, and that is most of us who have savings and many working people, would get paid in a foreign currency. Each time you visited England you would have to change money. England is the biggest market for many Scottish businesses. That would not help business.
We would not be independent if we joined the Euro. Look at Greece, they have to do exactly what the Germans and French tell them. Look what happened to Ireland. In contrast, the UK Parliament lets us decide our spending plans.
If we remained in Sterling, we would lose all influence over exchange rates and interest rates. Also, if we got into financial problems, there would be no bail outs from the Bank of England

Scottish Independence

Why does our first minister want 16-18 year olds to vote? It is only because they don't really understand the implications of independence, so they are likely to vote for it, as it sounds glamorous.
I also think our first minister has used quite provocative language; he accuses the English of bullying us, which is nonsense.

Independence Referendum

In my experience the UK Parliament is also more accountable than the SNP Scottish Government. As someone interested in politics, I have written often to Members of The UK Parliament, and I always get a response or acknowledgement. I have written twice to our present Prime Minister, on both occasions I got a reply.
This is more than I can say for Members of the Scottish Parliament. I have contacted SNP members on a number of occasions and not received a reply(I can also say the same about my Green MSP). So, although the SNP tells us how wonderful independence would be, my experience is that they are not very interested in listening to their constituents.

Independence for Scotland

For over 300 years Britain has been a relatively stable and peaceful country. Scotland has benefited from this; in fact before the Act of Union, Scotland was not a peaceful country.
We have a mature democracy with the House of Commons and the House of Lords as a revising chamber. We also have a constitutional Monarch. These institutions act as brakes on any ill considered legislation passed by the Commons. Unfortunately the Scottish Parliament has no second chamber to repeal ill considered laws.

I would also say that the British Legal System is relatively fair and protects individuals against the power of the state. In this country you don't have to live in fear of the police; and if arrested you can expect a fair trial. This is not the case in many countries around the world.