Scottish "Independence" manifesto

[Dauphin]

i agree with that, however there's more to it than the legal side. if an independent scotland decided to walk away from the national debt, there are many ways in which the rest of the UK could make things difficult; by playing hardball over oil, vetoing EU membership, pension rights etc. it seems a very unlikely scenario, as it's clearly in both sides' interests to keep the discussion amicable.

Depends on when it is said. Before a vote, it appears to me the SNP thinks its best interest is to make it unamicable, in order to get a confrontation that will engender nationalist/separationist sentiment. After the vote, they may reconcile, but at the moment it seems "independence at any cost" is a clear but unstated policy theme.

[molly bloom]

I gathered that much.

But what is a "cack"? And why does it make you clumsy if you have one for a hand?

It was also used for left handed people, and in some countries where lavatory paper is not in constant use, the left hand is used to dispose of poop.

Thus....

[Sava]

you assume we are dealing with rational actors

[C0ckney]

i agree with that, however there's more to it than the legal side. if an independent scotland decided to walk away from the national debt, there are many ways in which the rest of the UK could make things difficult; by playing hardball over oil, vetoing EU membership, pension rights etc. it seems a very unlikely scenario, as it's clearly in both sides' interests to keep the discussion amicable.

[Dauphin]

that was my understanding. of course it will come down to the negotiations following a yes vote, but it would be astonishing if the UK government allowed scotland to walk away from its share of the national debt.

My understanding is that the Treasury has legal liability to holders of UK debt issued up to S day. Scotland has none.

Scotland would still have a liability to the Treasury, but it's legal status and quantum is less clear cut.

I wonder if Scots would still claim on national assets at the same time - like pension rights or RBS shares or oil... [/rhetorical]

[C0ckney]

I suppose it depends on how one interprets this: It looks to me like they do indeed intend to assign Scotland its portion of the debt. Maybe the good Doctor has a different reading.

that was my understanding. of course it will come down to the negotiations following a yes vote, but it would be astonishing if the UK government allowed scotland to walk away from its share of the national debt.

[DinoDoc]

"expected" :desire:

I'll take that as an admission you had no idea what you were talking about. Don't feel bad. It is a foreign country after all.

[Dr Strangelove]

I suppose it depends on how one interprets this: It looks to me like they do indeed intend to assign Scotland its portion of the debt. Maybe the good Doctor has a different reading.

"expected" :desire:

[Dr Strangelove]

This is not something one can "allow". Other countries use the US dollar as their currency. We cannot really prevent it. However, those other countries have no say in our monetary policies.

Most of the other countries which use the US dollar are ex-dependencies in the Pacific. The two other countries which officially use the US dollar are Ecuador and El Salvador. Their economies are a drop in the bucket compared to the US economy. Zimbabwe is listed as using the US dollar, but actually they simply allow the usage of other national currencies which include the Euro, the Pound, the South African Rand and the Botswanan Pula.

[DinoDoc]

do you have a link dr s?

I suppose it depends on how one interprets this:

Scottish independence: Treasury makes debt pledge
The UK Treasury says that should Scots vote to leave the UK, it will honour all UK government debt issued up to the date of Scottish independence.
...
However, the Treasury, in addition to its guarantee, added that an independent Scotland would still be expected to pay its "fair share".

It looks to me like they do indeed intend to assign Scotland its portion of the debt. Maybe the good Doctor has a different reading.

[C0ckney]

do you have a link dr s?

[Dr Strangelove]

If Scotland goes independent, I would do the following if I were Britain:
1) Allow Scotland to use the Pound if they want, but not allow them any say in fiscal policy.
2) Assign Scotland a portion of the UK's national debt in proportion to their population.
3) If Scotland abrogates their portion of the debt, I would sue in International court and impose sanctions until I got repayment (this would include seizing North Sea oil).

IIRC the UK government recently decided that they wouldn't assign any portion of the national debt to an independant Scotland.

[DaShi]

It was very meta.

[Sava]

I LAWLED






no i didnt

[kentonio]

I dunno. Let's ask kentonio.

Aww, you so funny.