Brexit Vote

I'd hate to leave Yorkshire but Scotland is looking rather enticing. Have today sent off for details to six Scottish estate agents requesting house details. Forres here we come (maybe).

Sawday said:

I'd hate to leave Yorkshire but Scotland is looking rather enticing. Have today sent off for details to six Scottish estate agents requesting house details. Forres here we come (maybe).

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If other folks have the same idea…you may be in a long queue!

- Nick

Before you head to Scotland, you might want to look at the Wikipedia article on their Economy that I found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Scotland#Economic_Performance

In part it said:

Scotland has 8.4% of the UK population, 32% of the land mass and in 2012–2013 generated 9.1% (£53.1bn) of UK tax revenues, and received 9.3% (£65.2bn) of UK spending back from Westminster.[86][87] In 2012–2013, this amounted to a budget deficit of 8.3% of GDP, higher than the UK's overall budget deficit for the same period of 7.3% of GDP.[86] In 2014–15, the Scottish figure worsened to 9.7%, while the overall UK figure was 4.9%.[88]
In the third quarter of 2015, the Scottish economy grew by 0.1%, below the 0.4% recorded for the UK.[89] As of September 2015, the Scottish unemployment rate of 5.9% was above the UK rate of 5.5%, while the Scottish employment rate of 74.0% was higher than the UK figure of 73.5%.[90]

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If I read that properly, if Scotland goes independent of the rest of the UK, the overall economy will be worse than it is now, while the rest of UK will improve. Just saying...

Sawday said:

I'd hate to leave Yorkshire but Scotland is looking rather enticing. Have today sent off for details to six Scottish estate agents requesting house details. Forres here we come (maybe).

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Try Nairn. Fabulous town. On the Moray Firth. Overall, great weather. We had wonderful holidays there.

Ian

MacInWin said:

Before you head to Scotland, you might want to look at the Wikipedia article on their Economy that I found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Scotland#Economic_Performance

In part it said:If I read that properly, if Scotland goes independent of the rest of the UK, the overall economy will be worse than it is now, while the rest of UK will improve. Just saying...

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All this depends on what happens to the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit. It also depends on if this actually occurs (Article 50, I do not believe, has been enacted yet). Then again, even if it has.. the article really only forces negotiation on the EU side (although, not the UK).

Basically, everything is still up in the air. That all said, since I no longer live either in Europe or the UK.. I've only paid passing attention

Dysfunction said:

All this depends on what happens to the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit. It also depends on if this actually occurs (Article 50, I do not believe, has been enacted yet). Then again, even if it has.. the article really only forces negotiation on the EU side (although, not the UK).

Basically, everything is still up in the air. That all said, since I no longer live either in Europe or the UK.. I've only paid passing attention

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True enough, but just on the face of it, if Scotland goes independent and keeps the budget where it is right now, the average increase in taxes to the Scottish will be about £2400 per annum per person. And if, like the US, 47% don't pay any taxes, that will effectively double on the folks who DO pay taxes to £4800 per annum per person. So a family of four whose income earner pays taxes will see an increase in taxes of about £8000-£16000 per annum. Or Scotland will have to make serious cuts in domestic spending much like Greece did. Based on that analysis, I'm not sure EU will accept Scotland as a member. Germany doesn't want to have to finance another Greece.

So basically, if Scotland departs UK, then the tax situation will get very interesting, even if England's economy goes down.

Oh, and the taxpayers in UK will be better off because they have stopped subsidizing both the EU and Scotland. I read that UK is now contributing £20bn per annum to EU, and from the article I cited the net deficit to Scotland is £12bn, so the savings to the UK leaving EU and Scotland declaring independence will be £32bn/annually. That's about £533 per person per annum. So, a family of four in Scotland will see taxes increase by £8000 - 16000 and a family of four in UK will see taxes decrease by £2200 over that same timespan.

I don't live there either, but I don't think the "doom and gloom" predictions are valid, and I don't think, presented the numbers I just showed you, that the Scottish are willing to give up that much just for Scottish independence. Maybe they will, but it won't be a coldly logical decision. It will be nationalistic. And it will cost them dearly to make the move.

EDIT: Corrected a math problem...

I am gutted at the result and upset at the ugly mood amongst some leavers. Despite where I live and my age profile, I voted to remain because I weighed the economic consequences and believe the UK is stronger within the EU than outside and that many of the country's institutions will fail without people who have settled here from other countries.

The result has pitched us into political and economic turmoil with both major parties imploding, international companies saying they will quit Britain and banks being suspended temporarily from the stock market because of share falls. The leave leaders straightaway backtracked on vital issues such as money for the NHS (see first link) and immigrant numbers and, hard to believe, some leave voters are claiming they didn't think their vote would count!

I feel the 'out' campaign appealed to the anti-immigration crowd in the basest manner possible (see second link to poster, which featured a photo of Syrian asylum seekers who have nothing to do with the EU). EU, other passport holders and non-white Brits are facing calls to go, and go now - shades of Trump or what? My young cousin, living here for 20 years on an Irish passport, got into a discussion with a supposed friend who voted leave believing 'we have to look after our own'. She said it was like a slap in the face.

Such a mess.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nigel-farage-admits-wont-extra-8271594

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...claims-it-incites-racial-hatred-a7087801.html