I COMPLETELY agree with Chris Sagan, Bill L (February 9) and other correspondents about the lack of response from the Yes movement to poorly researched reports like the recent one from LSE.
The paucity of responses to rebut, disprove and counter the flawed reasoning in such documents is a real worry. This is Project Fear all over again, and we had better get used to it by having our answers ready.
I’m often asked for more detail on the economics of an indy Scotland. People are desperate for clarity and want facts and figures. We just can’t have them believing the nonsense some Unionists spout. We must rebut these claims, we must provide alternative facts and figures, we must be more proactive and take the initiative.
READ MORE: Undecided voters will be swayed by a careful and sensible approach
So why don’t some of your more learned correspondents or indeed your excellent journalists prepare briefings aimed at soft No’s on the economics of an indy Scotland? Maybe it would be like a sort of balance sheet with easy-to-read tables and graphs. It would include facts like that Scotland has 34% of the UK’s natural wealth, 90% of fresh water and 70% of fish landings. The taxes we pay, the taxes from our industries, how the Barnett formula allocates our money back to us – not to mention Trident and our share of the national debt…
Scotland is a fantastic country. We need to shout that we are big enough, rich enough and smart enough. We need to shout it from the rooftops. We need to publish these easily digestible facts and figures in The National over and again, make leaflets, post them on social media, refer to them constantly on the broadcast media. It’s this basic information that will convince soft No’s. It’s what they are asking and what they want to know.
Unionists are rattled and they are going to get nasty. We must up our game and be ready to refute all the misinformation, lies and fake claims that will doubtless arise. We must be more astute than we were in 2014.
Kenny MacMillan
Isle of Skye
AS members of the Scottish Currency Group we wish to respond to the report by the LSE that was reported on February 3.
It is entirely possible that Scotland will be poorer after independence. But such an outcome will not be caused by independence – it will be the result of poor decisions and mistakes in the management of Scotland’s economy. The possible post-independence scenarios are infinite, unpredictable and unquantifiable. We should never be drawn into futile arguments about hypothetical numbers.
We can be confident that with our own currency Scotland will have greater control over its destiny. Not absolute control, as we are part of a globally connected economy, but our own currency will provide the country with greater autonomy. There is no reason to suppose that Scotland will be the weaker partner in any trade negotiations – it depends on what other decisions are made in the management of our economy.
The first mistake we can make is to adopt the economic policies set out by the Growth Commission. The second would be to delay the adoption of the new currency. If we commence the new currency immediately, our freedom of action is widened in many areas of economic management.
The next mistake would be to replicate the UK’s banking and financial regulations. Who can say whether Scotland will make this mistake or not? Neither the LSE economists or anyone else have any idea whatsoever whether Scotland will choose wisely or not – that is unpredictable, as are future trade flows.
If we keep mistakes to a minimum there is a very real probability that Scotland will emerge as a more prosperous, more productive and more environmentally sustainable, free nation. To quote the words of Franklin D Roosevelt – “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”.
Odet Beauvoisin, Douglas Blair, Alan Calder, Maggie Chetty, Kevin Clark, Iain Conochie, Sandra Davis, Jim Docherty, Paul Duguid, Andrew Duncan, George Falconer, Samuel Flannigan, Grace Flannigan, Brian Forrest, Bill Fraser, Brian Fury, Jock Gibson, George Gordon, Denis Harley, Juli Harris, Vicky Hodge, Neil Huggan, Sandy Hutton, Cathryn Jones, Peter Keenan, John Leck, Geoff Lees, Lorraine Linden, Cormac Lovett, Norman MacGill, Colin MacLean, Jean Marshall, Lorna Matheson, Jude McGregor, Quinton McKay, Kenny McLaren, Joseph McMahon, Susan Morton, Professor Richard Murphy, Lorna Murray, Dave Murray, Jim Osborne, Margaret Peters, Terry Procter, Claire Pupkis, Peter Redpath, David Rowatt, Neil Russell, Alister Rutherford, Ian Shackleton, Jill Tennent, Sandra Thomson-Michaelson, Derick Tulloch, Martin Weir, Paddy Wiggins, Brian Wilcock, John Wood, Toni Young
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