Ghvccd

@Sconethemorra @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 I’ve never made any secret of the fact I’d prefer us to stay in the UK, Sherlock. Traditionally, I’m a labour voter but I’m unhappy with the direction the party has gone in recent times. Plus they can’t win in my constituency and SNP are making it all about indy again.

@jollyman56 @Ghvccd2 @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 It was never really in doubt was it? His timeline screams "I'm a unionist" and by the looks of it, a Reform voter to boot!

Insane this....Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe. London has none. Scotland cannot borrow but has a deficit of 11.6% (GERS). Romania has the worst deficit in Europe at 9.3%. That stat alone should be a wake up call to anyone who thinks the union is Scotland's best choice.

@Sconethemorra @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 It’s spent on shared areas. Of course it’s not going to directly flow over the border but we get the benefit of it. Just because every single navy ship is not built in Scotland doesn’t mean we’re not benefiting. You’d have to fund those things yourself if you broke up the UK

@Ghvccd2 @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 No it isn't! It's £800 spent on behalf of Scotland but not necessarily spent in Scotland. Somewhere between 40-60% of reserved spending for Scotland doesn't make it across the border.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 Definitely pished 😂. Keep going - it’s actually quite entertaining

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 At last. An honest answer. Fuck economics, fuck being British, fuck defence, fuck the EU. fuck the union, fuck WM, fuck HR, fuck it all ...'I’m not keen on independence anyway' That's the mountain right there.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 I think you’re blootered inite mate 😂. We benefit from that spending equally and would have to fund it ourselves if we left the UK, therefore it’s part of our deficit.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 'Effective' 😂😂 What a night out we had last night. £300 in the kitty. Blootered it. Shame you weren't there but eh, you owe us £24 anyway.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 gov.scot/publications/g… 66 page breakdown available to download

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 PDF what? Give me a clue.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 Spending across the UK of which Scotland is a beneficiary such as in areas like defence, debt payments and nationwide infrastructure projects. So if £10bn is spent and Scotland is 8% of UK population, that’s £800 million of effective spending in Scotland.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @scoobygal52 Allocated...not spent! This is now beyond a joke.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 PDF online will sort you out. View at your own risk. You might not like what you see.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 I'll get it tomorrow. I'll just email the HMRC and ask them how they allocate Scotland only contributions to GERS, eh?

@Sconethemorra @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 The figure comes from public spending that massively exceeds revenue. Savings are great but I’m sceptical as to how much could be made without digging into key budgets. I’m not keen on independence anyway and would rather not take the risk. I appreciate you feel differently.

@Ghvccd2 @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 The point is reductions can and would be made through a combination of reduced spend on current reserved functions, and different policy choices made by the indy Scots Gov. There are currently 195 countries in the world, 193 of them UN members. What % of them run a deficit?

@Sconethemorra @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 There’s no way embassies and defence are the main causes of the 11% deficit anyway. So even considering your suggestion for presumably insane slashes in defence spending, small foreign affairs reforms and taking less than our share of UK national debt, we’d still have a problem.

@Ghvccd2 @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 And all directly adding significantly to the "deficit" so beloved of unionists. An indy Scotland would have a much smaller defence footprint , and other similar sized countries share embassies to reduce costs, maximise resources etc, debt is negotiable. There's no downside.

@Sconethemorra @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 All allocated in proportion to our population and would continue to exist in an indy Scotland albeit in a different capacity. They might not all flow directly into Scotland but we are direct beneficiaries of them which is why they are considered in the figures

@Ghvccd2 @jollyman56 @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 A significant portion of “reserved spending for Scotland” is not money flowing into the Scottish economy. Like… Debt interest: ~£8–9bn Foreign affairs: ~£1–2bn Defence procurement ~ £3-4bn Central Government depts. £2-3bn We don’t see trickle down benefits from it either!

@conor_matchett From the very start this was always a populist stunt and nothing more. It won’t have any impact and he knows that. He just wants the UK gov to block it so he can blame Westminster for a worsening cost of living crisis. I hope they call his bluff.

Swinney gives the game away here. Says food caps can't be done quickly (they need legislation), but it would be "quite the spectacle" if UK Labour block it - which is obviously the intention Colin's right to say if it's not done quickly, it's not worth much to struggling Scots

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 I never once said it shouldn’t be open to question. As far as I’m concerned everything is, which is why I was willing to listen to what you had to say. But when I asked you for evidence, you presented nothing and instead resorted to name calling. All in all, not a good look.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 If you believe them and/or think it's acceptable without ever questioning them, then you're a complete fool. And that's not just a casual insult, I seriously mean it. To accept and not think to question an 11.6% deficit, 2.3% worse than Romania (9.3%), is utterly insane.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 Deficit is income minus expenditure and we spend a lot of money. Our strengths don’t change that. So yes, I believe it’s possible. If you think figures put together by gov experts and statisticians are wrong, it’s on you to prove that if you want people to believe you.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 Take you time. It's really a simple question. Do you believe that Scotland, pop 5.2m, GDP £223bn, oil/gas & renewable resources, diverse economy with skilled workforce, strong export trading & financial sector & positive global identity has the worst deficit in Europe at 11.6%?

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 So some of the funds are definitely not spent in Scotland but you can’t tell me which ones? Personally, I think that’s unlikely. They’re the GERS figures, so I’d expect them to be reliable. However, I’ll look at them in more detail.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 The ones that are creating an 21.6% deficit. Ask WM. They provide them.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 The figure captures all public spending in Scotland by both UK and Scot gov, not just the Scot gov which as you say has to keep a balanced budget. You suggest the figure is wrong or misleading. Which funds not spent in Scotland are being added to that figure?

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 In Scotland the govt produce a balanced budget every year based on what they get via Barnett & consequentials. The disgraceful 11.6% deficit is created by unrestrained, indiscriminate & undefined expenditure apportioning to the UK element ie, funds not spent in Scotland, by WM

@PositiveScotla2 @Erudite4Unity @ReformUKScot Absolutely. In an ideal world if everyone followed the tactical voting guide, I’d do the same. The problem is they won’t and Reform are sounding far more promising in my constituency. I might still go conservative on the list.

@Ghvccd2 @Erudite4Unity @ReformUKScot Vote that on the list if that’s the prefeeence and will get representation but vote beat SNP on lilac constituency ballot

A 32% constituency vote share makes the SNP highly vulnerable to tactical pro-UK voting. Ignore polls, follow the tactical voting guide and the SNP will be gone.

@jollyman56 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 We give money away and then get back via the Barnett formula. That’s how countries work, regions pay in and then get it back based on government spending and need. That was the point of the analogy. In Scotland public spending actually exceeds all revenue raised anyway.

@Ghvccd2 @Sconethemorra @slayertofunny @elizabethm46248 @scoobygal52 That's what's wrong. And a shit analogy as NE and Shetland are part of Scotland. The UK isn't a country. It's a composite: a union of 3 countries and an artificially created province. The oil/gas and renewable revenues rightly belong to Scotland. The crime is you giving them away

NEW: “The SNP manifesto pledges additional spending – costing an estimated £1.4 billion a year by 2031–32 – without credibly saying how it would pay for this.” 📗 Read our response to the SNP’s manifesto here: ifs.org.uk/articles/ifs-i…

@Erudite4Unity @ReformUKScot Interesting. I can see that with Reform as they’re controversial. However, despite its limitations, personal experience is leaving me on the fence. Hearing quite a bit of support for Reform in my constituency and not a lot of enthusiasm for the tories.

@Ghvccd2 I constructed the guide in exactly the same way as Scotland In Union, whose guide also shows @ReformUKScot winning no constituencies. There are many factors to consider, particularly propensity to attract votes from supporters of other parties. That's where Reform falls short.

@weeglesgapoet Very common response when they find their ideas challenged.

I’m on a roll today Scotland 😂😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿