The SNP is playing cynical politics with the Royal Mail

[barbario]

It might be cynical politics but it will work.IMO,expect Scotland to vote for independence next year.

[fishtank]

It might be cynical politics.

Is there any other kind?
I don't know what fairy tale land some posters live in but if the only argument someone can put up against a policy is that it's opportunist and self serving I would love to see the list of non-opportunist,selfless policies implemented in the last 30 years by any UK government.I'll even send you the world's smallest post it note to write them all down on.

Is it financially viable to renationalise a Scottish Royal Mail?
Who knows?,I'm not a political economist or a financial expert but if Scotland does vote for independence and Salmond does get into power he'll no doubt be called out on his promise and will either produce the goods or look foolish backtracking.

If Scotland doesn't vote for independence or Salmond doesn't get into power it's a moot point but I still welcome the fact that he picked a side rather than mimic Labour's constantly shifting two-faced attitude to Royal Mail.

[Dumpys Rusty Nuts]

that letter is typical left wing hypocrisy. Labour backed us ,labour are behind us ,labour this and that. Short memory some folk, im sure labour wanted to privatise us a few years ago. MR MANDELSON ring any bells

[mailman71]

It might be cynical politics but it will work.IMO,expect Scotland to vote for independence next year.

No chance once people realise that the snp would have to adopt the euro as a new country in the European market nobody will vote for them.
There is a lot of people up here waiting for his white paper due out in November to be published to see where he is going to get all the money he has promised.

[Tman]

In a recent TV interview (Paxman?) Salmond was asked which currency he expects to use in an independent Scotland. "The Euro, of course" he sneeringly replied, and when it was pointed out that before that happened Scotland would have to meet certain financial criteria, and then even if it did, the transition wouldn't be immediate, he suddenly jumped to "Sterling,then".
He was then asked how he could use the currency of a "foreign" country probably without agreement of said country, and to which the Bank of England wouldn't be obliged to send or supply cash etc.
No answer was forthcoming, other than the usual Salmond bluff and bluster. Basically he doesn't know.
Best you think that one through Alex,preferably before the Big Day comes....

[fishtank]

He was then asked how he could use the currency of a "foreign" country probably without agreement of said country, and to which the Bank of England wouldn't be obliged to send or supply cash etc.

Why would the BofE need to supply Scotland with "cash etc"? We print our own.
As for a name for it that's pretty meaningless,you could call it anything you want as it's only a promissory note but chances are we would just go back to calling it a Scots pound as that's what it was called before the Treaty of Union.

[Tman]

Why would the BofE need to supply Scotland with "cash etc"? We print our own.
As for a name for it that's pretty meaningless,

Whatever it's called and however many you "print" is meaningless. Any country needs a "hard currency" to be able to import, export, borrow, lend, finance, subsidise and a thousand other things countries do with their money. To lamely say "we'll print our own" is naive.
The Weimar Republic (among others) chose the printing press route. It didn't end well....

[fishtank]

Any country needs a "hard currency"

Have you any idea what you are talking about?
Hard currency is just a trading term,It only applies to around 6 or 7 currencies at a time and is usually judged against their trading surplus/deficit.
The other 190 odd countries in the world seem to get along just fine using their own "soft" currencies in some cases pegged to one of the hard currencies,in the case of the Eurozone using a shared currency or in some cases adopting another country's currency or maintaining a mixed currency(dollarization).

To lamely say "we'll print our own" is naive.

Like the Bank of England you mean?
Printing money is not an issue,printing too much money is always an issue.

There is no reason why Scotland cannot maintain its own stable currency, Norway and Denmark maintain their own currency at a far more stable rate than UK Sterling and they are not considered "hard currency" either.

What Salmond needs to do is make up his mind,If he really believes in a "Sterling Zone" which would most likely be the favoured choice of Westminster he has to show how fiscal independence could be maintained while sharing a currency,exchange rate and interest rate.If he can't then it has to be our own currency until the decision on whether to adopt the Euro becomes a reality or doesn't.

Much of the problem comes from the UK Government's position of refusing to discuss any post Independence scenarios because it undermines their pro-union stance,that's understandable but ultimately unhelpful if you're trying to explain what happens after Independence.

[Tman]

Hard currency is just a trading term,It only applies to around 6 or 7 currencies at a time and is usually judged against their trading surplus/deficit

.

So to go along with that point, how then can Scotland be judged in regard to where it's currency would sit, value-wise? How many barrels of whiskey are in store? How much tartan was sold to Japanese tourists last fiscal year? What?

Like the Bank of England you mean?

No, absolutely nothing like the Bank of England. That particular organisation sits "on top" of the world's seventh biggest economy with a known worth. Scotland is an unknown quantity and is down with the Montenegros and Serbias unless/until it can prove otherwise.
What a typically banana republic it would be if in a couple of years after independence the Scots end up preferring the UK pound rather than the domestic currency?

Printing money is not an issue,printing too much money is always an issue.

Yes, I think we both realise that it's not the physical act of printing notes that's the issue...

There is no reason why Scotland cannot maintain its own stable currency, Norway and Denmark maintain their own currency at a far more stable rate than UK Sterling and they are not considered "hard currency" either.

Maybe because the smaller economies of those two countries aren't subject to the whims of the currency speculators? The US dollar fluctuates wildly too, does that mean it's deficient in some way in comparison with Norway and Denmark?

What Salmond needs to do is make up his mind,If he really believes in a "Sterling Zone" which would most likely be the favoured choice of Westminster he has to show how fiscal independence could be maintained while sharing a currency,exchange rate and interest rate.

Fiscal independence in an independent Scotland, but an inability to set interest rates, exchange rates etc? What a crock....

Yep, just like the student who's left home, totally independent, but still living on dad's credit card then?
That's "independence" is it?

[fishtank]

So to go along with that point, how then can Scotland be judged in regard to where it's currency would sit, value-wise?

Scotland runs a trade surplus,the UK as a whole does not.
It would probably sit quite comfortably.
What's your point?

No, absolutely nothing like the Bank of England. That particular organisation sits "on top" of the world's seventh biggest economy with a known worth.

Of which the Scottish economy is a major part.
What's your point?

Maybe because the smaller economies of those two countries aren't subject to the whims of the currency speculators?

Like a Scottish currency wouldn't be subject to the whims of the currency speculators you mean?
What's your point?

Fiscal independence in an independent Scotland, but an inability to set interest rates, exchange rates etc? What a crock....

That's how the Eurozone works...or doesn't depending on your point of view but it's hardly a new model.
A "Sterling Zone" wouldn't be my favourite option either but despite the bullshit it is the favoured choice of the BofE and the UK Government so they must see some merit in it despite your attempts to label it as a crackpot "Salmond" idea.

Yep, just like the student who's left home, totally independent, but still living on dad's credit card then?

In case you hadn't noticed the UK credit card is maxed out,dad hasn't got any money left,the UK's debt is predicted to hit around £1,500,000,000,000 by 2015,We can either be skint and part of the UK or skint and Independent but the skint part is non-negotiable.

Your cultural and economic ignorance of the subject matter and disdain for all things Scottish does you no favours Tman.
You really should put down that Daily Mail and embrace difference,It's what makes us human beings.

[Tman]

Playing the old stone-walling and ad hominem tricks doesn't hide the fact that you clearly don't know how the financial situation in an independent Scotland will be arranged, but more to the point and with less than a year to go, the other 5.3 millions Scots have no idea either as the great tarrrrtan-wavers in the SNP haven't actually found out, and yet a vote is supposed to take place on the country's future based on that huge uncertainty?
It's almost laughable as it's so ludicrous.

[blackadder]

its ok for the north and west of england to have a vote of independence. shame us in england cant have that luxury

[fishtank]

its ok for the north and west of england to have a vote of independence. shame us in england cant have that luxury

Who would you wan't independence from blackadder?