Tag Archives: john swinney

Opinion: The Scottish independence referendum – a lack of wisdom in the pro-UK camp?

By Paul Reynolds | Mon 14th April 2014 - 7:50 am

In September 2014, the Scottish public will vote on independence from the rest of the UK. As of mid-April 2014, the opinion polls suggest that the pro-UK camp is ahead, but over the past few weeks the pro-independence camp has been fast catching up. Why?

One reason seems to be the spat between the London-based UK administration and the Scottish National Party (SNP) over the role of Britain’s sterling currency. All three main UK national parties stepped in behind a sudden policy of non-cooperation with an independent Scotland …

Posted in News, Op-eds and Scotland | Also tagged david mundell, Scottish independence referendum, snp and trident | 22 Comments

Bedroom Tax no more in Scotland – with Scottish Liberal Democrat support

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 6th February 2014 - 12:13 pm

It’s been a big week for the Scottish Parliament. On Tuesday, Holyrood passed a much stronger equal marriage bill than we have south of the border. Yesterday it passed a budget which, with different ideas incorporated from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, will make a huge difference to many people in Scotland.

The Holyrood budget process is very different. You’d never find George Osborne publishing his budget 3 months in advance, letting all parties contribute to the process and then putting an amended budget through Parliament incorporating new ideas. It’s to Finance Secretary John Swinney’s great credit that he adopts …

Posted in News | Also tagged bedroom tax, holyrood, Scotland and willie rennie | 18 Comments

Pensions, the triple lock and Scottish independence

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th June 2013 - 11:55 am

Steve Webb has come under a bit of fire for comments that his triple lock, which guarantees a state pension rise by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5% can’t be guaranteed after the election. Let’s look at what he actually said to the Financial Times.

My view is it should be triple lock; to be absolutely clear, I would want to see that continue. But we, as a party, will have to thrash that one out.

He made clear that this would be something that all parties would have go deal with.

This is pretty much a statement of the obvious. …

Posted in News | Also tagged pensions, scottish independence, steve webb and triple lock | 11 Comments

Willie Rennie on Newsnight Scotland: You have to be cautious when you predict oil revenues

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th March 2013 - 11:57 am

There’s been a bit of a stooshie over future North Sea oil revenues in the last week or so. First, as the BBC tells us, a leaked draft of a Scottish Government report said that volatility in projecting revenues created uncertainty and could lead to spending cuts. Now, Alex Salmond tells us that it’ll all be fine and there’ll be a great big oil boom just as Scotland becomes independent. The SNP projections for the first year of independence are pretty much double what the OBR predicts.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie went on Newsnight Scotland on Monday night …