stephen.shevlin

Comment Threads

• paws4thot commented on Schroedinger's Kingdom: the Scottish Political Singularity Explained
  Pretty much as El says in #344. I addressed the specific examples that you cited....
• robfisher commented on Schroedinger's Kingdom: the Scottish Political Singularity Explained
  FWIW, UKIP support among some, especially in circles I move in, is about dislike of the vast EU institution, rather than anything to do with immigration. I am in favour of freedom of trade and freedom of movement, and against everything else about the EU. But, like you said, it's a shame we don't get to vote for that....
• CharlesW commented on Schroedinger's Kingdom: the Scottish Political Singularity Explained
  Thanks EL: you are probably correct: thats unfortunate. It seems to me that some of the breakup costs that the SNP have requested are potentially large (retain UKR pound without UKR control of economics and taxation, Faslane as a nuclear-free zone are 2 examples that spring to mind). This all sounds to me like a recipe for a very messy and bitter divorce with both sides arguing that its all the other sides fault and therefore the other side should pay, egged on by the respective domestic politics (the why should WE pay for what THEY want argument). Even if...
• El commented on Schroedinger's Kingdom: the Scottish Political Singularity Explained
  It's not clear to me that an independent Scotland retaining the UKR£ without direct control has any direct cost, and any indirect cost is likely to be marginal. There are a lot of small countries that peg themselves to other country's currencies and live in a shadow or halo depending on your POV and seem to manage just fine: Puerto Rico is the most obvious. For a long time both Ireland and Canada more or less struggled to break out and were pretty tightly tied to their more economically vigorous neighbours, although with the former Celtic Tiger joining the Euro...
• Antonia T Tiger commented on Schroedinger's Kingdom: the Scottish Political Singularity Explained
  Want to be a "Laird"? It looks the usual very dodgy deal, buy a tiny plot of land can call yourself a Laird (or Lady), but there might be something of value in it: it's a fundraiser for a nature reserve. Still looks dodgy, and then you see where this wonderful special deal comes from. It's Amazon. They sell you a voucher which can be exchanged for this incredible deal. They'll charge you fifteen quid, but actually registering title to the land has a fee (if I'm reading right) of sixty quid. Though reports elsenet suggests the operation is using...