Some interesting proposals AH, but I'll be interested to see how it will work in reality.
Certainly the income tax and some VAT and Air Passenger tax could be useful tools, but unless we are allowed to keep the income from our exports and oil, I'm not sure that it will work to our advantage.
It's certainly cheering that they are proposing that we will not have to go cap in hand to some unelected Tory donor to be allowed to rescue our old and sick, and wait upon his pleasure to respond to the letters of our ELECTED representatives, but again, without the income to do this, balanced across a wide range of taxation, that will be a double edged sword...ie we have the power to do it, but not the money. It will no longer be their fault that people are starving; they will have transferred the responsibility to us, while not giving us the money, or the power to raise that money, to deal with it.
Good to see the proposals for 16-18 year olds voting. A pity that it will only be for Scottish only elections. I see no reason why it shouldn't be for all elections.
Still as one Tory said the other day. It is not for David Cameron or his commissions to give or take power some some medieval monarch. It is for parliament to do.
And we should remember that from 650 MPs, only 59 are Scottish.
Tris, you did not think it would be anything else? Smith is just the kicking it into the long grass as per John Major. Oh and I nearly had an accident with Jackie Baillie, had eaten before I saw it. You know she is my Favourite Slab person,favourite for the Gallows.
VAT. How are we to determine what VAT pertains to a Scottish transaction? Say a maker of Unionist teacakes sells a truckload to Tesco. They invoice an English company but deliver the teacakes to Livingston, from whence the teacakes are sold in Scotland to those not boycotting the teacake maker. Do we get half of any of the VAT transactions and how do we work out which transactions we are due half of?
Perhaps we should just go the whole hog and have independence. Trade between the two countries can then be carried out the same as it is between other member states of the EU. I can just see bureaucracy and complexity being added here for an inadequate sop which satisfies no-one.
Seriously no idea how they will make this stuff work... but with Osborne at the helm, I imagine it will work very very badly.
I was interested to read that Carmichael presented the findings to the cabinet on Tuesday. This from Gary Gibbon on Channel Four:
The Smith Commission thought it had agreement on powers for much more flexibility on Universal Credit in Scotland. Then, late in the day, Whitehall started a push-back.
At Tuesday’s cabinet, when Alistair Carmichael read out the plans taking shape at the Smith Commission table, one after another English Tory cabinet ministers challenged the plans and their implications for their brief and their department.
Theresa May was amongst them, George Osborne too. The Culture Secretary Sajid Javid even raised questions about a separate National Lottery for Scotland. But Iain Duncan Smith was said to have been the sharpest critic of what was being cooked up in Scotland, fearing that his entire Universal Credit fabric was being unravelled.
The draft conclusions were diluted in the last 48 hours much to the irritation of the Smith Commission members. “There was panic” in Whitehall according to one Smith Commission source.
Like Northern Ireland, Scotland will now have the power to vary payment regularity etc. The real new power conceded is the power to start up a completely new welfare payment, to invent one from scratch. It’ll be interesting to see what if anything emerges in that space.
The Prime Minister was quick off the blocks (just as he was on the morning after the referendum vote) to reassure English Tory MPs that he will work out (before Christmas) what this all means for his “English votes for English laws” promise.
You get the sense that the constitution is being written at breakneck speed.
- See more at: http://blogs.channel4.com/gary-gibbon-on-politics/breakneck-speed-uk-takes-shape/29731#sthash.ahFkOomz.dpuf
I was choking myself about IDS... worrying about his universal credit unravelling. I understood that it had already disintegrated, like everything else he's ever touched in his useless life.
So, even the recommendations of the Smith Commission had to be vetted by the London Cabinet, before they could be released by Mr Smith. At which point they have to be approved by a parliament that consists of :
God...another bout of PMQ but I see some good news on Smith Commission :P
ReplyDeleteSome interesting proposals AH, but I'll be interested to see how it will work in reality.
DeleteCertainly the income tax and some VAT and Air Passenger tax could be useful tools, but unless we are allowed to keep the income from our exports and oil, I'm not sure that it will work to our advantage.
It's certainly cheering that they are proposing that we will not have to go cap in hand to some unelected Tory donor to be allowed to rescue our old and sick, and wait upon his pleasure to respond to the letters of our ELECTED representatives, but again, without the income to do this, balanced across a wide range of taxation, that will be a double edged sword...ie we have the power to do it, but not the money. It will no longer be their fault that people are starving; they will have transferred the responsibility to us, while not giving us the money, or the power to raise that money, to deal with it.
Good to see the proposals for 16-18 year olds voting. A pity that it will only be for Scottish only elections. I see no reason why it shouldn't be for all elections.
Still as one Tory said the other day. It is not for David Cameron or his commissions to give or take power some some medieval monarch. It is for parliament to do.
And we should remember that from 650 MPs, only 59 are Scottish.
Actually, I've just read the Wings piece and I may have I'm feeling less enthusiastic.
Deletehttp://wingsoverscotland.com/and-now-for-the-truth/
also:
http://wakeupbeforeitstoolate.wordpress.com/
It seems that what they give with one hand they will take back with the other.
Tris, you did not think it would be anything else? Smith is just the kicking it into the long grass as per John Major.
DeleteOh and I nearly had an accident with Jackie Baillie, had eaten before I saw it.
You know she is my Favourite Slab person,favourite for the Gallows.
You should take care not to come on the blog just after eating. There's always the possibility of a photograph or story that will make you bilious.
DeleteI'd want the receipt, with that gift; straight back to wherever it came from.
ReplyDeletejimnarlene
LOL, not even the kind that you would pass to the charity shop!!
DeleteTris
ReplyDeleteShe is best described as similar to the animal we get milk from.
Bruce
Goat!
DeleteI like Jackie! Okay, she might not be slim, she might not be pretty, she might not be truthful but I like her anyway!
ReplyDelete
DeleteMight?
delete the words 'might not be' before the word truthful and replace it with what you were really thinking.
DeleteI fail to see your reasoning John, why on earth do you like her?
DeleteJohn is a man of wide tastes when it comes to women...
DeleteMarcia, you should encourage him to say what he really thinks...
Delete...it's probably unprintable
Helena,
DeleteYou should never believe a word I say - I used to work for the Labour party!!
:)
DeleteJackie Baillie, she's number two, in the pass the puke bucket, just behind Jim Murphy.
ReplyDeleteI have a business idea... I'm going to set up a factory making pails.
Delete:)
VAT. How are we to determine what VAT pertains to a Scottish transaction? Say a maker of Unionist teacakes sells a truckload to Tesco. They invoice an English company but deliver the teacakes to Livingston, from whence the teacakes are sold in Scotland to those not boycotting the teacake maker. Do we get half of any of the VAT transactions and how do we work out which transactions we are due half of?
ReplyDeletePerhaps we should just go the whole hog and have independence. Trade between the two countries can then be carried out the same as it is between other member states of the EU. I can just see bureaucracy and complexity being added here for an inadequate sop which satisfies no-one.
Seriously no idea how they will make this stuff work... but with Osborne at the helm, I imagine it will work very very badly.
DeleteI was interested to read that Carmichael presented the findings to the cabinet on Tuesday. This from Gary Gibbon on Channel Four:
The Smith Commission thought it had agreement on powers for much more flexibility on Universal Credit in Scotland. Then, late in the day, Whitehall started a push-back.
At Tuesday’s cabinet, when Alistair Carmichael read out the plans taking shape at the Smith Commission table, one after another English Tory cabinet ministers challenged the plans and their implications for their brief and their department.
Theresa May was amongst them, George Osborne too. The Culture Secretary Sajid Javid even raised questions about a separate National Lottery for Scotland. But Iain Duncan Smith was said to have been the sharpest critic of what was being cooked up in Scotland, fearing that his entire Universal Credit fabric was being unravelled.
The draft conclusions were diluted in the last 48 hours much to the irritation of the Smith Commission members. “There was panic” in Whitehall according to one Smith Commission source.
Like Northern Ireland, Scotland will now have the power to vary payment regularity etc. The real new power conceded is the power to start up a completely new welfare payment, to invent one from scratch. It’ll be interesting to see what if anything emerges in that space.
The Prime Minister was quick off the blocks (just as he was on the morning after the referendum vote) to reassure English Tory MPs that he will work out (before Christmas) what this all means for his “English votes for English laws” promise.
You get the sense that the constitution is being written at breakneck speed.
- See more at: http://blogs.channel4.com/gary-gibbon-on-politics/breakneck-speed-uk-takes-shape/29731#sthash.ahFkOomz.dpuf
I was choking myself about IDS... worrying about his universal credit unravelling. I understood that it had already disintegrated, like everything else he's ever touched in his useless life.
So, even the recommendations of the Smith Commission had to be vetted by the London Cabinet, before they could be released by Mr Smith. At which point they have to be approved by a parliament that consists of :
DeleteEnglish MPs 533
Welsh MPs 40
Ulster MPs 18
Scottish MPs 59
Remember that the idea is that the proposals will be ready for the new parliament to vote on in May.
Best make sure that the 59 out of 650 are on our side. Labour will be on the side they are told to be on...
Remember Osborne has reportedly already said that there is some doubt over whether Scottish MPs should be allowed to vote on the budget.
Plus an unelected house of over 800 hostile members it will be like a pot of soup and our portion will be the used dishwater.
DeleteCan you just imagine that old boy Forsyth?
Delete