Ministers fret over Scottish independence
Amid the Labour-dominated headlines this morning on the first day of the party’s autumn conference in Liverpool, something else caught my eye. The Independent on Sunday had a story about David Cameron...
View ArticleWhat is George Osborne’s grand plan for Scotland?
Michael Moore, the Scottish secretary, will address MPs at 4.30pm today to explain why the Westminster government is offering Alex Salmond the chance to hold a legally-binding referendum on Scottish...
View Article‘What currency will an independent Scotland have?’– and other tough questions...
After four days of heated argument about the complex process of holding a referendum on Scottish independence, unionists are finally starting to get the debate they have been wanting to have for a...
View ArticleJim Wallace: Salmond holding his own referendum would be undemocratic
Last week, we were told that the UK government believes the Scottish parliament does not have the legal right to hold its own referendum on independence. Since then, debate has focused on what the...
View ArticleWill a Scottish referendum happen in 2014?
It has been assumed in Westminster for several months now that the Scots will get an independence referendum, and it will happen in 2014. But mutterings are beginning to emerge that this may not happen...
View ArticleScottish referendum takes a step closer
I’ve written on this blog before about the dispute between Westminster and Holyrood on whether there should be a third option – dubbed devo-max – on the eventual referendum on Scottish independence....
View ArticleVotes at 16 – a clever Lib Dem plot?
David Cameron will meet Alex Salmond in Edinburgh on Monday morning to put the seal on a deal to transfer the power to the Scottish government to hold a referendum on independence. As part of that...
View ArticleSNP can’t guarantee universal benefits
Alex Salmond believes last month’s speech by Johann Lamont was a game-changer. In it, the Labour leader in Scotland argued that many of the universal benefits currently enjoyed by Scots are not...
View ArticleNewspapers could be regulated differently in England and Scotland
Alex Salmond. Getty Images As journalists scramble to find out what different members of the coalition and Labour party think about press regulation in the run-up to tomorrow’s publication of the...
View ArticleNewspapers could be regulated differently in England and Scotland (Part II)
Two days ago, I wrote about the possibility that the regulatory systems governing the press could differ in England and Scotland in the wake of the Leveson report. Unlike broadcast media, print...
View ArticleAn independent Scotland could cost UK taxpayers billions
Amid all the debate about the economic viability of an independent Scotland, one element of the debate has been left behind, namely what Scottish independence would mean for the rest of the UK. Martin...
View ArticleCurrency battle with Scotland looms
George Osborne and Danny Alexander will front two important pieces of analysis next month into why being in the UK benefits Scotland both in terms of its currency and its financial services sector. The...
View ArticleThe English want benefit cuts, the Scottish less so
I was interested to read the piece by Alex Massie in this morning’s Scotsman, in which he argued: Scots may take an even tougher line on welfare than voters elsewhere in the UK… Visit any...
View ArticleHas the Treasury given Alex Salmond the upper hand?
We revealed in this morning’s FT that the Treasury is making it clear to investors in UK debt that if Scotland goes independent, the rest of the UK will still be liable for the debt that it has issued....
View ArticleSir Nick Macpherson: very bold, perm sec
We’ve known for two days that George Osborne, Danny Alexander and Ed Balls were about to rule out sharing the pound with an independent Scotland. What we didn’t know until this morning is that they...
View ArticleScotland comments boomerang on Australian PM
He has been criticised in the past for offending women, gays and the Irish. Now Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, stands accused of insulting the people of Scotland and interfering in the...
View ArticlePoll finds substantial support for Scottish independence
One of the many curious findings from tonight’s ComRes poll (for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent on Sunday) is that 38 per cent of people in Scotland want independence, a figure not far off the...
View ArticleMinisters fret over Scottish independence
Amid the Labour-dominated headlines this morning on the first day of the party’s autumn conference in Liverpool, something else caught my eye. The Independent on Sunday had a story about David Cameron...
View ArticleWhat is George Osborne’s grand plan for Scotland?
Michael Moore, the Scottish secretary, will address MPs at 4.30pm today to explain why the Westminster government is offering Alex Salmond the chance to hold a legally-binding referendum on Scottish...
View Article‘What currency will an independent Scotland have?’– and other tough questions...
After four days of heated argument about the complex process of holding a referendum on Scottish independence, unionists are finally starting to get the debate they have been wanting to have for a...
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