They will never take our full fiscal freedom
Daniel Hannan suggests giving the Scots full fiscal autonomy (FFA) immediately, as this will ensure that Scottish voters are exposed to the consequences of the budgetary deficits that Holyrood, under the control of the SNP, would apparently run. Surely we don’t need reminding, in light of events in Europe over the last decade, of the dangers of granting fiscal autonomy to different nations in a currency union?
David de Lanoy Meijer, UK
Mr. Hannan says, “Well, the SNP demands full fiscal autonomy, and David Cameron should hurry to meet that demand.” May I respectfully suggest that unilaterally giving Scotland full fiscal autonomy is not the answer. Cameron should ask the Scottish Parliament if it wishes to be given “full fiscal autonomy.” This is necessary to formalise any such action, since without forcing a specific commitment by the Scottish Parliament, the Scots might claim that they really didn’t mean it. Naturally, if the Scottish Parliament said “no” to full fiscal autonomy, their words would be seen as what they were – cynical and duplicitous political manoeuvring. If they say “yes” then things become very much easier to accomplish.
Robert Jones, Music City, USA
Daniel Hannan argues that fiscal autonomy should be granted forthwith to Scotland. But if I may, can I give three observations about what happened in Scotland before he condemns us all to a life of penury north of the Border. First, in Scotland 50% of the votes cast went to the SNP. But they got 95% of the seats. Second, only 71% of the electorate voted in Scotland in the Election. Third, this means the SNP actually only managed to persuade 36% of the Scottish electorate to vote for them. She persuaded 37% to vote Yes in the Referendum. So in reality support for SNP dropped by 1%. And given the SNP managed to get virtually their whole vote out on Election day, that means 64% of the Scottish electorate didn’t vote for the SNP. Scotland didn’t vote for what Nicola Sturgeon is now demanding.
Alastair Muir, Glasgow, UK
There is a big issue with Full Fiscal Autonomy. If it means Scotland paying the UK for say, defence and foreign affairs what on earth is there to prevent Scotland refusing to pay. Its very easy to imagine a situation where a Scottish government believes defence cash is being unwisely spent – eg a war or Trident. Then we have independence by the back door.
Graeme Brown, Edinburgh, UK
Poll position
The soul searching going on at present regarding the accuracy of opinion polls following the UK Election ignores the intervention of the media in reporting the campaign on a daily basis. The BBC, for example, showed an obvious bias in favour of Labour, limiting broadcasting on the Conservative campaign to a minimum. Furthermore, the panels and discussions conveyed the agenda of the BBC, as evidenced by the way questions were pitched. It is about time the media stops making news rather than reporting it. Two months of campaigning and five years of an anti-Tory narrative fed many of the assumptions built into opinion poll data streams. The election results proved that the media under estimated the electorate big time.
Tamara Haggard, London, UK
Dead DUEMA
Re Iain Martin’s article on the closure of the Don’t Underestimate Ed Miliband Association. I thought DUEMA was started on Guido Fawkes’ blog when it became obvious that Miliband was a major gift to the Conservatives and that it stood for ‘Don’t unseat Ed Miliband’?
Aaron D Highside, North West England
Iain Martin responds:
No, DUEMA was launched by me several minutes after Mr Miliband was elected as Labour leader in 2010. The brilliant James Forsyth of the Spectator was a co-founder, as was Ben Brogan if I remember correctly. The organisation first appeared in print in the Wall Street Journal, where I was then working. I liked Miliband personally and thought he was tougher than he looked, although his left-wing policies would have been disastrous for the British economy. When it was clear that Miliband was struggling badly, and there was a risk he would be removed and replaced with an electable Labour leader, Paul Staines of Guido Fawkes made a takeover attempt of DUEMA and rebranded it the Don’t Unseat Ed Miliband Association. Paul was right, and I was wrong.
