Scottish Parliamentary Elections Sweepstake

Post by **pete** » Fri May 06, 2016 5:20 pm

BigD wrote:
BigD wrote:1st - SNP - 42%
2 - Conservative - 21%
3 - Labour - 19%
4 - Lib Dem
5 - Greens
6 - Solidarity or whatever
So looks like I was spot on for the Regions votes.

1. SNP - 41.7%
2. Conservative - 22.9%
3. Labour - 19.1%

I thank you...........

Very good.

BigD · Post by **BigD** » Fri May 06, 2016 5:39 pm

Thanks Pete, where do I collect my winnings?

Post by **campbell** » Fri May 06, 2016 7:17 pm

Mikie711 wrote:Ironically the only people who keep bringing it up are the press and no voters. The vote is done, move on people. If everyone keeps on about it the the press will never let it go and we will be having the same arguments in 10 years time.

Very good point.

Ok no more IndyRef chat.

Except, the will of the people has resulted in fewer SNP seats, more Conservative and Unionist Party seats,and the removal of an outright majority.

So I agree with others. Get back to running our corner of the U.K. Get over the dream of full independence, you've got plenty to work with now. Or next time you're out.

Right, I'm done now

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri May 06, 2016 7:58 pm

campbell wrote:
Mikie711 wrote:Ironically the only people who keep bringing it up are the press and no voters. The vote is done, move on people. If everyone keeps on about it the the press will never let it go and we will be having the same arguments in 10 years time.
Very good point.

We all know Mikie's point is a complete lie though, Jeannie Krankie says she wants indy2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2016 ... d-36181591

Plenty of simpletons on facebook still posting yes2, we are the 45 etc

Only the other day one of my projects in Glasgow was shelved as the English based backers, fed up with SNP saber rattling, particularly the repeated threat that "should be Scotland be taken out of the EU against the settled will of the Scottish people" in the event of a vote for Brexit, decided enough was enough and that they could not confidently invest in Scotland.

So there you go £50million invested in Scotland, gone just like that, this is happening elsewhere of course, in many industries. Not according to SNP voters though, no, it's all a tory lie apparently. And probably something to do with Thatcher.

thinfourth · Post by **thinfourth** » Fri May 06, 2016 9:21 pm

kenny wrote:
campbell wrote:
Mikie711 wrote:Ironically the only people who keep bringing it up are the press and no voters. The vote is done, move on people. If everyone keeps on about it the the press will never let it go and we will be having the same arguments in 10 years time.
Very good point.
We all know Mikie's point is a complete lie though, Jeannie Krankie says she wants indy2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2016 ... d-36181591

Plenty of simpletons on facebook still posting yes2, we are the 45 etc

Only the other day one of my projects in Glasgow was shelved as the English based backers, fed up with SNP saber rattling, particularly the repeated threat that "should be Scotland be taken out of the EU against the settled will of the Scottish people" in the event of a vote for Brexit, decided enough was enough and that they could not confidently invest in Scotland.

So there you go £50million invested in Scotland, gone just like that, this is happening elsewhere of course, in many industries. Not according to SNP voters though, no, it's all a tory lie apparently. And probably something to do with Thatcher.

SNP open gob = another few million leaves scotland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... s-36228715

But that benefits the SNP

They drive business away and they can blame england/westminster/tunnock teacakes/tory voters and the hard of thinking lap it up

Mikie711 · Post by **Mikie711** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:02 am

Just to be clear I don't support the SNP or any of them for that matter. I did/do support independence and still think there is a case for it but that is water under the bridge.
As for the rest of it I don't really care about any of it as it doesn't matter who's in charge they will just f&ck it up in different ways. I don't think they have done a worse job than labour did when the ran things and none of them would do it any better/worse than the rest it would just be different.

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:36 am

The thing that the SNP make worse is that they mix independence with running the country. Kenny's point is valid. If any of the other Muppets was in power, business could continue as usual. Whilst the independence chat lingers, Scotland is a risky place to invest in. The SNP cannot really come out and say no more independence debate for the next 20 years because that goes against their primary aim. So they are damaging Scotland for so long as they are in power. All IMHO, of course.

tut · Post by **tut** » Sat May 07, 2016 10:35 am

AIMHO as well.

Their job is to run the Country, but she will be fannying around with her Devolution after having her and gobbies asses kicked last time.

tut

Mikie711 · Post by **Mikie711** » Sat May 07, 2016 1:40 pm

Unfortunately it doesn't look like changing any time soon. Although they didn't gain a majority they did still win by a considerable margin and with Labour in disarray that only leaves the cons as any sort of viable alternative. I can't ever see them winning in Scotland but I guess you never know.
I agree that they should let the independence issue fade into the background for now. It would need significant change in the Scotland for it to become a viable option again and given the world economy that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
My only concern when it comes to politics is the tax issue, how much more/less is it going to cost me. On that issue it only leaves one option and that's Torry, everyone else seems determined to up the higher rates and have the better earners pay more which I feel is unfair.

Post by **campbell** » Sat May 07, 2016 8:05 pm

How should the tax burden be spread if not weighted more on higher earners then?

Interestingly it's low on my list of concerns. Education and economic stability are nearer the top for me.

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:00 pm

It's a balancing act - there is no "fair" scheme; increasing the top rate to 50% above 150K will clearly alienate high earners and they may well be mobile to the extent that they could relocate to England (and thus stick with the 45% rate); also as you push the thresholds higher, the number of earners in those brackets diminishes quickly, and these people are typically motivated to rearrange their income so as to avoid taxation (legally or otherwise).

So I don't know how much an aggressive super tax would actually raise.

Meanwhile you can reliably tax the PAYE brigade with little chance of them reorganising their affairs or leaving the system completely (the super wealthy can become residents of Monaco or Luxembourg or whatever works best for them). So it's always tempting to do that. Coupled with the reasonable desire to reduce the taxation burden on those earning the least it means that the tax burden on the middle has a habit of creeping up and that's roughly where we are.

I would be inclined to leave income tax roughly as it is were it me. I would look to more aggressive reorganisation of some of the peripheral taxes (NIC, VAT, fuel duty, etc.) Oh, and the elephant in the room, corporation tax for multi-nationals.

Cheers,
Robin

fd · Post by fd » Sat May 07, 2016 9:06 pm

robin wrote:SNP . . . running the country . . .

ROFLOL . . . aye right . . .

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:13 pm

fd wrote:
robin wrote:SNP . . . running the country . . .
ROFLOL . . . aye right . . .

There is an "i" missing from Robin's post... and an "n" too many. Will put it down to predictive text.

Ruining

Post by **campbell** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:25 pm

Guess I'm in the squeezed middle then. Think I've said on here before, I'm happy to PAY a bit more tax. It's how it's SPENT I'm less convinced about.

As it happens, it's Georgie Porgie who's taking maybe an extra £1-2k off me this year. Not Mr Swinney (yet?!)

tenkfeet · Post by **tenkfeet** » Sat May 07, 2016 9:36 pm

campbell wrote:Guess I'm in the squeezed middle then. Think I've said on here before, I'm happy to PAY a bit more tax. It's how it's SPENT I'm less convinced about.

As it happens, it's Georgie Porgie who's taking maybe an extra £1-2k off me this year. Not Mr Swinney (yet?!)

It would be nice to have some say on how the tax revenue is blown.( I say blown as it appears every penny must go) Say you had the option of what department 10% of the tax you pay is given to.

Scottish Elises