Letters / Independence obsession
At the end of September the SNP finally published their paper on what pensions would look like in an independent Scotland. What a shame that this long awaited document contained nothing more than a wish list of promises without any clarity about how we would pay for this.
Experts lined up to criticise the paper for having no detail and no costing. Professor Robert Wright of Strathclyde University has said that some of the SNP’s assumptions are “badly wrong”.
The SNP seem to be saying that everything will be alright on the night. In a competition between who to believe, we think most people would wisely choose the pensions experts over Alex Salmond.
Then the following week Mr Salmond promised us a land of milk and honey by telling us that in an independent Scotland we can spend the money we get from North Sea oil twice. If only life were so simple.
The national tax from the North Sea is already used to pay for the nurses in our hospitals and the teachers in our schools. It means our pensions are paid on time and benefits are there for those who need them. The idea that we can also set this money aside for a rainy day without putting up taxes or cutting local services is fantasy.
For better or worse national tax revenues from North Sea oil have always been dedicated to everyday spending and cannot also be set aside. Mr Salmond is claiming that it is possible to have your cake and eat it, when of course it is not.
North Sea oil is good for Scotland and Shetland for as long as it lasts, but by being part of the much bigger and more diversified UK we are best placed to maximise its potential and to cope with its inevitable decline and demise.
Where is the sense in putting this, and our pensions, at risk for the sake of Alex Salmond’s obsession with independence?
Yours sincerely,
Graham Johnston
Maurice Mullay
Theo Nicolson
For Better Together Shetland: Vote NO in the Scottish Referendum
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