Political Theory

Re: English Town wants to Join Scotland

Kakugo — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:18:36 GMT

This is very similar to what is happening in Italy, with many small towns wishing to leave "normal" Regions and joining "Special Statute" Trentino.

As such Trentino enjoys slightly lower taxes, lot of dole from the central government, reserved quotas in the various public services and, what's much more appealing, they can keep a substantial slice of their taxes to be spent locally.

Ambitious mayors are increasingly seeing this as a win-win situation: either they'll have more money to spend on local porkbarrel politics or their Region will "buy them back" by pouring millions (extorted from less lucky taxpayers) into local projects to keep secession talks at bay.

I live a few miles from the "border" area and I can assure you it has very little to do with improving life quality or having more autonomy.

Re: English Town wants to Join Scotland

darcgun — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:38:55 GMT

Well in 1999 Tony Blair's government established devolved legislative bodies in Scotland and Wales since the Labour party felt that government needed to be brought closer to the people in these countries.

But one should note that the political culture of Scotland is quite socialist in nature. This is probably why there is free care for the elderly and no tuition fees for Scottish students.

And no, Scottish people don't pay tax to the Scottish Parliament or Executive, even though the Parliament has the power to raise income tax in Scotland.

English Town wants to Join Scotland

ryanpatgray — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:36:45 GMT

This is an interesting article I found in The Scotsman.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, an English town near the border with Scotland wants to join Scotland.

In particular, I found this section stricking:

"Locals envy the benefits they see Scots enjoying, such as free personal care for the elderly and the abolition of tuition fees for students. It's classic Three Billy Goats Gruff stuff, with Gordon Brown cast as the Unionist troll, unwilling to let the Berwickers taste the green grass of devolved Scotland."

Government benefits! I do not know if the Scots pay higher taxes for these bennies or not. Perhaps someone who know more about UK politics could let us know.