A poll for Prospect Scotland found that 75% of Scottish voters would vote for independence if they felt that the economic plan for an independent Scotland meant we would be better off.
Conter is a site of Scottish anti-capitalist thought. It aims to develop a radical, anti-capitalist class politics in Scotland fit to intervene into the crisis of the British state, the global order and Scottish society.
This week, Craig talks to SNP Policy Development Convenor Chris Hanlon and Agnes MacAuley from SNP Greenock & Inverclyde about the latest GERS figures and what they mean (and don’t mean) for Scotland, independence and the post-pandemic recovery. They then discuss up and coming motions to the SNP conference that have been influenced by or based on Common Weal policies including one for a National Transport Company designed to help decarbonise our cars and other vehicles.
The narrative of ‘I’ has become increasingly dominant as part of wider economic changes in Britain, where there has been a decline in productive exports and a rise in wealth extraction through mass consumption.
A review of the economic and political circumstances around a second independence referendum.
The large debts shown by the 2020/1 GERS are temporary and not structural. They do not indicate that Scotland cannot afford to be inedpendent.
GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) 2015/16 reported Scotland’s fiscal deficit to be in the region of £14 billion per year, portraying Scotland as the country experiencing some of the most challenging financial circumstances in Europe.
However, this study must be viewed firmly in the light of Scotland being a member nation of the United Kingdom and, as such, any attempt to use them to project the finances of an independent Scotland must be treated with caution and qualification.
The UK Government has diverted Scotland’s wealth to the UK Treasury to pay off its debts. Thus it creates 100% of Scotland’s supposed debts and 100% of its phoney deficit. This is the impact of Westminster’s debt loading alone, and upon that accounting trick, rests the entire economic case for the Union. Would an independent Scotland have to pay the rUK a population share of the UK’s historical debt? No – there is in fact a very strong case for Scotland to be compensated for having already paid more than it’s “fair share” of the UK’s debt
The Barnett Formula will withhold from Scotland, over the five years covered by the spending review, enough money to have hired approximately 7,955 additional NHS medical professionals. That is not a bonus – it’s a smoke and mirrors mechanism that aims to reduce the Scottish Government’s spending power in real terms.
Voters in Scotland deserve the best evidence-based assessment of the likely economic consequences of independence. We have sought to collect and assess that evidence as part of our analysis of the economic implications for the whole United Kingdom.
This report proposes a mutual, sectoral model of industrial development and rejects both ‘top down planning’ and ‘free market’ approaches.
Our approach is based on the recognition that the economy is not a force ‘external’ to society, governed by its own set of abstract rules or laws. The form an economy takes is inevitably the result of political decision-making.
Democracy must therefore extend to the economic sphere to ensure that the outcomes of these political decisions are aligned with the aspirations of the people.
Commissioned by PCS, this joint work examines the economic impact of HMRC’s plans to close departments around Scotland and establish two regional offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
It is found that over 2,300 jobs could be lost due to these changes with an overall negative impact on GDP of £89 million.
The economic impact will be particularly magnified in local areas where the current HMRC departmental office employs a substantial proportion of the local workforce
The Common Weal Think-tank analysis of GERS 2017 reveals the economic opportunities of Scottish independence
Modest estimates by Common Weal show that an independent Scotland could be better off to the tune of at least £7.5 billion in comparison to the figures in the GERS paper published today effectively cutting the deficit by over half.
The progress of devolution has led to the Scottish Government assuming more direct control over economic policymaking in Scotland and recognition has grown that Scotland’s economy is in many ways distinct from the economies of other parts of the UK. Modern economies as a whole have grown more complex and more interconnected and ever more data driven.
Common Weal’s response to the Scottish Government economic data consultation calls for a Scottish Statistics Agency.
A study group comprised of members from Common Weal Inverness and InverYes undertook a detailed reading of the report published by the Sustainable Growth Commission and have collated their thoughts, opinions and recommendations ahead of attending the National Assemblies.
he UK’s model of economic development is based on a unproductive sectors which generate vast profits through four particular methods – financial speculation, asset value inflation, debt-fuelled consumption, and concentration and monopoly.
This report argues that Scotland, if independent, could improve its performance across 12 key pillars of its economy.
This phase of creating a resilient Scotland covers 2021-26 the five years of the next Scottish Parliament. It provides the detail of how the transformation envisaged can be achieved quickly, with a closer look at our economy, society and democracy.
The final stage of the Resilient Scotland Plan runs from 2025 with the upcoming Parliamentary session ending with Scotland becoming an independent country. All of the work started in Part Two will continue and the work that could not start due to the limitations of devolution can now commence. By 2045, the plan will be completely and Scotland will have been transformed into a net zero-carbon country with a resilient economy that works for All of Us.
The case for asset based community development in the North-East of Glasgow through mapping derelict and vacant sites in the area and looking at how the Community Empowerment Act could be utilised.