tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741690893393132778.post3754157381894928125..comments2015-08-20T23:28:57.109-07:00Comments on Hands Across the Pond: Bastardized FederalismWesley Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06691450326376884331noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741690893393132778.post-73316757758939209162015-06-22T08:59:55.389-07:002015-06-22T08:59:55.389-07:00Hello and thank you for reading and commenting, bu...Hello and thank you for reading and commenting, bucksboy. Indeed, further changes to the governmental and constitutional structure of the UK must be done on a UK level. As I said in my earlier post on devolution and EVEL (http://handsacrosspond.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-folly-of-devolution-thus-far-and.html), unbalanced changes since 1999 have been fraught with issues that threaten to disintegrate the Union.<br /><br />This may be a long-shot, but almost everyone believes that the Union is somehow beneficial - including the SNP, whose membership and allies in the media talk of "in-built support" from the rest of the UK and "fiscal transfers". But the reality is that all parts of the UK benefit from the Union and its mechanisms for transferring wealth and resources, and with federalism, everyone still pays into a system from which they benefit.<br /><br />The problem for the SNP is that they are finding themselves into contortions with regard to fiscal policies, because they Scotland would face difficulties with FFA which can only be solved by raising taxes and cutting spending, and they know this is unpalatable for large sections of the electorate.<br /><br />At some point, the SNP will have to face these contradictions on FFA, and by extension, independence.Wesley Hutchinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06691450326376884331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741690893393132778.post-646947615071618252015-06-20T13:48:03.375-07:002015-06-20T13:48:03.375-07:00Thank-you Wesley. Further changes of this kind sho...Thank-you Wesley. Further changes of this kind should involve consultation with the rest of the UK. Many may be view this as a vanity project they would be unwilling to subsidise. With a separatist hat on what incentive is there to deliver prosperity for those living in Scotland within the Union, little I would say.bucksboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08666422208089564579noreply@blogger.com