You take the high road...

[Little Green Man]

whisky...

As an aside(ish), how the distillers of Scotland perceive the growing number of Japanese producers? Never tried it myself but I hear that it's pretty good stuff.

The Scottish Malt Whisky Society has had tastings of them occasionally so I guess they are embracing them to some degree. They certainly wouldn't if the quality wasn't high. The one or two I've tried were very good.

[bobo the clown]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

This isn't the view of the UK Treasury (unsurprisingly), they've already published a paper recommending that the UK doesn't enter into a currency union with an independent Scotland.

The following is my synopsis of the UK Treasury position (rather than my own assertions)

Scotland could continue to use the currency, through currency substitution, but the would give them no control over the policy governing the currency - which is the function of the BoE (incidentally the Scottish Government is proposing that they have voting rights on the BoE's MPC's). The UK Treasury also has a view that the UK pound is not an asset - it's a system of currency - as it "doesn't appear on the balance sheet" and as such wouldn't be part of the negotiation on any break up of the United Kingdom. Their logic is that the currency per se, has no value - only the physical representation of that currency does (so physical pounds, shillings and pence - they're up for negotiation as part of any separation agreement)

If Scotland went down the currency substitution route, then they would have no input to BoE policy decisions, so effectively Scotland would be at the behest of BoE monetary policy decisions and interest rates, lender of last resort etc., nor would Scotland have a Central Bank (as it couldn't print UK money, or set policy in relation to it) and therefore couldn't influence either the BoE or the European Central Bank.

My view - there's lots of "rights" being asserted that I'd want to know about before casting my vote. I wouldn't necessarily be in favour of Scotland being able to influence UK monetary policy through formal voting rights.

unsurprisingly as in it is not surprising that the UK Treasury would prefer the Union to remain. But i still reckon if presented with a fait accompli of a yes vote then they would prefer a sterling zone.

http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/no ... edibility/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

not tried the Jap stuff but wouldnt be avers
just finished my New Years bottle of 12 yr old Bunnahabhain - nice dram.

[Worthy4England]

unsurprisingly as in it is not surprising that the UK Treasury would prefer the Union to remain. But i still reckon if presented with a fait accompli of a yes vote then they would prefer a sterling zone.

http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/no ... edibility/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's another article by another Scottish person with a completely unbiased view of the world - as Chief Exec for Business for Scotland. Any chance you could find a non-Scottish quote representing the UK view? I don't mean that as a poke in the eye, but all the information I've read regarding the necessity for a currency union has come from North of the Border so far.

I suspect there are interests on both sides that would support the notion of a currency union, but as previously mentioned, that would mean Scotland using the Bank of England (that's the one in the UK) to set interest rates, act as last resort etc. Given that the economies are largely similar, that in itself may not present a major problem. What may present a problem is the voting rights the Scots are after on the MPC. I can't see a UK Government giving anything more than a token in that direction, as politically the Bank of England will need to support the direction of the UK in front of any Scottish requirements, and should, the respective economies diverge significantly, it may be under governmental pressure to act in the interests of UK rather than Scotland - I can't at the minute think of a valid reason, the UK would want to cede that level of control, regardless of the perceived benefits. I could half understand the Bank wanting to try and implement it. All Banks want to be bigger Banks, generally.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ency-union" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It would also call into question Scotland's independence, if they don't have control over their own monetary policy - which they wouldn't have (certainly not unilaterally anyhow), what's the point of being independent?

[TANGODANCER]

It would also call into question Scotland's independence, if they don't have control over their own monetary policy - which they wouldn't have (certainly not unilaterally anyhow), what's the point of being independent?

Just a vague theory, but there's a possibility that a fair old amount of Scottish potential voters don't understand or concern themselves with monetary policy from lack of knowlege of such (a bit like my good self) and have posters of Mel Gibson as Willie Wallace on their walls along with a Scotland football shirt, a clan tartan and have never got over Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart, better known as Bonny Prince Charlie. Just a thought.

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

some loss of sovereignty ... yes but only in the same way that Belgium France Germany et al have compromised a portion of national sovereignty by sharing a currency. Scotalnd would still have control over fiscal policy which they dont at present

heres Alisdair admitting a currency union in the event of independence would be "desireable" for both parties. funny how he's changed his tune when it comes to political pointscoring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKht7X6P0T4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bobo the clown]

↑↑↑ well, Tango. That's a great summary as to why democracy could be argued to be a pile of old doodie.

Not that the alternatives are much cop mind.

[Worthy4England]

some loss of sovereignty ... yes but only in the same way that Belgium France Germany et al have compromised a portion of national sovereignty by sharing a currency. Scotalnd would still have control over fiscal policy which they dont at present

heres Alisdair admitting a currency union in the event of independence would be "desireable" for both parties. funny how he's changed his tune when it comes to political pointscoring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKht7X6P0T4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Belgium, France and Germany have. The UK currently haven't and have been very resistant to it.

I think you need to quote the sentences around "desireable" too. He was asked what he'd do if he was Chancellor of Scotland...He also fairly clearly points out, who would hold the whip hand if Germany and Portugal were in a currency union, and he talks about the many pitfalls of using the UK's Bank as an independent Scotland's central bank. There is an underlying implication from the nationalists that the UK would allow Scotland voting rights on the BoE Monetary Policy Committee - that's the bit I can't see a UK Government giving up (which Darling pointed out).

He does say that it would be in the interest of the UK as it's generally a pre-cursor to an economic and then a political union...which is where you don't want to be. I'm not sure how he's changed his tune.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

It is a fascinating question - to what extent can groups within a democracy decide the whole thing isn't for them and just go their own way... and the structures of law and convention, and the power of the status quo that stop this happening.

There might, for example, be American states that would consider going their own way rather be ruled by Obamas and Clintons.

American states are just that - states (i.e. regions) of America- albeit with far more rights and powers that the regions have here.
Scotland is a nation.
Slovakians and Czechs looked at the idea of Czechoslovakia and decided as nations with a distinct and seperate national characteristic that it wasnt for them.
Bosnians, Slovenes Croats likewise with Yugoslavia.

States can be made and unmade, nations are immutable

Utter nonsense. Even within the narrow orbit of Scotland there are parts more Scottish than others - nations and states are virtually interdependent concepts since at least the seventeenth century.
Orkney and Shetland with their Norse heritage, the Hebrides with their mixed Gaelic Norse heritage and Galloway with its mixed Manx Gaelic Norse heritage, plus the regions like the Lowlands with a strong Irish Catholic element utterly opposed to a strong Ulster Protestant element within the same region, all of whom are anti the dandified Lothian ruling element with its mixed Northumbrian Lallands element (and all that without even mentioning the British - as in Strathclyde/Rheged - vs Pict division) shows what utter nonsense to label Scotland a nation. At the moment it is neither - it is a country, a country that is part of a union, and is neither a state nor a nation.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

I've got two bottles of Bruichladdich 1984, one of which is open and going down as slowly as I can eke it out. They cost me £85 each. The last time I checked I was being offered £350 for the unopened one. buy the £440 and it'll be like housing stock - almost bound to rise in price beyond inflation if kept in good condition and unopened.

[Bruce Rioja]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

Snowt. When I was over on Islay a couple of years back the landlord of the pub by where we stayed had a collection behind the bar said to be valued at around £250K.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

I've got two bottles of Bruichladdich 1984, one of which is open and going down as slowly as I can eke it out. They cost me £85 each. The last time I checked I was being offered £350 for the unopened one. buy the £440 and it'll be like housing stock - almost bound to rise in price beyond inflation if kept in good condition and unopened.

Good stuff that.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

Snowt. When I was over on Islay a couple of years back the landlord of the pub by where we stayed had a collection behind the bar said to be valued at around £250K.

You sure that's not Mull. The landlord at Craignure's got them in a cellar cave under the pub, thousands of them, some of them now unique.

[Bruce Rioja]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

Snowt. When I was over on Islay a couple of years back the landlord of the pub by where we stayed had a collection behind the bar said to be valued at around £250K.

You sure that's not Mull. The landlord at Craignure's got them in a cellar cave under the pub, thousands of them, some of them now unique.

Quite sure, thanks.

Lochindaal Hotel, Port Charlotte. The landlord (Ian???) inherited some from his dad and carried on the collection. The really valuable ones are from the Islay distilleries that no longer exist.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Ref. Scotch .... which is not my tiple at all ... there's a dedicated Whiskey shop in that Nantwich. In the window yesterday were 4 very ordinary looking bottles, but for their prices. One was £440.

Snowt. When I was over on Islay a couple of years back the landlord of the pub by where we stayed had a collection behind the bar said to be valued at around £250K.

You sure that's not Mull. The landlord at Craignure's got them in a cellar cave under the pub, thousands of them, some of them now unique.

Quite sure, thanks.

Lochindaal Hotel, Port Charlotte. The landlord (Ian???) inherited some from his dad and carried on the collection. The really valuable ones are from the Islay distilleries that no longer exist.

He's got a brother on Mull then. It was there that I've had the rarest whisky in my life - a 1915 Port Ellen. Sumptious stuff.

[a1]

They hate the English on the most part, so it won't be decision based on rational thinking. that's why I think it'll be an overwhelming 'Yes' vote for independence

not enough catholics for that.

[Hoboh]

When was the last time you checked the oven Alex?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... tland.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cakes burning!

[Montreal Wanderer]

When was the last time you checked the oven Alex?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... tland.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cakes burning!

This is all old hat to us. The threat of Quebec independence caused many head offices to move from Montreal to Toronto, and Toronto passed Montreal as the Metropolis in the 1970s. Over forty years later, Quebec is still threatening independence despite the clear economic downside of all this and the associated political wrangling and turmoil.

[BWFC_Insane]

Notice that the government have a newly hatched plan to remove train rolling stock from already overcrowded North West trains and give them to the South East. Bolton MPs are appealing against this.

Clearly the North West doesn't get a bad deal at all. It is entirely fair..............

If you're not in the South East you don't count. No wonder Scotland want out....