scotlandisdifferent

Update, 26/09/2020: The joke at the foot of this post, the pseudo-graph from pseudo Kevin Hague, has been picked up and republished by Munguin's Republic , a lovely site with stunning nature pics, a strong but unencumbering commitment to Scottish independence, and jokes. Thanks, Tris, and best wishes in the ongoing struggle. IT'S TIME for a brief look at GERS, the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" report. The usual narrative is: • Scotland has a deficit, because it spends more on public services than it raises in taxes. • The UK funds that deficit by giving money to the Scottish Government (the "fiscal transfer"). This means that Scotland sponges on the UK. • An independent Scotland couldn't fund that difference. All nice and clear, then - and all nice and falsely spun. Let's look at those falsehoods. Firstly, deficits are normal: all countries in the world have deficits, bar a handful of tax havens. What matters is whether a country...

Vile Blogger Stuart Campbell (Wings over Scotland) , for whom I have a high regard, appears to be indisposed for a few days. So since I'm by profession a linguist, here's a Scottish/English joke to cheer him up: Queen Victoria, on a visit to the Highlands, after eating Stu (correction: stew [pun intended]): That was delicious. Tell me, what was in it? Highland Clanperson: Och, weel, ma'am, there's leeks intillit, and potatoes intillit, and... Her Maj: Really lovely! And what, pray, is "intillit"? Highland Clanperson: Och, weel, ma'am, there's leeks intillit, and potatoes intillit, and... The conversation could go on for ever - she's asking about the meaning of the word "intillit", and they're telling her what's in the stew. And that takes us on to Joke 2 about two old besoms hingin' oot the windaes in Auld Reekie (gosh, what a patronising choice of words!), of whom Dr Johnson said, "They'll never agree. They're ar...