Maboza

Genuine question,..... how many people work directly at Faslane? and what percentage do you think have 'very specific nuclear experience' that you mention?

A tale of 2 speeches One of the following speeches is talking of a positive future of Scotland as an outward looking small independent nation. The other is talking in terms such as “forces of darkness” , the “cataclysmic” effect of independence, ‘international turmoil’ and “rivers of blood”. Regardless of any of our views on independence – I think it’s important to recognise this somewhat sinister campaign tactic from Westminster which is now being deployed and question whether this is assisting the debate. Speech 1 http://www.brookings...=united kingdom Speech 2 http://news.scotland...7-2014-b45.aspx

Campbell is very, very raw and has been very ineffectual from much of what I have seen. Magennis also does nowhere near enough. Neither are the answer. I'd have preferred we had kept Sam Parkin.

And to take that 1 step further for the even more astounding info that certainly will go ignored by the press.... £375bn of the (£1.38tn) debt is owed to our own Bank of England which holds UK government bonds/gilts which they bought through Quantitative Easing. That equates to approx 27% of the UK national debt. So from the £4.02bn removed from Scotland's account this year for servicing debt - approx. £1.08bn went to our own Bank of England. This cash has been accumulating in an account called APF and the BoE is then feeding this cash surplus back into..... HM Treasury. In other words - the Scottish tax-payer gets skinned again. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-cash-management-operations http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20268679

You will be able to vote if you are still registered as living in Scotland, on the electoral roll and with the council for council tax purposes. If you are not fulfilling the criteria above and instead registering officially (even for 6 months) as a resident in Amsterdam then you will not be able to vote.

You just made all of that up didn't you.

Friends fare ticket..... we bought 8.

£30

Posted on the matchday thread as well.... I have a spare return ticket for Glasgow-Inverness-Dingwall for Saturday if anyone is interested. Leaving Queen Street @ 10.10am. Cost £22 in total. PM me if anyone is interested or wants the full train times.

I have 1x spare return train ticket available for Dingwall if anyone is interested. Leaving Glasgow Queen Street @ 10.10am and changeover in Inverness. Ticket was £22 return in total. PM me if interested.

I agree with you to an extent and have heard others say the same. Genuine question though.... What is your opinion on the standard of politician at Westminster and feel free to name some (good/bad/whatever) so we can get an idea of your thoughts).

Similar to Drew - I am beginning to get the impression that your only interest here is to muddy the waters and not particularly have reasoned debate given the highlighted points above but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt! a. Scottish Banks falling in line with the EU If we want to be in the EU, I think it is fairly clear we have to fall in line with EU. As we currently do. b. UK Treasury policies .... how would they be independent? Any restrictions imposed by HM Treasury would be implemented through negotiation. I think the broader independence argument highlights significant independence on a vast variety of issues and in simplest terms - we would now have the power to have direct influence on these. c. there has been substantial discussion and disagreement between the countries as to compensation payments. There has indeed been broad disagreement. Iceland refuse to reimburse UK and Netherlands but it doesn't change the fact that UK paid £3.5bn+ to them. Furthermore, Iceland has now overtaken the UK GDP per head: http://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/iceland/uk For what it's worth, I think we should have our own currency. But that doesn't prevent me from recognising that there are significant benefits of a currency union for both sides. There are 3 or 4 currency options/strategies available and there are plusses and minuses of each and every one so I have no major problem with what is being put forward. Suggesting that any one of these options suits everyone 100% would just be nonsense. The broader capabilities of independence reach well beyond the currency debate.

Possibly worth pointing out for balance that in your worst case scenario of a Scottish banking crisis the UK most likely contribute to any bailout - whether that be within or outwith a currency union as can be seen by the £7bn+ UK bailout towards Ireland and £3.5bn+ which went towards the Icelandic crisis. Also worth noting that the US Federal Reserve contributed $1tn / £640bn to bailout UK based banks of which Barclays (HQ, One Churchill Place, London) received approx £583bn. Which leads to the fact that banks are bailed out by where they do business rather than strictly where their HQ is based. This can be further noticed by cross-border bail outs with Dexia and Fortis banks in Europe during the financial crisis.

Show me where that is suggested please.

Well, actually you couldn't have got that more wrong. £1 = £1 , so for your holiday to Wales scenario your £5 = £5. As for us being better off - this is not suggested to be delivered by the value of the currency increasing (against England, Wales, NI) but rather the wider economic benefits and opportunites that independence brings. From a starting position of a higher GDP than the rUK (good), a higher tax take per head (good), a lower deficit than the rUK (good) means we're in a pretty decent starting position in comparison. Worth noting that on your £1 you have already paid tax & national insurance from the initial figure of roughly £1.33 (depending on your level of earnings). So it becomes a question of where those taxes go and do you get the benefit of it? i.e. will you be 'better off'. When you consider that the SNP propose to keep the NHS firmly in public hands (compared with the privatisation of it in England through PFI), propose to keep free student tuition (as opposed to the £9k per year fees in England - incidentally those £9k fees come out of your £1's after they've taken the 33p taxes - I'd rather that they came out of the 33p taxes if you ask me). On top of that I would rather my taxes went towards other things such as transport, schools, universities, welfare policies (such as childcare) to provide opportunities make Scotland a fairer society and grow the economy rather than billions on Trident nuclear weaponry and illegal wars. Investments in the country to attract business and higher skilled jobs which provide the opportunity of more and higher paid jobs (which won't increase your value of pound but will increase the number of them that you have). And going back to your holiday to Wales for another simple but significant thing - if you chose to fly Glasgow-Cardiff with FlyBe then you're flight will be cheaper with the reduction of Air Passenger Duty (tax) in Scotland which you would benefit from (and give you more £1's) - the wider scenario being that air fares to Scotland are cheaper which entices even more visitors to boost the tourism industry in Scotland (already worth £9bn) and this in turn contributes to making the economy go round. So that ^ details the value of your pound and why it is so much more than that. We don't need to spend much time on why the currency union is of benefit as simply put - there is currently a huge amount of trade/exports from Scotland -> UK and from UK -> Scotland. A currency union allows the simplest continuation of that relationship without any barriers to trade and associated transaction costs.There are a number of currency options but this is the preferred one for the above reason.

Apart from the obvious fact that in this scenario, Scotland doesn't actually have any debt to default on. But, then, you already knew that.

Welcome to the club. Fingers crossed for this one!!

Why isn't his wife in the photos above rather than 'Lord' McConnell? PS. You've lost me on the Irish politics comment but quite frankly that's not surprising as I have no idea what relevance that is nor do I know what you are even referring to. I'll refrain from getting dragged into your argumentative nonsense thanks now that I've made my point on the complete contradiction from McConnell but you will continue to argue anything and everything so youcan enjoy doing that with someone else. http://news.bbc.co.uk/winterolympics2002/hi/english/curling/newsid_1841000/1841047.stm

Oh dear....

Newton hasn't been himself the last few games but I hardly think we can fault him for what he's added over the past 12 months. Over that piece he has been well worthy of his place and has spent the last few months stuck out at right-mid which I'd assume isn't his preference but also worth noting that this coincided with the up-turn in form as we re-jigged the formation and Teale got injured. I'd suggest that Newton has provided a decent attacking/defensive balance out there. I'd love him to stay (assuming it's just a quick dip in form) but if he wants a Championship move then good luck to him!

Simple fact is that we don't have a strong enough bench. McLean and Teale already injured, McGinn going off injured and we're screwed I'm afraid. Harkins certainly hasn't worked out so far and I simply don't see anyone else on that bench that looks like coming off the bench to make an impact. We've done well with McGinn, McLean, Naismith and Kelly coming through. We need a few more to appear or for Danny to make better signings.

Maybe we need someone who can shoot from outside the box.

YASSSSS!! Was going to stick him on first scorer but Hills website didn't have him. Mon the Saints!!

Jim Goodwin - St.Mirren cup winning legend. He's an asset to our team and contributes greatly to allowing our more skilful players express themselves and win matches. i'll defend him to the hilt as he adds to our team and goes out on that park as someone fully determined to win the match for St.Mirren. Challenges like this being highlighted may not be pretty but i honestly couldn't give two hoots. Nothing is made of Mackay-Steven jumping into Sean Kelly leading with the arm in the first half when he was never getting anywhere near the ball and it was 10 yards in front of the linesman. Goodwin may well get a ban. It may well not be his last either but I'd rather have him than not. As others have said - plenty of other teams have them - Black, Lasley, McCulloch, and whoever else. These are the guys that everyone loves to hate. Simple fact is - we'd be weaker without Goodwin (Murray, Millen, Aber, etc.) and that may well have allowed Dundee Utd to stroll around the park to win the match the exact way McNamara wanted.

Can't quite believe how quick everyone is to demand he is sacked, demanding to finish his career and generally string him up! By all means question his actions, question the fact that he has previous and the fact that he has let himself and the club down but what the hell is going on with everyone being so offended by absolutely anything and everything these days. It's like people are just waiting on the next news story to come along so they can get all worked up and cry 'outrage'. Without us knowing the full details - it appears that the boy has acted like a tit. Let him take his punishment (whatever that may be) and move on. Talk of chucking him on a scrap heap is hardly the way the rehabilitate him by taking him away from his distinct talent in his life, denying his opportunity to work to his full potential, contribute taxes back into the economy and public services and hopefully sort himself out for the sake of himself and his family.