[{"id": 140801, "created": "2020-06-05T03:53:41.068991", "project_id": 467, "task_id": 90770, "user_id": 677, "user_ip": null, "finish_time": "2020-06-05T03:58:57.420341", "timeout": null, "calibration": null, "external_uid": null, "media_url": null, "info": {"comments": "", "graphelem": "Circle", "leafletBody": "Scotland can afford independence. Welfare and pensions cost less for Scotland. We can build new job opportunities.  "}}, {"id": 141400, "created": "2020-06-21T20:02:33.320656", "project_id": 467, "task_id": 90770, "user_id": 2094, "user_ip": null, "finish_time": "2020-06-21T20:02:39.759254", "timeout": null, "calibration": null, "external_uid": null, "media_url": null, "info": {"comments": "", "graphelem": "", "leafletBody": "We've got a chance of showing that there is a different way and making a new start. All the evidence as we have seen from the experience of having the Holyrood Parliament shows that we make different choices but we can never be complacent. Those of us who want to see a fairer and better society will have to work at getting there but our chances would be so much better in Scotland. \r\nIt's the old question - can Scotland afford independence?\r\nScotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We rank eighth in terms of our economic output per head out of the top 34 most developed countries. We've raised more tax per head than the UK as a whole over the past thirty years. We have a high level of exports. But the people who live in Scotland don't get the full benefits of this.\r\nIf we do vote Yes, we need to know what happens next - who'll be the government? \r\nIf it's a Yes vote, then negotiations will start for real without a lot of the present bluster. It has been proposed that there should be a Scottish negotiating team with people from different parties and other organisations like the trade unions. Once it is clear that Scotland will be independent, people will focus on making it work. There will be huge international interest in what happens here and a lot of admiration. It is planned to complete the basic negotiations (lots of things will be more gradual) by May 2016 when there will be elections to chose the parliament and which party or parties should form the first independent Scottish Government. The parties will have to present their plans for Scotland and it will be up to us to decide who we think will do the best job. Women will have a good chance to push the issues that matter most to them. \r\nCan we afford our own welfare system?\r\nThe cost of welfare and state pensions for Scotland is proportionately less than the rest of the UK. This is unfortunately because we die earlier, and while we have to hope that this will change, it still means that in the early years after independence, the costs will be lower for us, and this means that we could afford to postpone increasing the retiral age for longer.\r\nWould our pensions be safe?\r\nBritish state pensions are not 'funded' - that is, the money has not been invested over the years to pay for them. They are paid out of taxation, so Scotland can certainly guarantee them. The issue that will be up for debate is whether we can afford better pensions, and that will be a choice for Scotland. Since women are more dependent on the state pension, that option is important for us.\r\nI've heard about better childcare help. How could we pay for it?\r\nCountries with good, inexpensive childcare services like Sweden also have a higher proportion of women in the work-force. This means that they are earning and paying tax and that in turn helps to pay for the childcare. Without the powers of independence, Scotland could invest more money in childcare but if this was successful in enabling more women to get paid jobs, the increased tax generated would go to the treasury in London. The Scottish Government is proposing that with a Yes vote, there could be a substantial expansion in free childcare which would eventually pay for itself.\r\nCould independence create more jobs?\r\nThe British economy is seriously unbalanced with too little manufacturing industry and too much financial and property speculation. Margaret Thatcher destroyed 40% of Scotland's manufacturing industry in six years. The assumption was that manufacturing didn't matter - the Germans did not make that mistake. The British economy was supposed to thrive on financial services, property speculation and retail. The UK has had very low levels of productive investment but what Scotland needs is to develop investment in high-value, quality manufacturing jobs. We're well-placed to do this building on research from our universities, an educated labour force, good natural resources. We also need to maintain and improve our employment in the services essential to our quality of life like education, health and social care.\r\nWhat about all the arguments about the pound. What currency would we use?\r\nAlmost certainly we would use the pound, to begin with. The Scottish Government has proposed that with independence we should form a currency union with the remainder of the UK and use Bank of England as the shared central bank. This would be in the interests of the rest of the UK because they gain from Scottish exports and ease of transactions. While the Westminister parties have said they won't agree to this, they would be in considerable difficulties if they continue with that position after a Yes vote, given their huge debts and very big balance of payment deficit. But if they refused, Scotland could still use the pound for a few years without a currency union and then introduce a Scottish pound maintained at the same rate as the pound so they are interchangeable.\r\nCould we be sure of having the oil?\r\nYes. In international law, over 90% of the oil is Scottish territorial waters. There are at least 40 years of known reserves still there so although we have lost the peak oil output, there is still a second chance for Scotland to benefit and there may be more new fields discovered towards the west. Norway established an oil fund in 1990 and it is now worth \u00a390,000 per head. British government fritterred the oil money away and failed to invest it for the future. But, of course, Scotland has great potential for renewable energy for future generations - wind, wave, tidal, hydro if we invest in that, it will be a great legacy for our children - both clean and secure energy and the potential for new manufacturing jobs.\r\nWhat will happen to the minimum wage? - so many women's earnings depend on this. \r\nThe minimum wage is especially important to women since most of the low-paid are female. In every year since 2008, the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the cost of living so the poor have got poorer. This has been the responsibility of Westminister Governments. If it had only kept up, the lowest-earning women in Scotland would be \u00a3675 a year better off. But even that wouldn't make it a living wage. The present Scottish Government has ensured that the 180,000 staff who are covered by the public sector pay policy get the living wage as a minimum. It would need the powers of independence to promote the living wage across all sectors to ensure that at least the minimum wage keeps pace with the cost of living.\r\nI'd be glad to see the back of Trident but what would I say to my brother - he works at Faslane?\r\nAll of the UK's 180 nuclear bombs are kept in Scotland - just 25 miles from Glasgow. The Trident submarines that carry them are based at Faslane and make this the most important military target in Britain. These are weapons of horrific destructive power that were designed power that were designed to flatten Moscow. Yet the Cold War is supposed to over. An independent Scotland could make a truly important contribution to the disarmament process by prohibiting these weapons on Scottish territory. If we do, this will in effect end the UK's nuclear role since there is no suitable alternative site in England and it would take many years to build one. Peace campaigners throughout the world are watching Scotland hopefully Trident brings few jobs to Scotland - only 500 civilian jobs according to the Ministry of Defence. The other two thousand civilian jobs there relate to other submarine work. The Scottish Government has said the Faslane would be used as the main military base in an independent."}}]