Promises?

[maggiebee]

Wasn't sure just where to put this.

Boris Johnson promising to bring back
the £5,000 nurse bursary that the Tories abolished.

In Scotland the SNP not only kept the nurse bursary
but we're increasing it next year to £10,000.

[davebro]

Where is the money coming from?

[maggiebee]

Well Dave, according to Westminster Scotland depends on handouts, but we know differently up here. We do have money you know, that's why we give away baby boxes to all newborns, have no university tuition fees, free prescriptions and give all primary 1 - 3 school children free lunches. Doing very well for a "pi*s poor" country.

[davebro]

Aye - at the expense of rUK taxpayers!

[retrocop]

Then we can stop sending handouts a la Barnett Formula can't we?
Who bailed out RBS?

[davebro]

You'll get a serious wake up call if Nicola ever gets her way.

(Of course you're far too canny for that - support SNP in everything but Independence.)

[andres]

Just interested maggiebee --where does your money come from?

[Nical]

Maggie, many Scots (my family included) think some of those SNP initiatives are not necessarily a good thing. The free prescriptions has lead to a lot of waste and to legally-prescribed drugs being sold. The 'baby box' is widely regarded as a waste of money and definitely not needed for every Scottish newborn.

[maggiebee]

Agree not every one of these initiatives is needed for every family Nical, many can indeed afford prescriptions etc. However it does mean they are not means tested and IMO it is a much fairer system.

[retrocop]

If everything is so rosy in the garden I wonder why Scotland has the dubious honour of having the largest population of alcoholics and drug addicts in Europe apparently. Perhaps all those free prescriptions have backfired. Sell your methadone and buy a bottle of Buckies with it. :-(

[Nical]

Maggiebee, you say a 'fairer system' - I say a system that's directing money away from where it's desperately needed! Scotland's health and education systems are in the worst state they've ever been.

[retrocop]

https://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/alcohol-information/alcohol-facts-and-figures/

https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/scotland-is-europe-s-new-drug-capital-as-nearly-one-in-ten-admit-to-taking-ecstasy-1-2426064

[Ryzen]

Scotlands relationship with the rest of the UK is not unlike the relationship between a couple with the breadwinner earning say £100k and the other, an obese,diabetic alcoholic with high cholesterol.

[ummmm]

Scotland is full of magic money trees.

[retrocop]

I think my late FIL would agree with that summing up. He was Edinburgh born and educated . Herriot Watt and Uni. He was a GP all his working life. He always said his fellow Scots had a lifestyle and diet to die for. Worst dental health in the UK as well.

[maggiebee]

Yes retrocop, our drugs record is not good, and I'm afraid to say that my home town tops the list in Scotland. However, many agencies are working towards lowering these figures. We of course don't have the acts of terrorism that seem to abound in England. Bombings, stabbings etc don't make for good reading. No country is perfect but ours is pretty damn near it!!

[davebro]

"No country is perfect but ours is pretty damn near it!!"

ROFL

Nice country - pity it's wasted on the Scots!

[Nical]

Maggiebee, 'near perfect'? Have you seen the recent reports on the failures in education, new hospitals mired in major problems, NHS waiting lists, the increase in the use of food banks?

[rowanwitch]

Affordable if the Scots are independent????

[ummmm]

What is the population of Scotland?

[emmie]

someone has their tartan blinkers on i think