Hs2

[piratelassie]

The logic behind the proposed HS2 line is to help close the north / south divide that exists in this "country", yet it will only go from London to the north of England. Not very British that is it? Yet I presume British tax money will help build it. So much for the NORTH / south divide.

[golach]

The Edinburgh trams are not going to run along the original route to Ocean Terminal in Leith, they are stopping in Cenrtal Edinburgh. This is a terrible slap in the face to Leithers, who's taxes helped pay for the damn trams. I think thats Eck and his looney partys fault. Leith is being deprived of its rights here.

[Gronnuck]

Leith? Where's that? I thought it had changed its name to Edinburgh Quays

[RagnarRocks]

So you want independence and a high speed rail link to England just to reinforce that independence. The reality is hs2 is to link the financial heart to what's left of the industrial heart whether its value for money is a separate issue

[squidge]

The reality is hs2 is to link the financial heart to what's left of the industrial heart whether its value for money is a separate issue

Thats absolutely fine RagnarRocks. It links a bit of England to another bit of England. We know that. However if that is what it is then why designate it a UK project which benefits the whole of the UK? Because it doesnt. The same with the London Sewer Upgrade. The reason why these projects affect Scotland is because of the Barnett Formula. Simply - The Barnett formula works by taking the money spent in England on services and allocating an equivalent percentage (based on population and devolved service provision) to the Scottish Government.

No problem you think - however - Projects considered UK wide - like HS2 and the London Sewers are taken out of this equation before the calculation is made. This reduces the amount shown as being spent on Services and therefore reduces Scotland's share. Same with the spending on the NHS. We often congratulate ourselves that in Scotland the NHS is protected from the creeping privatisation that is hitting the NHS in England and we should be proud of that but, the money spent on NHS services is reducing because of this privatiasation and so the amount passed to Scotland will reduce putting our NHS at risk.

Golach would also have you beleive that the tram fiasco in Edinburgh is also Alex Salmonds fault and yet one of the first things that the SNP government did when it formed a monority government was to try to cancel the project because of the escalating costs and the massive problems and they were outvoted by the tories and the labour party. Again - take a look at the evidence and you will see the whole sorry mess laid out before you. Golach appears so blinded by his hatred of one man that he cant see whats in front of his face.

HS2 and Sewers, spending on Trident, the bedroom tax are Scottish Priorities because they HAVE to be - we have no choice but to contrubute to these things, no choice but to spend money on them. In and Independent Scotland we - the voters could choose the parties who's priorities best meet Scotland's needs and not have these priorities foisted on us with no choice but to contribute.

[ducati]

I don't necessarily agree with HS2. But generally, any project that benefits the UK benefits all the UK. You could say the same about the Edinburgh trams or the new Forth crossing or indeed Brittania Quay. You'd think no Scot ever crossed the border.

[golach]

Golach would also have you beleive that the tram fiasco in Edinburgh is also Alex Salmonds fault and yet one of the first things that the SNP government did when it formed a monority government was to try to cancel the project because of the escalating costs and the massive problems and they were outvoted by the tories and the labour party. Again - take a look at the evidence and you will see the whole sorry mess laid out before you. Golach appears so blinded by his hatred of one man that he cant see whats in front of his face. .

Squidge oh how wrong you have me, I do not have a hateful bone in my body, I admit I detest the man and his party. I posted the slightly facetious reference to the Edinburgh Tram fiasco , with reference to piratelassie's silly anti English rants she comes out with every now and again. She repeatedly does this and sits back watching the feathers fly therefor I knowing full well you would jump in and alledgedly correct me

[mi16]

The Edinburgh trams are not going to run along the original route to Ocean Terminal in Leith, they are stopping in Cenrtal Edinburgh. This is a terrible slap in the face to Leithers, who's taxes helped pay for the damn trams. I think thats Eck and his looney partys fault. Leith is being deprived of its rights here.

Did all of our taxes not pay for the trams?

[equusdriving]

The logic behind the proposed HS2 line is to help close the north / south divide that exists in this "country", yet it will only go from London to the north of England. Not very British that is it? Yet I presume British tax money will help build it. So much for the NORTH / south divide.

wow is that all you managed to glean from all that desperate web searching since your last unfounded rant