Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement


London 'subsidising Scots lifestyle', says Livingstone

Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 07 June 2006
By GERRI PEEV
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
KEN Livingstone, the London mayor, has come under fire for suggesting that Londoners' money keeps Scots in a lifestyle "to which they are accustomed".
The outspoken Labour mayor made the remark at a reception on Monday night as he tried to explain why the city needed a new £10 billion rail link.

He told politicians: "We need Crossrail to keep London's economy ticking over so that we can continu
e to pay for the Scottish to live the lifestyle to which they are accustomed."

His political opponents said the comments were insulting.

The mayor's remarks also infuriated Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party leader, who yesterday introduced a bill calling for the repatriation of North Sea oil reserves to Scotland.

Mr Salmond said: "When you include all Scotland's resources, we subsidise the rest of the UK by £3,000 a year for the average Scottish family."

This "£200 billion raid" on Scottish resources over 30 years was "the greatest act of international larceny since the Spanish stole the Inca gold", he said.

Mr Salmond also taunted Gordon Brown's support for England in the World Cup, accusing the Chancellor of "morphing into an Englishman".

He accused Mr Brown of spending "long hours" at the Treasury trying to memorise the names of the England squad.

Mr Salmond's bill stands little chance of becoming law due to a lack of parliamentary time.

A spokesman for Mr Livingstone told The Scotsman the mayor had made a light-hearted joke. "But behind it lies a serious point. If London is to be able to continue to transfer resources to the rest of the country, which it accepts it should do, it has to be able to invest."



Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 06 June 2006 11:30 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Ken Livingstone
 
1

Gusto,

Amsterdam 07/06/2006 00:00:00

Ken, as usual, is right, although he should have bitten the tongue so firmly embedded in his cheek - Scotland does live on English droppings, and always will so long greed is part of humanity and Scotland is a part of England. The clan chiefs of old sold out for money - Dalrymple engineerd Glencoe for money - why shouldnt our latter day chiefs be any different? Give Scotland freedom - then we can argue about politics as an independent country.

2

Hamish,

Sutherland 07/06/2006 00:00:00

Scotland, when you get up off your knees and join the world as a free and independant country, Ken's opinion would'nt be worth a second thought.

3

Godric,

Scotland 07/06/2006 00:00:00

Here, Ken, you and your sassenach pals in London are the subsidy junkies ... without Scotland subsidising London and the south east ... your dump of a city would resemble a shanty town

4

Albanach,

Canada 07/06/2006 00:00:00

Historically, many of the Scottish elite have been the lap dogs of the English ruling classes for centuries,eg, the betrayal of Wallace during the wars against Edward 1, the loss of the Scottish Royal House to England in 1606 and the Union in 1707 to quote but a few. Many Scots resented these events but were powerless to change them.
A considerable amount of the wealth of Scotland has been collected by the UK Treasury over the years through taxation. Unfortunately, the branch economy concept which took hold in Scotland caused much pain and gave rise to the disillusionment of many. Unfortunately, the Union should have been the start of a federal system with shared benefits to all members of the UK. Mr Livingstone's comments only underline the arrogance and to some extent the ignorance that prevails in the South of England about anything north of Luton. It is no surprise that so many Scots have left the UK and found success abroad.

5

Toots - Sheila,

CANADA 07/06/2006 00:00:00

Never mind the oil revenue Mr Salmond what about the money raised from tax on the sale of whisky worldwide. (98% of every bottle sold is tax and it all flows into Westminster!!!)

Do the English make any whisky?

6

ThePeter,

Glasgow 07/06/2006 00:00:00

For the first time EVER I agree with Ken Livingstone
Scotland has become a nation of junkies - dependence junkies and 99.9% of us Scots are in denial about this and prefer to have chips on our shoulders and blame England for Scotland's problems
As a people we need to GROW UP and stop whining....

7

Joe M.,

Edinburgh 08/06/2006 00:00:00

As Salmond points out, Ken's figures are wrong, however they are typical of a mindset amongst English politicians who have lied for so long about the finances of Scotland that they now believe it!

Figures are notoriously fickle beasts depending on who is quoting them however there can be no doubt that Scotland has substantially subsidised England through Oil.

A road in Scotland which costs £1M and benefits 5,000 people. The same road is built in England for the same price but this benefits £50,000 people.

Does that mean the Scots are 10 times better off?

No, it's just a road. Scotland has a small population spread over a large area and has enormous natural resources.

Ken Livingstone and probably most Londeners have no real interest in working out who owes who but there's a lot more money goes into London through Government investment than ever reaches Scotland and in a much much smaller area.

The answer to the problem of this misunderstanding of course is Scottish independence and let England spend whatever they like on London. As long as Scotland is ruled by England and by politicians based in London our interests will never be properly addressed.

The Scottish Independence Guide http://www.scottishindependence.com

The above website gives more information about independence ie normal national powers for Scotland. Who really believes Scotland is incapable if running our own affairs? Apart from power hungry politicians with an eye on England like Brown or those with limited ambitions for Scotland like Jack McConnell, most would agree it makes logical sense and according to recent polls would vote that way if they had the chance in a referendum.

8

Adam Birnie,

Cambridge 08/06/2006 00:00:00

Salmond is forgetting 300 years of Scotland living off English coal

9

Mark j,

USA but not for long :-) 10/06/2006 00:00:00

Independence First is having its first of a series of marches starting Sept 30,2006 in Edinburgh. The marches are for a referendum on Scottish independence.

Livingstone's remarks may be inflamatory to some. But to me the UK has had 300 yrs to clean up constitutional questions and inadequacies. Now it seems the English are waking up too. The UK may not be a good thing for them either. The English need independence from the UK, so does Scotland. I dont know why the English moan about Brown being Scottish he is as Scottish as Blair is. Blair is from Edinburgh, Brown is from Kirkcaldy and if you listen to them they sound well quite English.


 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.