Paving the Way to Independence

show details 14:04 (3 hours ago) SNP 'to seize profit from the Queen's estates' Daily Mail 11.5.11 The leader of the SNP has laid claim for the right to millions of pounds of profits from the Queen's estates in Scotland under plans for national independence. Alex Salmond declared his intention to take control of the hugely profitable wind farms leased by the Crown Estate after his party's resounding election victory. It is just one of a raft of plans to transform the institutions of Scotland and its relations with the monarch and the Royal Family, including having a referendum on the Monarchy. Other changes would see an end to BBC Scotland, a claw-back of North Sea oil revenue and road signs in Gaelic and English across the country. In his speech on Friday Mr Salmond talked of `control of the Crown Estate Commission' and of Scotland getting `the benefit of its vast renewable wealth of offshore resources in the way we never did in terms of our vast oil and gas resources'. This will be seen as a bid to cut the Queen's earnings by taking control of the Crown Estate in Scotland, which includes most of the seabed off the Scottish coast. The SNP wants to cash in on the £7 billion renewable energy sector, saying that `Scotland should not have to wait any longer' for control over the country's coastline and seas. Mr Salmond's demands cut across the deal agreed last year between Chancellor George Osborne and the Royal Family under which instead of receiving extra money from the Civil List, the Monarchy is given payments linked to profits of the Crown Estate's £6.6 billion portfolio. This arrangement could net the Queen more than double the current £35 million she receives from the Civil List, because of the massive boom in offshore wind farms. The Estate has rights to 6,000 miles of Scottish coastline and almost all the sea bed out to 12 nautical miles, plus additional pockets up to 200 nautical miles out. The Estate's most recent report for Scotland stated: `The marine renewables part of our business is experiencing rapid growth and we expect it to continue to grow over the coming years.' Although the SNP say that they would retain the Queen as Head of State, their 2009 white paper says only that `current constitutional arrangements with the Queen as Head of State would provide a constitutional framework in the transition to independence'. The absence of a ringing endorsement of the Queen opens the door to a future referendum to end the Monarchy in Scotland after independence. Mr Salmond has always insisted that independence would be far less disruptive than many fear, but SNP plans for self-rule will strike many as being far-reaching and radical. In August 2007 the SNP published a document called Choosing Scotland's Future, which made clear that an independent Scotland under Mr Salmond would leave Nato and unilaterally disarm nuclear weaponry. The creation of a Scotland defence force would still allow British Forces to use key bases such as RAF Kinloss but the Faslane base, home to the Navy's nuclear submarine flee, would cease to operate. The controversial issue of North Sea oil revenue, where profits have been said to have been disproportionately invested across the border, would be addressed by the creation of a sovereign wealth fund to `insulate the economy in times of economic instability and invest for long-term sustainability'. BBC Scotland would be replaced by a new national broadcaster, along with a new Scottish broadcasting regulator. However, the SNP would encourage the viewing of BBC programmes by supporting the service through Freeview. Other SNP plans include the retention of the pound as the national currency – but only until Scots decide in a referendum whether they want to join the euro. Buoyed: In his speech on Friday Mr Salmond talked of control of the Crown Estate Commission and of Scotland getting the benefit of its vast renewable wealth of offshore resources in the way we never did in terms of our vast oil and gas resources. The SNP have also outlined their intention to seek full economic independence and end the arrangement where taxes raised in Scotland are set and collected by the UK Government and then reallocated back in a complex formula through the Scottish Block Grant. There are further plans to have a new system of financial services regulation which could be modelled on Ireland's – even though that has been heavily criticised in the wake of that country's economic collapse. There would also be a new Scottish Stock Exchange. SNP plans also include opening up the border and rejecting tighter regulations set by England in the belief that Scotland needs many more immigrants. The 2009 white paper also makes clear that an independent Scotland would have a more human rights-friendly system for allowing asylum seekers to find a new life north of the border, raising the prospect of Scotland becoming a haven for refugees. The recently published SNP manifesto pushed for Gaelic to be taught more widely in schools and for road signs all over the country to be made bilingual, in English and Gaelic. There would also be official recognition of Tartan Day in April and a full public holiday on St Andrew's Day. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384730/Ed-Miliband-urges-Gordon-Brown-s\ top-old-enemy-Salmond-breaking-Union.html#ixzz1M2yXN7WI Lord Snooty has left a new comment on your post "Paving the Way to Independence": The money goes straight to the Treasury and goes nowhere near Betty Windsor. The Queen does not and never has owned the "rights," even a Wastemidden committee said that. If it's on the Daily Mail, think the opposite. That works well for me .