Royal Mail
19/07/2012 | 
Author I have been an avid reader of Easdale People for quite some time now, and have enjoyed reading the comments of persons intimately involved in local issues which affect the island’s future.
What occurs to me is that the future of Easdale Island is now affected by national issues. I refer of course to the SNP’s bid for an Independent Scotland in 2014.
I have a thought which may be of interest to EP readers. It is simply this. If independence is declared, what will happen to the Royal Mail?
Will all the little red vans be driven south of the border or, if this option is considered too extreme, will the new Scottish Government be required to purchase this considerable fleet of vehicles from the English and have them re-sprayed blue, with a white Saltire upon them? Who would pay for all this work? What effect might it have on the price of a postage stamp from Scotland??
Just a thought. What do others think?
Posted in Breaking News
As Scotland will be an independent country the cost of postage will increase substantially across the border to and from the rest of the UK – probably the same prices as sending post to the rest of Europe.i.e. expensive. This will affect everyone, especially businesses who use the service.
On the other hand, the SNP may privatise all postal services…
This is just one issue following on from many where Salmond hasn’t got a policy let alone an idea, from Europe to the pound, Nato, Faslane and the Americans, will we ever get policies that he sticks too or just wims that change every few months. If Alex wants to walk over the cliff and in to the abyss I feel he’ll be doing it alone.
Perhaps Alex Salmond should undertake a pilot study on Easdale Island as there seems to be a small group of hardcore SNP supporters (majority of trust directors and their ‘advisor’?) who could form the government and run the following:
Introduce a constitution that does not include any input from the community.
Unless born on the island, application for citizenship would be voluntary but certain rights denied for those who choose not to apply. Voting ?
Introduce Border Control
Pursue defence policy – in co-operation with friends and allies in Ellenabeich
Introduce economic policy and new currency
Establish immigration policy
Establish extradition policy
Develop infrastructure and transport policy to maintain independence and limit cross border traffic.
Develop energy policy – generate own energy supply.
Set up independent postal service
Introduce civil disobedience policy.
There must be other policies to keep ‘the government’ occupied. The outcome of the pilot study should allow us all to decide whether ‘independence’ (or separation as some folk see it) would be a good thing.
Mmmm. Interesting. From what I hear, most of these things are already in place on Alcatraz, apart from the independent postal service. There are the Easdale stamps (if they’re still in existence), but you always have to put a “proper” stamp on your postcard as well before the Royal Mail will process it.
An Independent Scotland wouldn’t, of course, be part of the UK any more; and it seems extremely unlikely that it would/could automatically be part of the EU either (which Alex probably knows, but isn’t saying). This would mean that, as far as the Royal Mail – which covers England and the rest of Britain – is concerned, Scotland would be classified as World Zone I.
Result?
If our friends in England/Wales/Northern Ireland want to send us a Christmas present weighing half a kilo (not much!), then it would cost them nearly £8 postage instead of the current £2.70.
And a First Class Christmas card or letter weighing up to 100g, which currently costs a blanket 60p, would cost between 77p and £1.84.
Don’t expect many cards or presents, then!
Dear Clootie Dumpling. Not to worry too much. Wee Eck – or, as he prefers to be called, Alex – has accepted the pound sterling as the legal currency, because he erroneously believes that this will afford him a seat at the table of the Bank of England. Why would he want that??
Can we trust him? He is becoming quite famous for doing U-turns. May he secretly have plans to privatise the postal service and re-introduce the Groat? If so, would the Groat be recognised by the EU and the rest of the world? The old value of a Groat was four pence. What would the current value be? How much would a first class stamp be, and what implications might there be for your savings and pensions.
Just a thought …
Bloody ‘eck!!
It’s entirely possible that the postal services of Scotland and the rest of the UK would negotiate a postal union after Scottish independence.
But let’s face it, no one knows what’s going to happen to Royal Mail postal charges over the next few years, except it’s a safe bet they’ll go up. They’re likely to go up even more if the Conservatives get their way and privatise it, something which may equally well occur under Labour anyway. In an independent Scotland, the post office will not be privatised.
Where is your evidence?
The SNP have repeatedly spoken out against plans to privatise the Post Office Tina.
How can you possibly trust a word the SNP say. They have been asked by Catherine Stiler MEP to show the people of Scotland what legal advice they’ve received from Europe as to whether an independent Scotland could become a member of the EU, they refused. Catherine then put in a freedom of information request, once again this was denied, she then asked the FOI commissioners for their ruling and they upheld the FOI request saying that it was in the interests of the Scottish people to know what legal advice the SNP government had received. Alex and his cronies have now taken the case to the court of session in Edinburgh to get them to rule against the commissioners. WHAT have the SNP got to hide?? Yes I know its blatantly obvious that either they have lied to the people of Scotland and they haven’t received any legal advice at all, or the advice was very negative.
Now I’m sure many of you are thinking what does it all matter, do we want or need to be in the EU……O yes, it really does matter, if it didn’t why would the SNP be so scared of the truth coming out, why would they go to court and try and stop us all knowing the truth.
The EU is our biggest trading partner, even if the Euro go’s belly up Britain will still be exporting huge amounts to all the EU country’s, Scotland wouldn’t survive a year as an independent country being outside the EU, and Salmond knows it.
Interestingly, it looks increasingly likely that a future Tory government will take the UK out of the EU . . .
Oh please, next you’ll be telling me that a future Tory government will be bringing back the death penalty as well, fantasy land.
How can you possibly trust a word the Conservatives say
Membership of the EU is just the tip of the iceburg. As an independent country then as far as the EU is concerned Scotland would be in a similar position to Ireland and would have to negotiate their own entry. Similarly, they would have to negotiate their own entry to any other organization that they wish to become members of such as the United Nations, NATO, UNESCO, even the Olympic Organization etc. with no guarantee of acceptance by any.
Many things currently taken for granted would no longer be true, for example, as an independent country Scotland would need its own diplomatic service with its own embassies or consulates in foreign countries, Scotland would have to apply to take part in the US Visa Waiver programme or otherwise Scots wishing to visit the US would have to apply for visitor visas.
As far as defence is concerned, if an independent Scotland wanted the Trident submarines removed from Faslane then they should not be surprised if all UK military bases in Scotland were closed down. An independent Scotland could not automatically rely on the rest of the UK for their defence, they would have to make their own provision.
It is also UK government policy not to place MOD contracts outwith the UK except under special circumstances such as common development of systems with the USA. Such MOD contracts would not be placed with an independent Scotland in the same way that they are not placed with Ireland.
There are also financial issues such as the payment and security of pensions, both state and private. A huge bag of worms.
The list is endless – there is much more of the iceberg lurking under the water.
The SNP DO know that they would have to apply to join the EU, thats why they’ve gone to court to stop the truth coming out. They also know that Spain would veto Scotland’s entry the the EU as an independent country.
If the Tory government wanted Britain out of the EU it would put the question to the British electorate, already knowing the outcome, but they haven’t got the power to do that. The multi national companies that run the UK and the world have firmly stated that Britain is better off inside the big tent, better for them…..better for us!
It seems that the UK government also have legal advice on this matter which they have refused to divulge. Eight months ago the UK Government blocked a similar FOI request for its advice on Scotland in Europe.
Speaking in December 2011, a UK government spokesman said: “Whilst there is a strong public interest in seeing what legal advice has been provided to the UK Government on the implications of EU membership if Scotland were to achieve independence, we have concluded that this is outweighed by a strong public interest in the Government being able to seek free and frank legal advice.”
Julian…..Oh dear! I hope this helps to clarify.
“Claims that an independent Scotland would be expelled from the EU have been dealt a blow after weekend reports revealed that the other EU members consider Scotland to be “an asset”.
The Mail on Sunday quotes an EU insider as saying: “People often forget the EU is an incredibly expansionist organisation – there is little doubt that an independent Scotland would be seen as an asset to the EU.”
The report follows AFP journalist Roddy Thompson’s comments in the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland when he confirmed that there are no provisions in any of the EU Treaties for expelling a nation or part of a nation. Mr Thompson revealed that senior EU legal officials are currently examining ways to secure Scotland’s position as an independent member of the EU.
Replying to a question on whether there exist any provisions in any of the EU Treaty’s for expelling a nation or part of a nation state, he replied: “Not to my knowledge. They tell me that the head of the legal justice of the council is now in the process of doing a detailed study of the Treaty and how that would be interpreted.
“They don’t have any provisions on if a country or if part of a country leaving. What they do have is provisions for citizenship and rights.”
Both the Mail article and the interview follow clarification from the EU over recent days that the resultant component parts of the former UK would be treated equally following a Yes vote for Scottish independence.”
I think you’d find that with Scotland having sovereignty over her fisheries and energy sector, the EU would roll out the red carpet for Scotland to remain in the EU. Whether that’s a good idea or not is another question. EFTA membership looks very attractive.
Don’t worry too much though, because whatever happens, the sky isn’t going to fall on your head.
If Scotland were to become independent then they would secede from both the UK and from the EU.
Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission (EC), said that any new nation state will have to apply for membership under international law.
This would mean a separate Scotland having to sign up to the euro and the Schengen Agreement, which permits free movement without passport checks, unless it can secure its own version of the UK’s opt-outs.
His intervention came after Olivier Bailly, a senior spokesman for the EC, said that a country that leaves an existing member state would be treated as an “accession state” instead of inheriting EU membership.
The interventions are the most authoritative expression yet of what would happen to Scotland after separation and fly in the face of Alex Salmond’s assertions that it would automatically remain part of the trade organisation.
It’s nice to see the people of Easdale taking interest in the wider world. I hope to move to this Island soon.