The Crossrail project – a huge train network in the south east of England, centred on London – is estimated to cost the taxpayer £16,500,000,000.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Building Crossrail – £16,000,000,000
- Buying Scottish votes – £500,000,000
Under the Barnett Formula, Scotland is entitled to £500m purely because £16bn is being spent in England. It doesn’t matter that the money is being spent on London and Crossrail will benefit nobody outside of the London commuter belt. It doesn’t even matter that Scotland doesn’t need the money or have anything in particular to spend it on. They will get half a billion pounds simply because the Scottish Raj won’t risk losing Scottish votes by abolishing the unfair Barnett Formula.
Scotland gets its own budget, a multi-billion pound subsidy from the English taxpayer, its own parliament and its MPs treat England as a personal feifdom. Then they pull this kind of stunt which really rubs salt in the wound.
Technorati Tags: England, Scotland, Barnett Formula, Crossrail
Definitions; suggestions for ‘Wonko’s Dictionary’
‘Barnet Fair’; Cockney rhyming slang = ‘hair’
‘Barnett Unfair’; a scheme to re-distribute wealth from those creating it to those least likely to do so, to enable them to have rewards and privileges denied to the former. (see also Scottish devolution)
‘Berkeley Hunt’ i) a pack of hounds in Gloucestershire
ii) Cockney rhyming slang = cunt (see also One eyed wonder of Wankistan)
Just trying to be helpful! Cheers, Kevin F.