{"product_id":"should-auld-acquaintance-be-forgot-john-lloyd-9781509542673","title":"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot: The Great Mistake of Scottish Independence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSuccess would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as  10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Lloyd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1509542671\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781509542673\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Polity Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/08\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.53lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.72h x 5.12w x 0.79d","brand":"John Lloyd","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43993659965695,"sku":"9781509542673","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9f5e37e3-252c-428e-ba81-272223a8b848.jpg?v=1683325587","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/should-auld-acquaintance-be-forgot-john-lloyd-9781509542673","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}