Scots, What the Heck? NY Times

Next week Scotland will hold a referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom. And polling suggests that support for independence has surged over the past few months, largely because pro-independence campaigners have managed to reduce the “fear factor” — that is, concern about the economic risks of going it alone. At this point the outcome looks like a tossup.

Well, I have a message for the Scots: Be afraid, be very afraid. The risks of going it alone are huge. You may think that Scotland can become another Canada, but it’s all too likely that it would end up becoming Spain without the sunshine.

Comparing Scotland with Canada seems, at first, pretty reasonable. After all, Canada, like Scotland, is a relatively small economy that does most of its trade with a much larger neighbor. Also like Scotland, it is politically to the left of that giant neighbor. And what the Canadian example shows is that this can work. Canada is prosperous, economically stable (although I worry about high household debt and what looks like a major housing bubble) and has successfully pursued policies well to the left of those south of the border: single-payer health insurance, more generous aid to the poor, higher overall taxation.

Does Canada pay any price for independence? Probably. Labor productivity is only about three-quarters as high as it is in the United States, and some of the gap may reflect the small size of the Canadian market (yes, we have a free-trade agreement, but a lot of evidence shows that borders discourage trade all the same). Still, you can argue that Canada is doing O.K.

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The final push for Alex Salmond’s land of fantasy, Telegraph

It is Thursday morning on Buchanan Street, Glasgow’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, and Scotland’s First Minister is doing what he does best: smirking.

Working his way through a boisterous crowd of placard-wielding Yes supporters, Alex Salmond revels in the adoration of his fans and poses for countless “selfies” with starstruck Nationalists out to pay homage on the 10th anniversary of his return as leader of the Scottish National Party.

The choice of location for this event, right in the middle of Glasgow, is very deliberate. With less than a fortnight until Scots vote on whether to leave the United Kingdom, Scotland’s largest city has turned into the front line in the referendum battle. To win, the Nationalists need to convert voters in the west of Scotland, where Labour has traditionally been strong.

Mr Salmond, a gambler and racing-loving punter who relishes the thrill of the chase, is confident he has Labour and the Better Together pro-Union campaign on the run. “The ground is shifting below their feet,” he says.

The race has certainly tightened. Last week, a poll by YouGov showed the No lead narrowing sharply to only six points (53 to 47 per cent when don’t knows are stripped out).

It prompted concern at Westminster, and in the City the markets were spooked. Investors who had presumed there was no chance of a Yes vote sold off shares in companies that trade on both sides of the border between England and Scotland. Polls this weekend are expected to show Yes getting even closer.

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Kevin Maguire: I'm willing you to vote for us all in Britain instead of Salmond, who wants to be King of Scotland, Daily Record

I’D be gutted, absolutely gutted, if Scotland dumps me. We rub along pretty well and you want to end 300 years of history?

Come on, you can’t be serious.

I’m British and don’t want to be a foreigner when I come to Scotland any more than I want Scots to be foreigners when they go to England or Wales.

We’ve so many ties and been through a lot together so it seems daft to divorce so Alex Salmond can play the big man.

We Geordies have more in common with you Scots than we do with the Surrey stockbroker belt.

I hail from South Shields on Tyneside and grew up reading The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals at Christmas.

I flicked little plastic Subbuteo football players in Celtic and Rangers strips.

I cheered when Archie Gemmill scored that 1978 World Cup goal with that lovely mazy run and gorgeous left-footed finish against Holland.

I wasn’t so happy a few years later, it’s true, narrowly escaping a beating at Wembley by the Tartan Army’s militarised wing.

But we’ll let that pass. Newcastle hoolies chased this Sunderland fan a fair few times so it matters little whether the pursuers were in kilts or black and white stripes.

And I’ll confess when I bumped into Gary McAllister on a train last week I fondly recalled his missed penalty the day England beat Scotland at Wembley in Euro '96.

I’m an England football supporter – though that’s not easy with Roy Hodgson’s dreary excuse for a team – but I still want Scotland to beat Germany tomorrow with Steven Fletcher scoring the winner.

So don’t let Alex Salmond con you into believing us lot don’t care or want to be shot of Scotland.

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Surge in support for independence sparks 'great deal of concern' in Buckingham Palace amid fears over Queen's role in a separate Scotland Daily Mail

  Palace aides concerned the monarch will face a constitutional crisis after poll

  Queen may appoint an Australian-style 'governor general' to rule in her name

  Experts fear independence could throw up divided loyalties for the Queen 

  In 1977 the Queen said: 'I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom'

The growing prospect of Scotland voting to leave the United Kingdom has sparked a ‘great deal of concern’ in Buckingham Palace, sources close to the Queen have revealed.

Senior palace aides are increasingly concerned that the Queen will be thrown into the centre of a constitutional crisis in the event of a ‘Yes’ vote on September 18.

Experts have suggested she may be forced to appoint an Australian-style ‘governor general’ to rule in her name.

Prime Minister David Cameron is in Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, with the Queen today and is expected to hold talks over the crisis. Mr Cameron has travelled alone without his wife Samantha.

The Queen has not intervened in the debate on independence, but has previously publicly praised the union.

In a speech she gave to MPs on her Silver Jubilee in 1977 she said: ‘I number kings and queens of England and of Scotland, and princes of Wales among my ancestors and so I can readily understand these aspirations.

‘But I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

‘Perhaps this jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom.’

Constitutional experts fear independence could throw up divided loyalties for the Queen if there was a clash between Scotland and the rump-UK in the future.

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Words for the Wise, Psalm 122 The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 122

A song [of David]^[a] for those journeying to worship.

 

This is a Davidic psalm celebrating the grandeur and significance of Jerusalem and its temple. It is ironic that Jerusalem means “city of peace” since more battles have been fought over it than over any other city.

¹ I was so happy when my fellow pilgrims said,
    “Let’s go to the house of the Eternal!”
² We have made the journey, and now we are standing
    within your gates, O Jerusalem.

³ Jerusalem! What a magnificent city!
    Buildings so close together, so compact.
⁴ God’s people belong here. Every tribe of the Eternal
    makes its way to Jerusalem—
Just as God decreed for Israel
    to come together and give thanks to the Eternal.
⁵ In Jerusalem, justice is the order of the day because there sit the judges
    and kings, the descendants of David.

⁶ Ask heaven to grant peace to Jerusalem:
    “May those who love you prosper.
⁷ O Jerusalem, may His peace fill this entire city!
    May this citadel be quiet and at ease!”
⁸ It’s because of people—my family, friends, and acquaintances—
    that I say, “May peace permeate you.”
⁹ And because the house of Eternal One, our God, is here, know this:
    I will always seek your good!

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Chapter 122

This psalm seems to have been penned by David for the use of the people of Israel, when they came up to Jerusalem to worship at the three solemn feasts. It was in David’s time that Jerusalem was first chosen to be the city where God would record his name. It being a new thing, this, among other means, was used to bring the people to be in love with Jerusalem, as the holy city, though it was but the other day in the hands of the Jebusites. Observe, I. The joy with which they were to go up to Jerusalem, Ps. 122:1, 2. II. The great esteem they were to have of Jerusalem, Ps. 122:3-5. III. The great concern they were to have for Jerusalem, and the prayers they were to put up for its welfare, Ps. 122:6-9. In singing this psalm we must have an eye to the gospel church, which is called the “Jerusalem that is from above.”

The Bible Panorama

Psalm 122

V 1–2: GLAD TO GO David is glad to go to the temple in Jerusalem to praise God.

 V 3–5: TESTIMONY OF TRIBES The tribes of Israel go there to thank the Lord, who Himself is the ‘Testimony of Israel’. 

V 6–9: PRAY FOR PEACE David urges that prayer for the peace of Jerusalem be made.

Brian Wilson: Border costs post-independence, The Scotsman

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: Sending a letter is just one of the many things a border will make a great deal more expensive, writes Brian Wilson

It’s an old trick to ask if a politician knows the price of a pint of milk. I tried a variation of the same theme this week while debating with a luminary of Scottish nationalism.

A questioner asked about postal charges between Scotland and England in the event of independence. As usual, the Nat response was that life would go on as before. I asked if he knew what it costs to post a letter from the UK to the Republic of Ireland, even just a few hundred yards between north and south.

He didn’t, which seemed as careless as not knowing the price of a pint of milk. The answer is that, because Ireland is treated by Royal Mail as an international destination (as Scotland would become), the cost of postage is between twice and four times greater than the cost of a first-class stamp, for delivery within five days.

Consider the plea of a local politician in County Tyrone who paid £2.38 for a stamp that would have cost, at most, 62p if the letter had stayed within the UK. “It’s crazy,” she complained. “It is very expensive and nobody can understand it”. To which one might reasonably have replied: “It’s the border, stupid”.

In more rational times, quadrupled postal charges would represent quite an important issue and also an illustration of an under-stated truth – that borders are indeed very expensive and the costs are paid in money and jobs. I am not naïve enough to expect this to concern Nationalists but those who would be forced to pay their price might take note.

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Oswald Chambers, My Uttermost for His Highest

The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life

He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38

A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.

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 John 7:38-40 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From [a]his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Acts 1:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

John 6:26-30 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Words to the People

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?