Tag: Pensioners for Independence

Tim Rideout: the Timeline for Setting Up a Scottish Currency

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Our Greater Glasgow Group are meeting via Zoom every couple of weeks in this lockdown period. This week they invited Dr Tim Rideout to talk to about setting up a Scottish Currency. The video below isn’t from the meeting today but it’s pretty much the same talk. There is a shorter version of the talk at the end of this post.

Tim lays out a timeline for getting ourselves from a successful independence referendum to a Scottish currency operating in Scotland for Scots and Scottish business and in the international foreign exchange markets. Here is his timeline, taken from the Scottish Reserve Bank website The website has been set up by Tim and it has a lot of information on it. Setting up a reserve bank is one of the first steps on the timeline. Well, after the referendum has been won and the UK PM has acknowledged the result.

  • Thursday 9th September, 2021 – Scotland votes Yes in a second Scottish independence referendum. 
  • Saturday 11th September, 2021 – UK Prime Minister concedes that Scotland has voted to leave the Union.
Last time that Royal Coat of Arms for UK will be seen. HM Government England and Her Majesty will have to change it appropriately.
  • Wednesday 15th September, 2021 – Westminster Parliament approves a Statutory Instrument to add Scotland to the Statute of Westminster 1931. This means Scotland joins Canada, Australia, etc., as countries for which Westminster will no longer pass legislation except with the full consent of the relevant Parliament, in Scotland’s case, Holyrood.
  • Monday, 4th October, 2021 – The Scottish Government introduces the Scottish Reserve Bank (Establishment) Bill into Holyrood, Stage 1.
  • 2022 The Scottish Reserve Bank Act receives Royal Assent. The new bank occupies the old Royal High School Building in Edinburgh. The Bank’s President and Directors are appointed.
  • 2023 Aims of the Monetary Policy Committee of Scottish Reserve Bank are agreed: First Priority: Full Employment; Second Priority: +/- 2% inflation
  • Mid 2023 Commercial Banks write to Scottish customers using a Scottish sort code or postal address to invite them to open a Scottish Currency account(s). Any other customers, eg., Scots in London or with English sort codes, may contact their bank to request a Scottish currency account. Companies apply to have sterling and Scottish currency accounts, card payment facilities, etc. Designs for Scottish notes and coins finalised after a national competition. Sent to De La Rue Plc for manufacturing.
  • Thursday 30th November, 2023 – Independence Day Queen Elizabeth I & II attends lowering of the Union Flag for the last time at Edinburgh Castle.
  • December 2023 Banks start to post new Scottish Currency bank cards and cheque books to clients.
  • Mid January 2024 Starter packs of Scottish Currency go on sale.
  • Saturday 27th / Sunday 28th January, 2024 Sterling account balances sold to the Scottish Reserve Bank. Replacement Scottish currency deposited to new accounts. Vending machines converted. Cash machines converted.
  • Monday 29th January, 2024 – Currency DayNew currency on public sale. New debit and credit cards go live.
  • Monday 4th March, 2024 Peg to sterling ends. ForEx trading starts. Bank charges apply to transactions.
  • December 31st, 2024 Scottish currency stands at £1.12, but more or less unchanged against the Dollar and Euro. Pensioner Guarantee in operation. Scottish Reserve Bank has £50 billion Foreign Reserves, now converted in a balance mix of Euros, Dollars, Yen, etc.

Shorter version of Tim’s talk:

#EverythingMustChange

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CommonWeal are starting a ReBuild initiative to address how we move forward post-coronavirus.

Here Mary McCabe tells us her thoughts on the subject:

There are two schools of thought about the world post Covid-19.

One: Plans to overhaul the system or to reform the constitution are navel-gazing. We must get back to where we were before considering radical change. If we ever do…

The Other: The place we were before, with the UK Government sacrificing Health and Social Care in England on the altar of profit, prioritising jingoistic wars over the war on poverty and ignoring the suggestions of the Scottish Government to take a different route was how we got in this mess. 

We must find a new way.

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Paisley’s Radical Uprising of 1820

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Mary McCabe, co-convenor of our P4Indy National Group writes:

Many of you will have heard of the Radical Wars which swept across West Central Scotland in the early 19th century and which culminated in the 1820 Scottish Uprising. This is a little-known episode of Scottish history, with the reports of what happened suppressed at the time and to some extent suppressed ever since. 

Because 2020 is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bonnymuir and the trials, executions and transportations which followed, there had been lots of plans this year to stage commemorative events in local communities. These have mostly fallen foul of Covid-19 and the lockdown. 

The aims of the Radicals were political as well as economic and included better wages for weavers, the universal male franchise and independence for Scotland. The play is performed (there are folk-songs as well as drama) by senior citizens. 

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Two Closes, a Referendum & Much More

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Continuing our Podcast Series, this is part 2 of the interview with Mary McCabe on IndyLive Radio. It was recorded on 18 Dec 2019 with Val Gauld and Marlene Halliday.

In this one we cover :

  • how Mary came to write her novel “Two Closes & a Referendum”
  • was the referendum really as divisive as it is sometimes described?
  • what was meant by “once in a generation”?
  • Sir John Curtice’ recent views on Scotland going forward
  • writing letters to newspapers
  • when is a mandate not a mandate?
  • post-general election how are we feeling?

Here it is. It may take a few seconds to get loaded up. Patience is a virtue 😀

Our AGM is on Saturday 16 March in Edinburgh

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Put the afternoon of Saturday 16th March into your diary: 1-5pm at Augustine United Church Rooms, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL. Please come and bring your friends with you – especially if they haven’t quite made up their minds about Scottish Independence yet.

  • Doors are open at 1pm. We’re hoping to have some video footage of the Glasgow Pensioners for Indy Warblers choir. During Burns Week, they sang at three Burns Lunches for pensioners in Glasgow.
  • The formal business of the AGM will begin at 1.20pm. We will also be announcing our plans to expand our activities – encouraging and supporting new P4Indy groups around Scotland, more street stalls, training, and organising national events.
  • Tea Break will be at around 2.25pm
  • Followed by our three speakers
    • Ashley Graczyk, Edinburgh City Councillor
    • Paul Kavanagh, blogger extraordinaire and Yes! activist
    • Joanna Cherry MP, QC

Ashley Graczyk was elected to Edinburgh City Council in 2017 as a Scottish Conservative in the Sighthill / Gorgie Ward. But after a year, she quit the Conservative Party and now sits as an Independent. In 2014 she voted No to Scottish Independence but is now a Yes supporter. We’ve asked her to speak about her journey from No to Yes. This is how she described some of what led to that charge of mind:

Along with all the other City of Edinburgh councillors, we have the privilege to govern the Capital city of Scotland, and in my first year as a councillor I saw with my own eyes how we run our city via the council. We also received some insight into the various roles MSPs and MPs have due to working cross-government on various issues. Over time, it became more glaringly obvious to me the absurdity of reserved matters being dealt with by Westminster and not by the Scottish Government (bear in mind I voted No in the 2014 independence referendum), as Scotland is capable of governing on reserved matters too. I became more convinced that Scotland needs political independence to build a different and better Scotland.

The Scotsman

Paul Kavanagh is well known for his blog Wee Ginger Dug – Biting the hand of Project Fear. And since 2014 he has made many, many appearances at Yes! events. This is a photo of the Dug at the anti-Trump demo in Glasgow last year. He was being very patient as Paul kept being stopped by people expressing their appreciate of what he does for the Yes Campaign. Of course we’re hoping the Dug will be with Paul on the 16th March.

Joanna Cherry is MP for Edinburgh South West has been in the news recently amidst all the Westminster Brexit Bourach. Here she is giein’ it laldy to Sammy Wilson of the DUP (from 3 minutes into the video) with Jacob Rees-Mogg looking dumfoonert.

Please come to the AGM and bring your friends with you – especially if they haven’t quite made up their minds about Scottish Independence yet.