Sam Taylor

Richard Murphy has organised a conference (in a Cambridge hotel) and programmed himself in every session.

Very convenient. This is what she said last May:

Kate Forbes tells parliament there is little point in her resigning over the latest episode of the ferries fiasco, because she’ll be gone in a couple of months anyway.

1/🚨The Scottish Government *paid* for the credit ratings obtained last year from Moody’s and S&P.

But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.

Rare moment of genuine drama at FMQs as Anas Sarwar produces evidence which undermines John Swinney’s evasions on the QEUH scandal.

At no point have I suggested misfeasance. I’ve pointed out the Scottish Government is wasting public money on paying for a totally unnecessary credit rating. You have aggressively intervened and entirely missed the point.

And I haven’t been caught out about anything. The UK does not pay for its rating. Scotland did pay for a rating. That rating was a sovereign rating. And it didn’t have to.

The very thread you are replying to identifies the world in which Scotland doesn’t pay:

Source:

You said that issuers *always* pay, which is false.

And you said the Scotland didn’t get a sovereign rating, which is also false.

I’m not attempting to suggest misfeasance of any sort. I’m well aware of how this stuff works so I don’t know why you’re trying to lecture me. Especially since you don’t seem to be fully apprised of the facts yourself.

For corporates, yes. But not for sovereigns. The UK, along with other major economies, does not pay to be rated. Smaller nations generally do.

No worries, and thanks!

Yes, I know that. But the Scottish politics bubble (on the whole) doesn’t - that’s who this is for.

National Loans Fund: terms of borrowing Scottish Government facility agreements for Capital Borrowing Loan and Resource Borrowing Loan.

5/ None of this expenditure is necessary or justifiable. It could all have been avoided if Scot Gov simply continued to borrow (at very attractive rates) through its existing facility with the National Loans Fund, administered by the UK Government.

4/ And the law firm Brodies has already received £50k for some preliminary legal advice. www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/...

3/ Last year, the consultants EY were awarded a £500k contract for advice on the bond programme.

2/ This comes on top of yesterday’s news that bankers and lawyers will get £7 million to organise the bond sale.

1/🚨The Scottish Government *paid* for the credit ratings obtained last year from Moody’s and S&P.

But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.

The expected contract value for banks selected to assist Scotland "in accessing the sterling public bond market" is £5 million ($6.9 million), according to a tender published by the Scottish government on Wednesday. The equivalent figure for a legal advisor is £1.8 million, according to a separate notice.

🚨 This is scandalous. £7 million of public money to pay bankers and lawyers for a bond sale which is simply a nationalist publicity stunt. The Scottish Government could borrow at a lower interest rate from the UK Government, and avoid these fees altogether. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

And the £1.8 million contract notice for lawyers is here: www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/...

The £5 million contract notice for potential bankers is here: www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/...

The expected contract value for banks selected to assist Scotland "in accessing the sterling public bond market" is £5 million ($6.9 million), according to a tender published by the Scottish government on Wednesday. The equivalent figure for a legal advisor is £1.8 million, according to a separate notice.

🚨 This is scandalous. £7 million of public money to pay bankers and lawyers for a bond sale which is simply a nationalist publicity stunt. The Scottish Government could borrow at a lower interest rate from the UK Government, and avoid these fees altogether. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Excerpt is from Shona Robison’s appearance yesterday before the Finance and Public Administration Committee.

Shona Robison explains her negotiating tactics on public sector pay: if you threaten to strike, she will cave in to demands.

3/ This happens time and time again. Nobody knows what they are doing, and nothing changes.

2/ But it’s more or less the *only* reduction since 2012. And is tiny - barely even visible on the chart. The fact that civil servants are writing this politicised horseshit for Robison to brainlessly recite is frankly scandalous.

1/ Telling moment at yesterday’s Finance & Public Administration Committee. Shona Robison flounders under questioning on headcount reductions, so a civil servant pushes over something for her to read out. Robison proudly boasts about “the largest reduction… since 2012”

This. And it would do the pro-Indy lobby good if they were to make the effort to understand these issues properly and to stop misleading the public on the issue. ("Ewwww, Taylor, he's a yoooooon" is not a good reason for not trying to understand renewables.)

Has Scot Gov attempted to quantify the value of subsidy payments which flow from energy bill payers in England & Wales to the owners of assets located in Scotland?

No. Of course it hasn’t. The answer would be fatal to nationalist propaganda on energy, so better not to know.