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- Welcome To My World
- PENSIONS - THE LIE
- THE BORDER LIE
- WHO OWNS THE STORY?
- How we got here
- The Party Landscape:
- "The Doors They've Shut"
- WHY WESTMINSTER SAYS NO
- Referendum V Democracy
- WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAID
- THE OTHER ROUTE
- THE HISTORY BEHIND GERS
- EU - THE LIE
- SCOTLAND MAKES MORE
- CROWN ESTATE
- THE £ - CURRENCY
- DECLARATION OF ARBROATH
- ARbroath v SCOTLAND ACT
- SCOTLAND'S FUTURE
- MY VIEW , THE NEXT STAGE
THE LIE THAT SCARED A GENERATION This is the biggest lie they told in 2014. It scared the most people. Let's kill it forever.
WHAT THEY TOLD YOU IN 2014
On TV, on doorsteps, in the Daily Record: "Who will pay your pension in an independent Scotland? Scotland is too poor. Your UK pension will stop. Your work pension will be frozen. You will be left with nothing." They targeted over-60s specifically. Better Together leaflets with pensioners looking worried. Labour said it. Tories said it. BBC reported it as fact.
YOUR STATE PENSION - THE ONE FROM THE GOVERNMENT
How a UK State Pension actually works - simple version
There is NO pot with your name on it. Westminster didn't save your money in a box. It works like this: Today's workers pay National Insurance TODAY. That money pays TODAY'S pensioners. When you worked in the 80s, 90s, 2000s - your NI paid your dad's generation's pension. When you retire, the next generation pays yours. It's called Pay As You Go. Every country does it this way.
So when Scotland becomes independent:
For the years you already worked (say 1978-2026): You paid UK National Insurance to the UK Government. UK owes you for those years. By law.
For the years after independence: You pay Scottish National Insurance to Scottish Government. Scotland pays you for those years.
You get TWO bits added together. Same as if you worked 20 years in Scotland and 15 years in England.
Proof UK already does this:
1.2 MILLION Brits live abroad right now and get a full UK State Pension paid every 4 weeks into their foreign bank account. 700,000 get the yearly increase. 500,000 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand get it frozen but still paid. If UK pays a Scotsman living in Sydney, Australia, it will pay a Scotsman living in Bathgate. May 2014 - UK Pensions Minister Steve Webb - the actual UK minister in charge of pensions - said on record: "Scots would be entitled to the current levels of state pension after independence because they had accumulated rights within the existing system." They never denied it again. GOV.UK right now says: "You can claim your State Pension abroad if you've paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify. You need at least 10 years." And: "Your State Pension can be paid to a UK bank or a bank in the country you're living in."
DWP has an International Pension Centre in Tyne & Wear. Its whole job is paying UK pensions to people who don't live in UK. That system already exists. Scotland would just be another country on the list.
What if Westminster says "We're not paying"?
They can't. International law
They can't. International law - Vienna Convention on State Succession. Your accrued rights are protected. Same as when Ireland left UK in 1922, when Czech Republic and Slovakia split in 1993 - both countries had to honour pensions for years worked. If UK refused, no country would ever trust UK to pay pensions again. Markets would dump UK.
And even if they tried, Scotland would have a counter: "Fine, we keep all the oil money and all the assets, you keep the debt." They won't try.
Scottish Government Plan in 2013 White Paper:
• Set single-tier pension at £160 per week, UK was planning £158.90 - so £1.10 MORE in Scotland. • Later said £155 UK vs £160 Scotland - £260 a year more in Scotland. • Keep pension age at 66, not raise to 67 like UK planned.
YOUR WORK / PRIVATE PENSION - THE ONE FROM YOUR JOB
A) Private Personal Pension (You pay into a pot, like Aviva, Standard Life):
This is YOUR money. In YOUR name. Locked by law in a trust. No government - UK or Scottish - can touch it. Independence doesn't change it. You get it wherever you live. Same as if you move to Spain now.
Company Pension - Defined Contribution (Most people now - money pot):
Same as above. Your pot. Your name. Company pays in, you pay in. Managed by pension company. Independence changes nothing. If you work for Tesco, Tesco Scotland will still have a scheme.
Company Pension - Defined Benefit / Final Salary (Old gold-plated ones)
This is where they scared people in 2014. ICAS said: Under EU law, if a pension scheme has members in TWO different EU countries, it must be "fully funded" on Day 1. No deficit allowed. So a scheme with members in Scotland and England would need to find billions overnight.
What actually happened:
• EU said in March 2014 it would NOT relax that rule. So yes, it was a real headache in 2014. • But then Brexit happened. UK left EU in 2020. That EU cross-border funding rule NO LONGER APPLIES to UK. UK and EU are separate now. A UK company with staff in England and Scotland is NOT a cross-border EU scheme anymore. It's a UK domestic scheme. The whole 2014 scare died the day Brexit happened. • Even back then, fix was easy: Companies split the scheme - Tesco England and Tesco Scotland - like they already do for Republic of Ireland. Or get transitional period. Scottish Government offered that.
Your work pension is protected by The Pensions Regulator and Pension Protection Fund. Same protections would exist in Scotland - Scottish Government said it would set up Scottish regulator on Day 1.
PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS - NHS, Teachers, Police, Council
Already run separately in Scotland. NHS Scotland pension is run by Scottish Public Pensions Agency in Galashiels. Teachers pension run from Edinburgh. Paid from Scottish budget already. No change. Your years count.
THE BIT THEY NEVER TELL YOU - WE GET RIPPED OFF ON PENSIONS
Life expectancy in Scotland: 77.0 men, 81.1 women. UK average: higher. • Glasgow men: 73.3 years. Women 78.7. Healthy life expectancy: 62.3 years for men. • State pension age now 66, going to 67, then 68. More than HALF of Glasgow men will never reach pension age if it goes to 68. They pay in all their life and die before getting a penny. • IFS analysis of White Paper: "Lower average life expectancy in Scotland means Scots, on average, currently receive state pensions for a shorter time period than people in the rest of the UK." • Translation: Scots pay National Insurance same as English, but claim pension for 2-3 years LESS. We SUBSIDISE English pensions. The UK saves money because we die younger.
UK has the WORST state pension in the developed world as % of average wage. SNP conference voted to target OECD average of 63% - would be £100s more per week.
6. QUESTIONS FROM THE DOORSTEP - ANSWERED SIMPLE
Q: I'm 68, retired, getting my pension now. Will it stop after Yes?
A: No. UK has to keep paying you for your years. Paid into UK or foreign bank. 1.2m people abroad get it now. Then new Scottish system takes over.
Q: I'm 45, worked 25 years in UK. What happens?
A: UK owes you 25/35ths of UK pension. Scotland will pay you for future years. You get both bits.
Q: What about triple lock?
A: Triple lock is UK policy - pension goes up by highest of inflation, wages, 2.5%. Scottish Government said it would keep triple lock and pay MORE than UK. Independent Scotland can afford it better because we die younger - costs less.
Q: Will my pension be paid in Scots pounds? Worth less?
A: At first, same pound - sterlingisation. When Scots pound comes, your UK bit could still be paid in sterling into your account, Scottish bit in Scots pounds. Same as you can get UK pension paid in Euros in Spain now. Exchange rate risk small - like Ireland and UK - and Scottish pound likely to be strong because of energy exports.
Q: What about my ISA, savings?
A: Yours. Same as moving abroad now.
PLAIN ENGLISH - BATHGATE VERSION
Think of it like this:
You worked in a factory for 30 years. Factory had two owners - Jock and John. Jock and John both promised you a pension from your wages. Now factory splits. Jock takes Glasgow factory, John takes Manchester factory. Does John get to say "I'm not paying your 30 years"? No. He owes you. Law says so. And he already pays 1.2m ex-workers living in Spain, Canada, Australia.
Your private pension is like your toolbox you brought to work. It's got your name on it. No owner can take it.
And the final kicker: Scottish workers die younger, claim less pension, but pay same NI. We're not a burden - we're subsidising London's longer retirements.