Freedom!

I've got nothing against the Scots.

Ok, thats a lie. I've got one thing against the scots - and that's their attitude towards the English (ie, me) and their obsession with Freeeeedom!.

This obsession with freedom and the "tyranny" of the English has gone on for a very, very long time. Since the formation of the union, in fact. So why did we unite?

Well, a faction in the scottish parliament of the time forced it through - because those prudent scots at money problems.

At the time of the Act of Union, in 1707, Scotland had just suffered the collapse of the Darien Scheme - an attempt to create a trading colony linking east and west. As it failed, it took between half and a third of the Scottish Economy with it. While scotland may not have been bankrupt...it was close.

With the Act came £398,085 of aid - a fortune at the time.

So my proposal is simple - if Scotland, through its own resources, pays back this sum (increased in line to an equivalent modern amount) then we let them go.

But that's the catch - we bought Scotland for (lets call it) £400,000 300 years ago.

So if we said that inflation was...5% - which is being kind - for 300 years, that would be...

1.05 to the power of 300 times 400,000. That's compound interest, for those paying attention.

So that is £909,598,451,440. That's what scotland was worth, and what England paid for it, in modern money.

Thats the price of freedom...