Point 1 was mostly a joke.
This was an interesting point of discussion. From what I've seen despite the support our depressed regions are getting from through the Barnett formula, there hasn't been much of an impact. There's still far, far too much social deprevation in this country and I suspect at least part of it may be down to certain Labour figures putting their feet up on their provincial-governor's desk, not having to think of anything radical because it's a wider UK issue.
That's both a strength and weakness of the Barnett formula. It in no way takes need into account, just an approximation of relative population weighted towards devolved regions. Its a way to completely avoid making such regional variance political. This means when the needs of a region outweigh its population weighting you are going to fall short. At the same time it means that regions where productivity is low aren't going to fall as short as they might so long as the entire union isn't doing badly as well.
It's more a concern I have regarding the EU, as they would be the natural body to offer such support but I don't see that as likely post-Greece. Any redundancy in economic support systems is a good thing in my book, and separation will lose a layer between England (or rUK) and Scotland.
We are currently doing our very best to move away from an oil-focussed economy even within the UK, and the SNP are planning on doing exactly as you say. That is why we've pursued renewable energy with such gusto. Numerous articles and documents have been published in the last month by the SNP claiming, in their own words, that "Scotland doesn't need oil". I would recommend having a hunt for them.
I'll admit this is about a year old now, but I did dig into some numbers on this before and the SNP's proposals were all heavily based on maintaining the current oil revenue levels into the medium term, with losses moving into renewable benefits. I frankly don't think that adds up, economically or environmentally. You aren't likely to get a 1:1 replacement with renewable or other energy, which they seemed to suggest. Especially when you get into NIMBY fights.
The closest analysis along those lines I've seen suggests Scotland could become a net energy producer, selling power to England, based on rapidly developing the fantastic hydro and nuclear power sites there are around the country. Except that neither of those are likely to happen under the SNP or any other populist party. A more cynical projection, based on strong push back against many forms of renewables and oil dropping off quickly, would see Scotland being a net energy importer, as the UK is now.
This is an area where I'm extremely cynical, given I haven't seen a single British party (English or Scottish) with an honest or workable energy plan in the last decade or so. I'll try to read through the new SNP proposals but frankly my expectation is that they are just more bullshit.
This is one that I agree with, but I don't see it as unpleasant. I see it as very pleasant indeed. These are all countries that should be independent in my opinion. Also, if the UK and Scotland have an amicable divorce, how do countries like Spain and Belgium justify blocking our independence? What do they expect us to do? Just rejoin the UK with our tails between our legs? It would destabilise us (and Europe) terribly for the sake of domestic fears and only galvanise support for separatism in their territories.
It makes EU membership for an independent Scotland harder, weakening their entry debate position. If Scotland wanted to maintain any current UK benefits (especially the opt-outs) then having a block of countries opposed to your very existence is a pretty bad place to start from.
And arguably their fears would be less about Scotland becoming independent through a peaceful and democratic process and more about Scotland becoming independent
and successful. You may well end up with a block of nations who want to see Scotland fail or at least end up weaker than they were as part of the UK to avoid setting a positive example to their own independent regions.