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The Scottish Government is to receive an extra £433m for investment in capital projects over the next four years, Chancellor George Osborne has said. Again we see England gets the thin end of the wedge! In his Autumn Statement to the UK Parliament, Mr Osborne also offered £50m to safeguard the future of cross-border sleeper train services and said that Edinburgh would benefit from superfast broadband networks being rolled out to ten cities. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: "This Autumn Statement comes at a difficult economic time. By sticking to our deficit reduction plan the UK has avoided the problems facing some eurozone countries. The measures announced by the UK Government today provide real help for Scotland at a time when parts of Europe are facing real crisis. "In tough economic times the UK is keeping the confidence of the markets, keeping mortgage rates down and finding ways to invest more in Scotland. This clearly demonstrates the benefits to Scotland of being part of the UK. "The job of growing our economy falls to Scotland's two governments. The UK has announced wide-ranging measures to help Scottish companies access credit, to delay increases in fuel duty and to help the young unemployed in Scotland." Mr Alexander said that the UK Goverment was also investing in broadband and increasing the state pension. He went on: "This is new money that Holyrood was not accounting for so I am sure it will be welcomed. If it is used wisely then it can make a significant impact in growing Scotland's economy in the years to come." The extra £433m is being allocated through the Barnett formula, which calculates how money is spread from Westminster around devolved administrations. The nominal figures are £50m for 2011-12, followed by £68.3m, £141.9m and £172.3m in subsequent years, totalling £432.5m. Mr Moore said Scotland will benefit from investment in broadband, particularly in rural areas. Edinburgh will become one of ten "UK superconnected cities", he said. Mr Moore highlighted the recent announcement of £100m for the Scottish Government to invest in renewable energy and a further £200m in extra knock-on funds through the Barnett formula. The English Democrats say this is just another example of how the current UK Government will do anything in their power to try and appease the Scots in order to try and save the Union. Despite these financial 'incentives' to try and please Scottish separatists, Mr Osborne's £433 million hand out has been treated with derision by the Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney. Mr Swinney said the money is too little and too late. "The Chancellor has proposed a limited increase in capital budgets, but the Treasury are so far unable to tell us by how much our revenue budget is going to fall. We need a complete picture to judge these announcements, and I am writing to the Chancellor seeking this information urgently. "The Scottish Government has called for a targeted, expanded programme of some £2bn capital infrastructure investments in Scotland to stimulate demand - which has not been delivered." The English Democrats believe that enough is enough. For too long English taxpayers have been footing the bill to try and hold together a political union which is becoming more and more unpopular both sides of the border. English taxpayer's money should be spent in England.
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Chancellor's £433m Handout to Scotland
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The study by Oxford University's Migration Observatory also suggests that Scots are the most likely to want more immigration.
People in the Midlands and Wales appeared to be most supportive of cuts to immigration.
The government wants to cut net migration to tens of thousands.
However, experts say this will be hard to achieve.
Ipsos Mori surveyed 1,000 people on their attitudes to immigration for the Migration Observatory.
The survey suggests there is a majority in almost all areas of the UK in favour of cuts to immigration.
However, respondents in London, the most densely populated and diverse area of the country, were the least likely to support cuts.
Some 46% of Londoners said they wanted less immigration while a third said it should remain at current levels. Approximately 8% of Londoners said they wanted to see more.
Almost a third of people who live in the capital were born abroad. But the Migration Observatory said the survey found that white British Londoners were less likely to support immigration cuts than white Britons elsewhere.
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Net migration figures 2010
Immigrants: 591,000
Emigrants: 339,000
Net: 252,000
Provisional data for March 2011 shows net falling to 245,000
The survey suggests that in Scotland, the least densely populated mainland area, there was a majority in favour of cuts - but also 20% who wanted a lot more immigration.
The researchers said that because of the way the survey was constructed, the number of Scots who supported a lot more immigration could in theory fall between 11% and 29%.
But even at the lower end of that scale, there was still far more Scots in favour of more immigration than other parts of the UK.
Dr Scott Blinder of the Migration Observatory said: "London and Scotland have lower levels of opposition to immigration than the Midlands and Wales, but this doesn't seem to be clearly related to the number of migrants in any of these places."
In October, the university released other data from the survey suggesting that a majority of people were concerned about categories of migrants that it was most difficult for the government to reduce.
Dr Blinder said the complex results meant it was not a "straightforward slam-dunk" that public attitudes would significantly change if the government hit its targets.
The coalition has pledged to cut net migration from the current level to "tens of thousands" by the end of the Parliament. Official figures show that annual net migration to the UK in 2010 was 252,000 - the highest calendar year figure on record.
Ipsos Mori surveyed 1,002 people between 2 and 8 September for the Oxford study. Approximately 11% of those sampled were born abroad, with British citizens who were born abroad amounting to 5%.