I AM heartily fed up with the ill-informed yet furious debate over GERS, a set of figures that are based on nothing more than estimates.
According to political economist Professor Richard Murphy, 25 of the 26 income figures used in GERS are estimates extrapolated from data for the UK as a whole and some consumer surveys – it’s hardly solid and credible economic data.
But while these figures don’t accurately represent Scotland’s expenditure or revenues as they stand at the moment, much more importantly they definitely can’t be used to determine what Scotland’s economy would look like if it were to be an independent country.
The fact is that Scotland’s economy remains strong, despite the downturn in the oil and gas sector over the last two years.
We have a falling notional deficit and the biggest growth in onshore revenues on record. Growth was more than three times that of the rest of the UK in the last quarter, and recent figures show that employment is at a record high.
Lately, GERS has become just another stick used to batter the independence movement.
Our fiscal position has improved in spite of Westminster’s mismanagement of our oil and gas sector – a situation entirely out of our control – but that won’t be sufficient for the Unionist detractors, who couldn’t find it in themselves to praise Scotland if their lives depended on it.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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