THE new Governor General Alister Jack, and other politicians who think GERS shows that we are subsidy junkies, are financially illiterate and haven’t studied the GERS figures in detail.
At £62.7 billion, Scotland’s income is enough to cover all devolved spending, including all pensions and social services. The £12.6bn “deficit” includes: £3.3bn removed from Scotland’s accounts for UK military, £3.16bn to service Westminster’s massive national debt, £1.71bn for UK “service costs”, £989m for “international services” plus £303m for “EU transactions”. Of this £11.4bn almost £10bn is spent by Westminster outside Scotland.
The deficit could be halved in an independent Scotland if oil and gas companies were taxed at Norwegian levels. Last year Scotland’s production was 90% of the Norwegian level yet GERS only managed to show just over £1bn of tax receipts, while Norway raised £11bn in 2018.
Excluding London and the south-east, the rest of England has more than twice Scotland’s deficit while Wales and Northern Ireland are even worse, which just shows how much the City of London financial sector siphons off the profits generated in the rest of the UK.
Fraser Grant
Edinburgh
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
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel