AN independent Scotland may become the “Saudi Arabia of Europe” due to the huge amount of natural resources available to the nation, Professor Richard Murphy has said.
The professor of international political economy made the comments on this week’s edition of the Wee Ginger Dugcast.
Murphy was invited on to talk about “GERSmas”, “the day when all the British nationalists in Scotland celebrate the supposed poverty of Scotland and send one another pretty coloured graphs”.
READ MORE: Andrew Marr predicts Scotland is 'likely' to leave the Union by 2024
The professor explains why “every single figure you look at [in GERS] is biased against Scotland”, adding that it “is CRAP – Completely Rubbish APproximations”.
Murphy explains how he first got interested in the annual figures, because of his interest in the way that numbers can be used to construct a political narrative.
GERS looks at government income in Scotland but government expenditure for Scotland. This is not comparing like with like.
Murphy explains how this serves a political purpose, and ultimately that: “What the government in Scotland should be doing is actually saying ‘how can we improve this’, or ‘do we just ditch it?’”
It all makes for fascinating listening.
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