THE National is today publishing a report that Downing Street definitely doesn’t want you to see.
The article, originally published on the London School of Economics (LSE) British Politics and Policy blog, concludes that Scotland can be economically successful after independence.
Co-authored by a UK Government adviser, it was mysteriously deleted on April 1, shortly after The National published a story about it. On April 2, a message appeared on the LSE website stating: “We have been asked by the authors to take this article down temporarily. We will be making it available again as soon as we are able to and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The report was written by Geoffrey Chapman, who advises the Department for International Trade on economics, and Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott, of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Neither has been contactable for comment.
READ: The pro-independence blog Downing Street doesn't want you to see
Downing Street has not denied that it ordered the deletion, stating only: “This is not the view of the Department for International Trade or the UK Government, and the matter is being looked into.” Officials stressed that Chapman is a civil servant who is duty-bound to adhere to standards of “impartiality” and “integrity”.
But with no sign of the blog post reappearing on the LSE website, The National is taking action to ensure that it can be spread as widely as possible to show Scots that their country can be a prosperous independent nation.
As with the hushed-up McCrone Report, we are printing the article in full so our readers can get the word out. As the report concludes: “Considering Scotland has all the necessary machinery in place to become an independent state, we see no obvious reasons why Scotland would not succeed economically if it were to do so, especially if achieved within the bounds of the law.”
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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.
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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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