Sturgeon urged to abandon IndyRef2 over deficit fears
NICOLA Sturgeon has been urged to abandon another independence referendum after official figures showed Scotland’s deficit was four times as big as the UK’s last year.
The annual Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) report on the country’s fiscal health showed a deficit of £13.4bn, or 7.9 per cent of GDP, in 2017/18.
The UK deficit was just 1.9 per cent of GDP, with Scotland accounting for more than a third of the £39.4bn gap between UK tax receipts and public spending.
As a result of cross-border transfers, public spending per head in Scotland was a record £1576, or 13.2 per cent – higher than in the UK as a whole.
However the First Minister insisted Scotland was not being subsidised and said the sum was “more than fair” given historic North Sea oil receipts of £300bn going to the Treasury.
Scotland’s geographical share of North Sea receipts was £1bn higher last year thanks to a recovery in the oil industry after a price slump.
Revisions to past GERS figures also showed year one of an independent Scotland would have been worse than previously thought if there had been a Yes vote in 2014.
The deficit in 2016/17 was revised £1.2bn higher to £14.5bn, or 8.9 per cent of GDP.
The SNP Government’s White Paper forecast £2.7 to £5.5bn, or 1.6 to 3.2 per cent of GDP.
Ms Sturgeon said Scotland was “on the right trajectory”, and denied higher public spending per head in Scotland was a persuasive argument for the Union.
She said: “If we look at the situation in Scotland within the UK over a longer period of time, this notion that Scotland is somehow subsidised... simply does not stand up to scrutiny.”
Pamela Nash, Chief Executive of the pro-UK Scotland in Union campaign, said: “It’s now time for the First Minister to accept reality and drop her threats to hold a second referendum.
“Her government’s own figures clearly demonstrate the financial benefit of being part of the UK at a time when North Sea oil revenues are volatile and the economy is uncertain.”