The ruinous bill the SNP knew was the cost of separation

WE were scaremongering and talking Scotland down. So, repeatedly, came the complaints from the SNP during the independence referendum campaign, when pro-UK politicians set out the economic downsides of leaving the United Kingdom.

Well , yesterday’s analysis of Scotland’s financial health, published by the selfsame SNP Government, makes it clear the only thing we were guilty of was understatement.

The figures are a sobering reminder of just how close we came to economic disaster in the 2014 referendum. If the separatists had won, right now the fledging independent Scotland would be trying to manage a deficit of £15billion – twice the size of the UK’s.

Ministers would have faced a choice. Cuts to the NHS? Increase family taxes? More likely a combination of both. In return for wrecking the most successful union of nations in history, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon would be sending every family a sky-high bill. Some freedom, that.

So my first reaction to yesterday’s GERS analysis is to express my anger at a Nationalist Government which, during the independence referendum, committed an act of sustained and calculated deception against the Scottish people. The point is they knew all of this. They knew the price tag that would come with independence. They knew their own sums were bogus. But instead of acknowledging it, they calculated it would be better to try to bully critics into silence and insist white was black. It was utterly unforgivable.

Even now, the dissembling continues. Ex-SNP advisers have admitted the White Paper was hokum. But even in the face of yesterday’s evidence, the party still hasn’t owned up to the scale of its lies. It is staggering. Any honourable party would have responded to yesterday’s analysis by offering an immediate, full mea culpa.

If that is the past, what lessons for the future do the GERS figures offer us?

Firstly, they only serve to emphasise the benefits that accrue to Scotland as a result of membership of the United Kingdom.

Yesterday’s analysis underlined the impact of the collapsing oil price on Scotland’s economy. Had we been forced to meet the cost ourselves, the impact would have been both sudden and immense. Instead, the gap was filled as a result of our membership of the UK.

In total, the ‘Union dividend’ last year to Scotland amounted to £1,600 for every man, woman and child. That is Britain in action: pooling and sharing our resources so all parts of the country can ride out economic storms.

Secondly, yesterday’s analysis should prompt us to ask how Scotland can do better. None of us can be content with figures that suggest Scotland is running a deficit bigger than Greece.

With tax-raising powers about to come to the Scottish parliament, we now have a very real incentive to grow our economy, boost revenues and ensure more money can be invested in our public services. So while yesterday’s figures may help make the case against independence, they can’t be a cause for satisfaction.

We should all be aspiring to ensure the gaping deficit Scotland faces is turned into a surplus. That means developing a genuine, long-term plan to build economic growth.

Foolishly, the SNP wants to make Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK. I say let’s protect family finances by ensuring income tax is no higher here.

Without any justification, the SNP is now charging firms higher business rates than ever. I say let’s freeze rates for all firms to give them the stability to invest.

The SNP’s nine years of failure on education has led to falling standards in literacy and numeracy. I say let’s give more power and control to schools so we empower them to ensure every child receives a great education.

IN short, we need a Scottish Government focused on the day job. We have world-leading exports such as whisky facing demand going through the roof; let’s see a Scottish Government plan to open up new markets.

We have rural areas still shamefully prevented from accessing proper broadband services; let’s see Nicola Sturgeon putting the same effort into supporting rural Scotland as she does touring European capitals.

We have two Governments, both able to put their shoulder to the wheel – but we have an SNP leadership which shuns that support and treats the UK Government with disrespect.

Most of all, it is time the SNP lifted its threat of yet another independence referendum. The continuing uncertainty will only damage our economic prospects. If Nicola Sturgeon really wants to prioritise stability and security, she should rule her unwanted referendum out for the foreseeable future.

Sadly, I fear this is unlikely. The evidence of this week suggests the SNP is still trying to fool people. Thus we had Nicola Sturgeon concocting fantasy figures on the economic cost of Brexit – only then to refuse even to acknowledge yesterday’s very real analysis on the economic cost of independence.

This is the danger for Scotland. Since the EU vote in June, it has become increasingly clear we have a Nationalist administration with only one thing on its mind; its campaign for independence. In other words, just at the time when we desperately need an administration prepared to put politics to one side, we are instead treated to an exercise in cynical politicking.

Yesterday’s GERS figures were a wake-up call for all of us in Scottish public life. Yes, they show the benefits of our membership of the UK but they also show the desperate need for a Scottish Government that is prepared to put the day job first.

But, as ever with the SNP, it seems reality can be cast aside – with the rest of us paying the price.