Just let the Scottish have independence

A FINANCIAL device said to be a short-term measure was introduced in 1978, a scheme by which centrally collected taxes were distributed in the UK according to alleged need.

This became known as the Barnett formula, devised by Joel Barnett, who later described it as “a terrible mistake”.

It turned out to be sobering for England, as it transpired that the rest of Britain was subsidised from the start by England, and continues to be so.

Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland each has its own administration to fight for it. England does not, and even its own MPs stay strangely silent on the topic.

One just wonders what are the reasons and motives behind this reticence.

Of late, the SNP and its leader have become increasingly vocal and aggressive in their demands for independence.

If this were to be gained, then Scotland would experience the shocking reality of having to provide for itself, without the benefits of receiving the substantial subsidies provided by the English tax-payer that it does.

At the moment Scotland receives – compliments of the Barnett Formula still being applied despite its supposed temporary nature – a whopping

21% more from the public purse than does England, despite some of the English regions, including our own, being less well off, yet not being awarded as much public spending money.

Don’t await the results of a new Scottish referendum, just give them the independence they crave. Do MPs truly believe that the English will continue to pay up, shut up, and put up with the present situation?

English MPs must speak up, and do so now, for their country on the matter of the application of the Barnett Formula, and on the wider topic of a purely English Assembly.

BOBBY MEYNELL