Out of the frying pan into the fire?

Sir, – Hopefully the SNP’S vision of an independent Scotland must surely be one in which the people of Scotland would become more prosperous.

But alas it seems that the SNP also wishes Scotland to become a fully-fledged member of the EU. Has the cost of such a move been fully investigated?

There must be quite a number of contradictions in such a vision.

One of the main reasons for the UK wishing to leave the EU is that there is far too much bureaucracy, which has had a detrimental effect on the ability to trade satisfactorily on a global basis.

Also the laws created by the European Union take precedence over these of the member states, which has proved to be a great disadvantage. And then of course there is the high cost of membership.

And should it ever reach the stage where the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ceases to exist as a political and economic entity, how will the SNP minority administration manage to resolve the Scottish GERS deficit?

The amount raised in tax revenues within the Scottish Economic Area of the UK amounts to circa £62.7 billion, but the total public spending was £73.3bn according to the official latest figures – a deficit of £10.6bn.

Fortunately Scotland, as a member state of the UK, benefits from what is known as the Barnett Formula, and any such deficits are balanced by the treasury within the government at Westminster.

But of course this would no longer apply if the SNP did ever get a majority of votes to legally seek independence from the UK. However we are all aware the results in the 2014 referendum were very much in favour of “Better Together”. So has anything really changed? Indeed a recent Survation Poll indicates that only 40% of the electorate back independence.

Robert I G Scott. Northfield, Ceres.