Norway can show Scotland the way ahead

Sir, - Your correspondents, Rob Pearce and GM Lindsay, in their haste to shoot the messenger, miss entirely the point of the GERS figures they eagerly support.

When the then Scottish Secretary Ian Lang introduced GERS to the world in 1992, he admitted that it was, first and foremost, a political tool aimed primarily at Scottish independence aspirations.

Then Labour, under Tony Blair, felt no need to contradict figures which have little relevance when assessing Scotland.

Any weapon which can be used against Scotland obviously crosses any unionist party boundary.

This position was underlined by the recent head of the civil service, Sir Nicholas McPherson, who stated that when dealing with Scotland the rules of civil service impartiality “do not apply”.

Unfortunately for your correspondents, the veracity of the GERS figures have been well and truly undermined by the economists Jim and Margaret Cuthbert who have studied the GERS methodology for many years and found it wanting on many levels.

Mr Pearce and Mr Lindsay are at liberty to accept the figures produced by the UK departments which produce the data used, but their faith in an institution which had no hesitation in hiding the McCrone Report from the Scottish electorate displays a level of naivety fewer Scots are susceptible to.

If, under 300 years of union, a country of Scotland’s wealth is such a financial basket case, the figures produced are a stark warning to Scots who support the continuation of a union which damages us so severely.

This reality is underlined by our near and comparable neighbour, Norway, a country fulfilling all of the “too wee, too poor” criteria of the London establishment, but sitting top of the current economic table. Ken Clark. 335 King Street, Broughty Ferry.

Former Scottish Secretary Ian Lang.