We can do better

Scott Macnab’s article “Scotland’s economic future is bleak” (Perspective, 28 March) failed to mention the relative under-performance of the UK economy since 2009 compared to the other G20 countries. This is despite the fact, which he noted, that London and the south-east outperform the rest of the UK and pull up the overall GDP growth rate. No mention, either, of Brexit and the significant damage yet to come.

Many of us, along with the SNP, may object to Scotland being described as a “region” and wish for independence but that wishing does not give Holyrood the economic powers exercised by Westminster.

That being so, it is fair to point out that Scotland’s gross domestic product growth compares with other UK regions within an imbalanced and underperforming UK.

Would it really be beyond an independent Scotland to do better than this? ROBERT FARQUHARSON

Lee Crescent, Edinburgh