Why it’s time for some honesty from the SNP on GERS figures

It’s time for honesty from the SNP. Today’s annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures are widely expected to confirm that Scotland is benefitting financially from being in the UK.

It should be remembered that this does not even take into consideration the majority of the economic safety net that people in Scotland have benefitted from during the coronavirus crisis, with only the first two weeks of lockdown being included in these figures.

If the UK did not exist, we would be clamouring to invent it. In the most challenging of times, working together will get us through. And in the good times, it will allow us to thrive.

Nearly one million workers in Scotland have been supported by the UK’S coronavirus job retention scheme, with the UK Government able to borrow at highly favourable rates to provide this unprecedented support to families. A separate Scotland could not do that.

Proponents of leaving the UK cannot ignore GERS and must address the current huge gap between what is raised and what is spent.

Nationalists must be honest that reducing that deficit requires two things: tax rises and public spending cuts.

The SNP should also understand that people do not want to be divided again any time soon. Poll after poll shows that people in Scotland actually want politicians to focus on what really matters - jobs, education and the NHS.

Next year’s election cannot be a referendum on a referendum. The constitution must not be used by the SNP to distract from its failures in government.

When it comes to Covid-19, Scotland has the third highest excess mortality rate in Europe, a care home deaths scandal that deepens by the day, and a PPE and testing crisis that remains unresolved.

Dividing people like this is the very last thing Scotland needs as we recover from Covid-19 and it tells you everything you need to know about the Nationalists’ priorities that they want to focus on constitutional division.

The SNP should instead prioritise bringing people together, rebuilding our economy for everyone, supporting our cherished NHS, and being honest with the people of Scotland.

Together we can successfully rebuild following the coronavirus pandemic and invest in what really matters to the people of Scotland: jobs; schools; and our NHS.

The simple truth is that Scotland is better off as part of the UK.

● Pamela Nash is chief executive of Scotland in Union, a campaign group opposed to Scottish independence