Scaremongering is just so irrational

If James Kelly is anything to go by, the No campaign seems certain to continue parroting its programme of irrational scaremongering while portraying Scotland as an economic basket case until 10pm on September 18.

At least Blair Jenkins of the Yes campaign will be chuffed since the evidence is building that the strategy is a loser.

It is tedious to keep on picking away at Labour’s propaganda efforts, but some need highlighted.

James Kelly goes on like a broken record about Scotland having more spent on public services than the UK average.

Ask yourself why he always misses out the fact that not only does Scotland pay more tax than the UK average, but more importantly, we get less back than we contribute!

Despite Labour’s efforts to imply that we are subsidised by the UK treasury, the truth is that the flow of money is in the other direction.

The £6 billion “black hole” that Mr Kelly also refers to is calculated using figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility, an organisation that Alastair Darling previously referred to as an extension of the Conservative Party.

How times change: now that he wants that organisation to appear even-handed, his previous criticisms are thrown in the bin!

The OBR cites future oil revenue and resource estimates which are laughably lower than any others, whether industry, academic or other UK government departments. In quoting the projected deficit, Mr Kelly also always ignores the fact that the UK runs a proportionally larger deficit. If deficits are as bad as Mr Kelly insists, then the UK is in worse shape than Scotland.

As to currency, the game playing of the Westminster political class is biting them already as the value of Sterling falls due to concerns that the oil that underwrites a significant part of its value will be removed from the balance sheet in the absence of a currency union. The sensible policy of a currency union proposed by the economic advisors to the Scottish government (including two Nobel prize-winning economists) will help provide currency stability and is the best option for both Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Let’s face it, if Scotland was the subsidy junkie nation that James Kelly and the No campaign portray it as, the UK government would have waved goodbye to us some time ago. The reason that has never happened is that Scotland has resources that the UK wishes to continue exploiting until exhaustion.

When that day comes, we WILL be waved off….. David Stevenson, 47 Cairns Road, Cambuslang.