SNP must face facts

WHAT a refreshingly positive and convincing argument for the benefits of the Union to every Scottish family.

Official figures show that every man, woman and child received a ‘Union dividend’ worth nearly £2,000 last year because of Scotland’s place in the UK.

This won’t come as a surprise to those who accept that Scotland benefits greatly from the pooling and sharing of resources across the whole of the UK. These figures, however, have not been produced by a pro-Union party or campaign group – they come from the Scottish Government in its annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report.

They show that an average Scot contributed £307 less in taxes than the average UK citizen but benefited from £1,661 more in return.

It is disappointing, but hardly surprising, that Finance Secretary Derek Mackay – along with the army of GERS-deniers online – cannot bring himself to thank taxpayers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for their generosity.

It is time that SNP ministers face facts: Scotland gets a great deal out of being part of the UK. Going it alone would mean an eyewatering deficit worth 7 per cent of GDP – easily the highest in Europe.

Yes, that deficit is lower than 8.1 per cent in 2016/17, but the UK’s deficit nearly halved over the same period, from 2 per cent of GDP to 1.1 per cent. Independence would inevitably result in either more tax rises or austerity way beyond anything inflicted on Scotland in the wake of the financial crash.

When its own financial reports make clear these blunt economic truths, why does the Scottish Government still threaten families with another independence referendum?