Financial reality check for voters

Sir, – The repeated selfdenigration by some Scottish independence supporters – “too wee, too poor and too stupid” – is decidedly neurotic and completely irrational.

Two recent articles by the Institute of Fiscal Studies are worth careful examination. These have been written by David Phillips who has just joined the finance and constitution committee of the Scottish Parliament as a fiscal framework adviser.

The reality of Scotland’s economic situation has been carefully assessed. The first, entitled “GERS shows that Scotland’s fiscal position continues to be weak but tells us much more as well”, provides an extremely detailed examination. The main reason for “Scotland’s higher implicit budget deficit is that government spending per person is higher than the UK

average while onshore tax revenues are a little lower than the UK average”. This was confirmed some years ago by the SNP’s own Sustainable Growth Commission which established future economic reality.

The second observation paper reflects the profoundly serious economic consequences of Covid-19 – “Scotland’s implicit budget deficit could be around 26-28% of GDP in 2020-21”. Unfortunately, too many in the SNP will have great difficulty accepting this economic reality. The economic consequences of the major changes required by independence should not be ignored. As a result of Covid-19 the timescale for the possible very longterm economic benefit of independence could now be in excess of 50 years. I am not sure political support will last that long especially as the SNP have seriously failed to make any real improvements in the last 13 years.

David Philip, Knockhall Way, Newburgh