Taken from an article in the Spectator
Had the SNP achieved its stated ambition of ‘independence day’ in the spring of 2016, what would it be doing now? We don’t have to imagine. This week, the Scottish government published figures for its national finances. They show that the Scottish government spends £127 for every £100 it raises in tax — a ratio unequalled anywhere else in the developed world. It can do this because so much extra money is sent up from England. For every £100 spent per English head, £120 is spent on a Scottish one.
[/color] Not being argumentative, just saying.
The Spectator! A Conservative magazine on politics. Hmmm. Nor I am sure what they are trying to say. Until recently Scotland did not raise any taxes for it’s own government, it gets a grant from the UK, ie we get a % back of the money we pay to the exchequer. But we now have control over income tax raised in Scotland, so our budget is a combination of Barnett formula grant plus the income tax we raise.
Note also the figures The Spectator quotes exclude North Sea Revenue. In fact, all the figures quoted in the English press magically exclude oil revenues, that is until the recent collapse in the oil price!
The reason we can spend more per head than the rest of the UK is because Scotland raises more tax per person than the rest of the UK. We subsidise the UK. Naturally we have remote communities to look after, so it does actually cost more to run services across the whole of Scotland.
Meanwhile of course, we are still funding nuclear weapons, funding warships and paying for England’s foreign adventures. We wouldn’t be doing much or any of that as an Independent nation. Being tied to the UK costs us a flaming fortune.
But of course, Scotland voted decisively to remain in the UK. The BREXIT government’s own reports show that the only option that makes sense is to bin BREXIT. So what are we to do.
A second Independence Referendum may well be on the cards.
[/color]