Sir,
As you report, the last SNP prospectus on independence ‘Scotland’s Future’ was laughably light on financial information. In addition, gullible Yes voters swallowed whole some monstrous myths and untruths about Scotland’s economy: for example, that we pay for London’s sewers and Crossrail, that there is a Whisky Export Tax which England keeps, and, that scrapping Trident will pay for everything, and many others.
This history of the Nationalists presenting damaged goods has two major implications for John Swinney as he assembles his new financial prospectus.
The first is that to be taken seriously, he must condemn and distance himself from these myths and restore faith in the Scottish Government’s own information: above all, he must endorse the use of GERS as an accurate and trustworthy measure of Scotland’s growing and persistent current account deficit within the UK. Only then can we measure whether the prospectus is credible in offering measures that will fill that deficit – either in raised taxes or in cuts in public expenditure with consequences for jobs and services.
The second implication is that half of Scots (at least) will not believe a word of Mr Swinney’s prospectus if it is not based on bipartisan and impartial research and projections. Therefore the best vehicle to produce it would be an inter-party and non-party working group which would include critics of independence as well as its supporters. Names that suggest themselves immediately are Professor Ronald MacDonald and Kevin Hague, and there are certainly others.
If Mr Swinney does not take these steps, we will back to the reality of the 2013 White Paper’s anagram – ‘Fraudulent Costs.’ And no-one will be any the wiser.
Yours
Peter A. Russell
Planet Pedro! 