The latest stats are out for Scotland’s economy, and they make dire reading for the SNP. Scotland’s deficit between money spent and income raised has more than doubled in 2020/21 to £36.3 billion. Almost as much as the entire Holyrood budget…
This represents a deficit of 22.4% of GDP for the year – up from 8.8% in 2019/20. By comparison, the UK’s national figure hit 14.5%. Scotland’s 22.4% stands in contrast to the 10.4% after the financial crash in 2009/10.
English taxpayers subsidised the Scots to the tune of £2,200 each during the pandemic thanks to record deficit. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes’ statement in responding to the data conspicuously omitted any mention of independence, claiming the pandemic had “fundamentally shifted our fiscal landscape”. Not one to be swayed into responding to reality, Nicola Sturgeon has told the press it is not a barrier to independence. It would be a significant barrier to joining in the EU however…