Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron said: “These figures underline just how much we benefit from being part of the world’s 6th largest economy, particularly when times are tough."
“Every single person in my region, and across Scotland, is better off by nearly £2,000 because we’re part of the UK."
“Independence would be very expensive indeed, and the SNP are quite unable to put forward a credible economic case for rupturing the Union."
“Once again, the financial facts confirm that we really are better off together.”
The Facts:
The ‘Union dividend’ per person in Scotland, the combined value of higher spending and lower revenue, reached a new peak of £1,941 in 2019-20, up from £1,805 last year.
Scottish Government figures also show that Scotland’s deficit, the gap between what we raise in tax and spend on public services, rose to £15.1 billion in 2019-20, up from £13.1 billion last year.
The deficit is now larger than the entire Scottish health budget at £13.8 billion.
As a percentage of GDP, Scotland’s deficit increased to -8.6%, up from -7.4%. Across the UK, the deficit rose to -2.5% from -1.9%.
New members of the EU are required to have a deficit less than -3% of GDP. Scotland’s deficit is nearly three times higher than this rate.
SNP promises about an independent Scotland being able to rejoin the EU almost immediately are quite simply false.
