David Prosser: Scotland feels the chill
Outlook: There is no point having greater fiscal powers if tax revenues are impossible to find
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
St Andrew's DayY yesterday was a natural moment for the Scottish National Party to publish its White Paper on options for a referendum on independence, including "devolution max", where Holyrood would get much greater fiscal autonomy. A pity, though, that the SNP published on the same day that accountant Ernst & Young released the latest Scottish Item Club forecasts for the country's economy.
What those forecasts show is that Scotland is suffering disproportionately in the UK-wide recession. Chiefly this is because Scotland's exposure to the financial services sector – and the worst performing parts of this sector in particular – has been so damaging.
Before the financial crisis broke two years ago, the SNP leader Alex Salmond used to talk of an independent Scotland joining an "arc of prosperity" with countries such as Iceland, which also once enjoyed an economic boom associated with banking. Such talk has left the SNP with a bit of egg on its face, but the more fundamental difficulty for independence campaigners is that Scotland's greater recessionary problems undermine their case.
After all, there is no point having greater fiscal powers if the economy is so weak that tax revenues are impossible to find.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments