SCOTLAND’S deficit figures show the need for independence rather than evidence it cannot afford to go alone, according to a leading economist.
Writing in the Sunday National today, former MP Andrew Wilson, who headed the SNP’s Growth Commission, says the current UK economic model where growth is concentrated in London and the South-East results in “possibly the worst regional inequality in the Western world”.
He says if the idea of transferring resources from the rich part of the UK to the rest was working then there would be no need for the “levelling up” agenda which Boris Johnson has stated is a priority.
READ MORE: Andrew Wilson: Deficits and 'levelling up' are symptoms of need for independence
His comments come after the publication of this year’s annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures, which stated the country’s deficit reached a record 22.4% of GDP last year, as coronavirus led to considerably higher public spending.
Wilson writes: “An independent Scotland would start with an initial deficit that reflects an economic position that is an urgent imperative to change not stay the same. It is a symptom of the need for independence not evidence that it cannot work.
"If the UK model of notional transfers tackling the symptoms of underlying economic underperformance is the summit of any politician’s ambition for their community and country, they really ought to examine the evidence of elsewhere in the world and think again.”
Wilson adds making choices about the role and size of government and growing the economy will be the “core democratic challenge” – and Scotland should choose investment, growth and fair taxation in contrast to the austerity agenda of the UK Government.
“The inequalities are biting hard and look unlikely to relent under this or successive UK governments. If you believe that such a model is as good as it gets and good enough, then independence is not for you,” he says.
“But if you look to Denmark, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland and others and see qualities you believe your country can emulate then maybe independence is worthy of your consideration as we enter the post pandemic recovery.”
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