GERS report shows £9billion deficit for Scotland – SNP must tell us how they would plug the gap

The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland figures show that, even including a geographical share of North Sea revenue, Scotland would have had a deficit of £8.966 billion last year if we were a separate country.

Gavin Brown MSP, Scottish Conservative Economy Spokesperson, said:

"These figures tell us that Scotland benefits from being part of the United Kingdom. We can clearly see that, even including a geographical share of North Sea oil revenue, a separate Scotland would have been almost £9billion in the red last year.

"The SNP continually tell us that a separate Scotland would pay for itself via the North Sea oil revenues, a claim that is blown apart by these figures. If the SNP want to make the case for separation they have to tell us how they would balance the books – would they plug this £9billion gap by raising taxes, cutting spending or borrowing even more money?"

Please see Table E.3 from the Executive Summary of today's GERS report

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/06/21144516/1

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