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Scotlands Deficit : A New Perspective

A different spin on Scotlands' deficit

What is the UK deficit?
The UK deificit is the difference between how much the UK earns and how much it spends,

As the UK is supposed to be a union of equals, stronger together, where the resources are pooled together for the greater good, why then does Scotland get singled out when it comes to the deficit?

Let's work out where Scotlands deficit figure comes from.

Money In/Out £
Money Scotland sent to Westminster (tax receipts) £60bn
Scotland gets money back to run devolved areas £30bn
Money Westminster keeps for reserved areas £30bn
Money Westminster says it spent in Scotland £73bn
Scotlands deficit £13bn

The figures below are based on UK Government deficit figures. Devolved Parliaments are NOT allowed to run a deficit as part of the devolution settlement. The Scottish Parliament was given borrowing powers in 2016 but MUST balance the books at the end of every year. First let's look at population.

Population Figures (2018)

Country Population
England 55,977,178
Scotland 5,438,100
Wales 3,138,631
Northern Ireland 1,881,641
UK Total 66,435,550

As a Union of equals, all debts and assets are supposed to be distributed evenly. Based on that principle, here's what the figures should look like.

UK Deficit : £25,500,000,000 (£384 per person)

Country Deficit (£) Deficit (%)
England £21,495,236,352 84.3%
Scotland £2,088,230,400 8.2%
Wales £1,205,234,304 4.7%
Northern Ireland £722,550,144 2.8%

The above figures shows everyone has been given a fair and equal share of the deficit. This is how a union of equals is supposed to work, with one big pot that gets shared depending on need, not location. However... in 2018 The UK Government said that Scotlands deficit was £13,400,000,000 or £1,088 per person. This means Scotlands share of the deficit is 53.1% but wait... Scotland is only 8.2% of the UK population.

What the UK Government expects us to believe (% share)

Country Deficit (%)
England 43%
Scotland 53.1%
Wales 2.4%
Northern Ireland 1.5%


Example 1.
Let's remove Scotlands proper share of the deficit £2,088,230,400 (based on equal share per person) and let's remove our population as well, 5,438,100 (8.2%).

The rUK Deficit is now £23,411,769,600 with a population of 60,997,450. rUK Deficit Per Person : £384

Country Deficit (£) Deficit (%)
England £21,495,236,352 92%
Wales £1,205,234,304 5.1%
Northern Ireland £722,550,144 3.0%


Example 2.
So let's proceed with the £13.4bn (53.1%) lie. The UK excluding Scotlands £13.4bn Deficit and population would look like this.

rUK Deficit would be £12,100,000,000 with a population of 60,997,450. rUK Deficit Per Person: £198

Country Deficit (£) Deficit (%)
England £11,083,481,244 92%
Wales £621,448,938 5.1%
Northern Ireland £372,564,918 3.0%


Summary
If you exclude Scotland from the equation by removing Scotlands £13.4bn and 5.4m people or by removing our equal share of 8.2% then you can see that no matter how you dress it up, without Scotland, England is responsible for 92% of rUK deficit and with Scotland around 84% should be allocated to England. That's something you don't see on the news, do you? If you really think Scotlands share of the deficit is 53.1% of the UK as a whole then you really are a special kind of stupid.

The best way to deal with the deficit question is to politely accept their figures and then ask the following question.

Assuming your figures are correct and the UK spent £73bn on Scotland including the £30bn they gave us back from the £60bn we sent down to Westminster (leaving us with the 13bn deficit), what have the UK Government spent £43bn on in Scotland?

If they question this then just ask what Westminster has specifically spent £13bn on in Scotland as this is directly attributable to Scotland.

The deficit as described by Westminster is a myth. Smoke and mirrors to gaslight us into thinking we need them to survive.

Andy

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