Scotland can survive as an independent country

Firstly, whether Scotland should be independent mainly comes down to one thing, economics. The SNP’s argument is that Scotland would be in a stronger economic position were to go its own way. The statistics and figures seem to say the same thing, GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) is still the most widely accepted calculation of expenditure and revenue in Scotland and it shows that, due to Scotland’s geographical share of North Sea Oil and Gas, Scotland has consistently been in surplus and contributing to the Scotland and the rest of the UK. Scotland has about 8.3% of the UK population, but it has been providing at least 1% above that in total revenue for the whole of the UK.

Because Scotland has large amounts of oil which brings in around £3billion of revenue every year, an independent Scotland would have the cushion of being able to lower business taxes without having to cut public spending excessively. The oil revenues could make up the gap for the short-term. With lower business taxes, Scotland would hopefully encourage international investment in the country which in turn would bring revenue and jobs, ultimately in the aim of producing more tax revenue in total.

Many people use the example of Ireland and relate it to Scotland’s situations. Oil is the one big difference between Scotland and Ireland which means that Scotland can pursue a lower tax economy and encourage this growth. Once revenue streams are increasing through general taxation, oil would then be an added bonus that could be invested in capital projects like roads, rail and ports to keep Scotland economically competitive

Secondly we have to understand what independence is. There is so much that links Scotland to the rest of the UK; there is a very tightly integrated market, we share a majority language, close cultural ties, a monarchy and many other things. Independence means that all of this will remain, the only difference being independent will make is that Scotland’s parliament becomes a totally separate and complete parliament.

Another important part of the argument regarding Scottish independence is the currency Scotland undertake, this is an issue I will discuss in a future post.