Reasons for the Scots to be cheerful about the Union, Part One

How the UK spends nearly £3k/yr more on Scottish households than on English ones

© Facts4EU.Org 2021

In 2019 average Scottish households benefited from £2,839 more UK public expenditure than English households

Those who fought for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the EU Referendum of 2016 did not do so on economic grounds. The principal arguments which won through were about sovereignty and ‘taking back control’.

That said, if the result of leaving the EU would demonstrably have been to leave the UK as an utter economic basket case, and if this had been proved to a reasonable degree before the vote, we very much doubt that we would have won the Referendum. Likewise if a direct result of a Leave vote would have been an unavoidable and very serious net drop in public expenditure (thereby drastically having to cut public services or increase taxes substantially), then voters might have thought twice.

What relevance does this have to Scotland, the SNP, the Greens, ‘Alba’, and the Holyrood elections?

The results of the elections to the Scottish Parliament will be announced in 25 days’ time on 07 May 2021. Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP, the Greens, and Alex Salmond’s new Alba party are all standing on tickets to take Scotland out of its 314 year-old Union with England. They desire an independent Scotland.

There have been many studies of the impacts this would have on the Scottish people. Many of these include a large number of different statistics. In today’s Facts4EU.Org report we look at just one of the positive aspects for the Scottish people of Scotland’s membership of the United Kingdom, which would then be lost if the Scots were to vote next month for parties wholly committed to Independence, and if those parties got their wish.

The UK’s per person public expenditure in Scotland is 20% higher than it is in England

Facts4EU.Org looked at the latest official figures for the split in total government expenditure amongst three of the nations of the United Kingdom. The figures below are for the tax year 2019/20 and were published by HM Treasury on 18 November 2020.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Scottish people benefit from 20% more UK public expenditure than the English

Per person

  • Scotland : £11,566 (20.4% more than the English benefit, 16.9% more than the UK average)
  • Wales : £10,929
  • UK average : £9,895
  • England : £9,604

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge

Putting this in terms of households

  • The average Scottish household benefits from £2,839 per year more than English households
  • And Scottish households benefit from £546 per year more than Welsh ones

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge

[Sources: HM Treasury for expenditure, Nov 2020; ONS for household size data by nation, Mar 2021. N.b. We have not included Northern Ireland because of its special circumstances.]

Just one very tangible benefit of being part of the United Kingdom

The above shows just one metric, but it’s a very clear and undisputed one. The simple fact is that the UK Government spends more per person and per household on Scotland than it is does on England and Wales – by a long way.

The other certain fact is that in the event of independence there is no question of the UK Government continuing to send any money to Scotland. The above subsidy would stop immediately.

This annual transfer from people in other parts of the UK to people in Scotland is essential for the current SNP government to be able to pay its bills. (In fact even with this subsidy the SNP government is running a huge deficit.) Without it there would have to be massive cuts in public services and/or massive tax rises - probably a combination of both.

This is about hospitals, schools, care homes, road and rail, social services, universities, and all manner of other public expenditure.

Observations

Unlike most of the 'Project Fear' threats during the EU Referendum, the above is not based on projections. It is based on fact. This is currently happening and it has been going on for years.

Given the simple facts above, the Scots have every reason to be cheerful about the economic benefits of staying in the Union. English readers, on the other hand, will no doubt have some different views about the UK's public expenditure per person in Scotland being 20% higher than the English equivalent.

In further reports we will look at the many other implications for Scotland if it were to leave the United Kingdom. In this report we simply wanted to give the Scots a reason to be cheerful about the Union. £2,839’s worth of reasons per household per year, in fact.

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[ Sources: HM Treasury | Office for National Statistics ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 13 Apr 2021

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