Does Scotland really Subsidise England..
Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons, states that Scotland has subsidised the rest of the UK in most of the last 40-year period. The data used is at: www2.gov.scot/…/00418381.pdf
However, the figures being quoted appear to be experimental figures, and Professor Brian Ashcroft of the University of Strathclyde looked at these experimental figures and found that the extra spending per capita on Scotland cancelled out the extra tax revenue almost exactly over the 32 years covered by the stats.
These figures are related ONLY to income, but seem to miss out on expenditure. It is well known that Scotland spends more per person in Scotland than the rest of the UK.
- Scottish students get free university tuition – but students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland have to pay to study.
- Prescription charges were abolished in Scotland in 2011, the rest of the UK still pay their own.
- The Government covers these costs for Scotland
Recent Figures from the Scottish Government appear to show that Scotland does NOT subsidise the other UK countries.
Source: www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-gers/
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