Analysis: Be careful not to rise to metropolitan bait

THE piece in The Economist is a totally predictable kind of thing that can be heard from time to time at middle-class dinner parties or in the letters pages of the Daily Telegraph.

We always have to be careful that we are not rising to the metropolitan bait, but this does give rise to a number of issues involving facts and figures about Scotland.

If we take away the south-east of England and the overblown economy in London, in relation to the rest of the UK then Scotland is doing rather well in comparison to the north-east of England and Northern Ireland for example.

There are areas of Scotland that are doing particularly well such as Aberdeen, the north east and Edinburgh.

These are areas that have largely weathered the difficult financial situation that we’ve been living through.

It’s only because of the independence debate and the 2014 referendum that this has kicked off, with this focus on Scotland that we are now seeing.

However, Scotland is much more typical of most regions of the UK, apart from London.

A future for Scotland is through that of our human capital. We have world-class universities that are increasing their research on science and engineering for example.

Once the recession in Europe is over, these qualities and that of the workforce here will be pivotal to Scotland’s success.

If the issue is judged from that perspective then Scotland is overflowing with riches.

One question that arises following The Economist piece is that of when will the south-east of England beg us for our water.

• Tom Devine is a senior research professor in history at the University of Edinburgh.