No crystal ball

According to the Treasury, we are all going be better off by £2,000 in 30 years if we stick with the Union.

This would be the same
Treasury that allowed Gordon Brown to abolish boom and 
bust and nearly bankrupt the country.

It didn’t see the 2008 crash coming until it happened, so its forecasting is comical.

The reality is that no-one can predict what is going to happen a year ahead.

What happens is based on too many factors. Some, like ­industrial policy, are in our hands. Others, like global recessions and other countries’ trading policies, are not.

We have to try and be flexible and respond to these outside ­factors.

The plain fact is that it is easier for a small country to respond to changes while a large country has more inertia.

Also, Westminster policies tend to respond to the needs of London and the South-east because of their importance, rather than the rest of the country.

Scottish-based policies can respond to Scotland’s differing needs.

Bruce D Skivington

Strath

Gairloch, Wester Ross