Scots ‘most socialist in UK’

SCOTLAND is “one of the poorest and most socialist parts of Great Britain”, according to an influential US think-tank.

Scotland would “discover the failures of socialism pretty quickly” if solely responsible for its own economy, the Cato Institute argues.

It also questions First Minister Alex Salmond’s eagerness to challenge the Washington Post newspaper’s assertion that Scotland would be “unable to contribute meaningfully to global security”.

David Boaz, executive vice-president of the institute, said: “You’d think the opportunity to extricate your country from quagmires like Iraq would be a great benefit to the Scots. But Salmond denies that an independent Scotland would mind its own business and live in peace.”

The Cato Institute was founded in 1974 and promotes the principles of “liberty, limited government, free markets and peace”.

A recent University of Pennsylvania study ranked it as the 14th most influential think-tank in the world.

Mr Boaz said: “Alas, the land of Adam Smith has become one of the poorest and most socialist parts of Great Britain.”