SNP MP asks Theresa May if UK '˜can afford to be independent'

An SNP MP drew laughter from the Nationalists at Westminster today as he asked the Prime Minister whether the UK could afford to be an independent country.
Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: ContributedAberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: Contributed
Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: Contributed

Callum McCaig, member for Aberdeen South, said: “The UK has one of the worst performing currencies in the world, it has a trade deficit of £133 billion, and a national debt approaching £1.7 trillion.

“Can I ask the Prime Minister, does she really believe the UK can afford to be an independent country?”

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Mr McCaig’s question was based on one of the oft-repeated arguments against Scottish independence - that the country can not afford to be independent.

Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: ContributedAberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: Contributed
Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig drew laughter from his fellow Nationalists as he asked the question. Picture: Contributed

After a brief interruption, during which Speaker John Bercow appealed for calm so the Prime Minister could respond, Mrs May replied: “If he wants to talk about figures in relation to the UK economy, the UK economy is the world’s sixth-largest economy, this government has reduced the deficit by two-thirds and if he’d cared to look at the employment figures we see today - employment at a record high, and unemployment which hasn’t been lower since 1975.”