SNP's Growth Commission report '˜marks end of flag-waving fantasies'

The SNP's Growth Commission marks an end to the 'flag-waving fantasies' of previous claims about independence, according to a former economic ­adviser to the Scottish Government.

The report sets out a ­sombre outlook to the economic case for leaving the UK, compared with the 2013 White Paper on independence.

Professor John Kay, a former member of Alex Salmond’s Council of Economic Advisers, said it marks a more realistic approach.

Growth Commission chairman Andrew Wilson outside the Scottish Parliament. Picture: PA

“It’s moving from a mindset pre-devolution where you could comfortably and irresponsibly blame other people for everything that went wrong in Scotland to being responsible for it yourself,” he said.

“It’s like teenagers growing up. This is not flag-­waving fantasy land any more. It’s saying independence means all the things you don’t like go away.”