Scotland's subsidy at record levels

SCOTLAND is being subsidised by English taxpayers by a record £8 billion a year, according to a major new report published yesterday.

The Scottish Executive’s annual assessment of the country’s finances showed the country is more dependent than ever on the English to cover the rising costs of public services.

The gap between what is spent and what is raised in the country grew by a massive 2 billion last year.

Some 39.4 billion was spent in Scotland in 2001-2, but the amount raised in taxes was just 31.4 billion - leaving a deficit of 8 billion.

This represents a third of the total Executive budget and means that wealth generated and raised in taxes in the prosperous south is being used in increasing quantities to pay the benefits, health-care costs and education of Scots.

Even if the North Sea oil revenues are allocated entirely to Scotland, as the SNP has long argued, they would not cancel out the debt. The country would still be nearly 3 billion in the red.

The report also revealed that the amount being paid out per person in Scotland on public services is now more than 1,000 a year higher than in England.

Previously, the SNP has used the report as evidence of the benefits of independence, claiming Scotland would be in surplus if oil revenues were taken into account.

But this year, the size of the country’s debt is so big that the SNP did not pursue that argument, claiming instead that growth was vital and Scotland needed to be given the levers of the economy before it could make a real difference.