Secretary of State comment on GERS 2010-11
The publication of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2010-2011 shows the "great benefits to being part of the United Kingdom"
Commenting on the Scottish Government鈥檚 publication of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2010-2011 (GERS) figures today, the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore said:
鈥淭he figures once again show there are great benefits to being part of the United Kingdom. You only have to look at the 拢15.5 billion which the UK Government spent on social protection and welfare last year as an example of the security of spending the people of Scotland rely on. That figure is worth double the oil and gas revenue alone.
鈥淚t is also encouraging to see revenues rising once again after a couple of very difficult years.
鈥淪cotland is an integral part of the UK and also benefits from the UK-wide spending on the wider economy聽- including the essential stabilisation of the banking system, deficit reduction, quantitative easing and other projects led by the UK Government.
鈥淭here is little point in the Scottish Government saying Scotland鈥檚 finances are stronger than the UK鈥檚聽- that relies on a number of omissions and fails to take account of the interwoven nature of the UK鈥檚 spending. Scotland is thankfully not separate from the UK鈥檚 public sector spending and it is up to those seeking independence to explain what the benefits of leaving a system which equally shares risk and reward would be.
鈥淭hey must also explain what Scotland鈥檚 net fiscal deficit, even including the oil and gas revenues, would mean for much-vaunted policies such as an oil fund.聽 It seems obvious to say that you cannot create an oil fund from money which does not exist.鈥澛�