It has been clear for some time now that the SNP has given up on trying to piece together a credible economic argument for Scottish independence. This is not to say they haven’t tried, though.
They have searched high and low, from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond to the wild beaches of Sutherland. They have probed their finest ‘economists’ and have had swathes of civil servants play around with numbers for weeks on end until they appear to add up.
But try as they might, on this issue they have been forced to admit defeat, because the SNP’s economic paper launched this week was nothing more than a confused, vague, hopeless pseudo-plan that barely even attempts to address the huge economic uncertainties that an independent Scotland would face.
There are key issues - around currencies, borders, and deficits to name just a few – that this paper fails to provide plausible solutions to. Despite having had eight years since the last referendum to address these questions, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP still have no answers.
On the issue of currency, the Scottish Government’s White Paper sets out that an independent Scotland would keep using Sterling until moving to a new Scottish currency as soon as ‘practicable’. But despite the importance of this issue, this is about as much information as we get. On currency, the plan has no detail and no credibility – something which Professor Ronald MacDonald has pointed out would create a very weak fiscal starting point.
And after spending years trying to dodge the issue of the border with England and the challenges this would create, the SNP have finally accepted there would need to be ‘checks’ for goods crossing the border. But once again, the SNP have made no attempt to provide any detail or to address the problems this border would create for businesses across the UK.
Over 60% of Scotland’s trade is with the rest of the UK, and there is no escaping the fact that the SNP’s reckless plans for a hard border, and the potential chaos this would create, would put much of this trade at risk.
Issues such as these are key to the debate around independence, and after this debate has been continuing for so many years, people are right to expect answers. But with this paper, the SNP have all but confirmed that the Scottish public would be asked to vote on Scottish independence without having answers on any of these issues. And as pointed out by my colleague Liz Smith MSP, this approach simply won’t wash with the Scottish public.
Fundamentally, however, the SNP’s relentless campaign for independence, of which this paper is yet another chapter, is the wrong priority at the worst possible time. Instead of addressing the record waiting times in Scotland’s NHS, and tackling the global cost-of-living crisis here in Scotland, the SNP are pouring yet more taxpayer money into their obsession with breaking up our country.
It is clear that Nicola Sturgeon and this SNP Government have effectively given up on producing a credible economic case for independence. Now it’s time they gave up on this pursuit altogether, and begin focusing on this country’s real priorities – as the Scottish public rightly expect.