Alex Salmond says Scotland should pursue clean break with UK on national debt during any independence talks
EXCLUSIVE: The former First Minister also tipped Kate Forbes as a future leader
08:11, 1 MAY 2021
Updated
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Taxi firms to receive £10,000 grants if the SNP are re-elected in May
EXCLUSIVE: The move would be made in the SNP s first 100 days of a fourth term
04:30, 29 APR 2021
Taxis at a taxi rank near Waverley Station, Edinburgh.
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Taxi firms will receive grants of £10,000 if the SNP is re-elected next month.
A new IFS report states Scotland is rich enough to be independent INDEPENDENCE could provide Scotland with a “range of opportunities” to improve its economy, according to a think tank s new financial report. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) study says Holyrood can afford to leave the Union. But it concludes the country’s notional deficit, the difference between how much the state spends and how much revenue it generates, could have reached as high as 22-25% in 2020-21 – up from 8.6% the previous year. While the deficit is not as large as previously projected by the IFS, nor does it reach the same levels as in Wales or Northern Ireland, it is higher than the figure for the UK as a whole (16%).
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image copyrightPA Media
image captionDouglas Ross criticised the case for independence as he highlighted his party s plans for economic recovery
The Scottish Conservatives have said the case for independence is weaker than ever while on the campaign trail.
The think tank also said it was not clear what the country s fiscal position would be in that scenario.
The SNP s Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, said independence would give Scotland more control over its economy.
According to the IfG report, the budget deficit of an independent Scotland would probably be larger than the 7.7% of GDP figure reported in 2018-19 due to the Covid pandemic.