GERS
Defence spending in GERS: anatomy of a myth
“Through an official government news release, Scotland’s Finance Secretary has created a false narrative which has now become an outright falsehood being promoted by SNP activists on social media. This should concern anybody interested in…
GERS 25: making Scotland pay for Starmer’s wars
The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report, GERS, came out this week. Within it lies a fiscal trap that will hit Scotland in future years as the UK ramps up spending on the military.
GERS 2023-24: The results are in!
“…the challenge is stark, with a likely deficit far in excess of the UK as a whole, other comparable countries or that which is deemed to be sustainable in the long-term. It is not enough…
GERS 2020-2021: time for honest debate
“today’s numbers set the starting point for a discussion about the choices and challenges that need to be addressed by those advocating independence or new fiscal arrangements. It is not enough to say ‘everything will…
GERS, COVID and Scottish independence
“This lack of economic engagement by senior SNP Ministers remains a weakness for the independence message on the economy. Such a policy vacuum in a key area of the independence debate may be manageable when…
GERS and a new start
“But GERS does provide an accurate picture of where Scotland is in 2020. So, in doing so, today’s numbers set the starting point for a discussion about the choices and challenges that need to be…
The GERS divide
‘We can hope that any future constitutional debate considers these long-term issues more seriously, preferably in an open and respectful way – although evidence from the annual GERS furore suggests that this may be a…
GERS 2019….Days 1 and 2
‘Much more could be done by government to defend these statistics and proactively clear-up misunderstandings.’
GERS and the Scottish Budget
‘It is important to remember that GERS takes the current constitutional settlement as given. If the very purpose of independence is to take different choices about the type of economy and society that we live…
