Ruth
Davidson must withdraw her claims that only 12% of Scots are net
contributors to the economy, the SNP has said, after analysis of the
claims proved them to be written on the
back of an envelope.
With
the Conservatives seemingly unable to explain where the figure comes
from, analysis by the SNP suggests that everything has been done to
maximise the expenditure in Scotland,
while minimizing the revenue generated. It appears that:
- She has included groups who would not reasonably be expected to be ‘net contributors’ at that stage in their lives - such as pensioners and students.
- She has included non-identifiable public expenditure – such as Defence – which have questionable benefit for individual households.
- She has not included non-identifiable public revenue – including Corporation Tax, Business Rates and North Sea Oil revenue, greatly underestimating the revenue generated in Scotland.
Commenting, SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson said:
“She
appears to have counted all of the expenditure, but ignored most of the
revenue – including corporation tax, business rates and North Sea oil
revenues.
“So
with a stroke of the pen, Ms Davidson has erased all of the wealth that
Scots generate when they go out to work in the morning!
“These
claims from the Tory leader suggest that she is either completely
incompetent, or that she deliberately set out to fiddle every figure and
talk Scotland’s economy down."
