Scottish Independence could lead to austerity” as pandemic response drains public coffers.
This is the headline in the Daily Record. It goes on to warn that an Independent Scotland could lead to an even bigger budget deficit than previously thought. Yes, it is GERS time again and the Unionists will trumpet the doomsday scenario all over the media. They will scream tax rises, cuts to services and austerity for an Independent Scotland. We Scots are better off under the umbrella of the UK.
The basis and validity of the GERS figures have been refuted so many times by so many good writers that I won’t bother with any of the arguments. You already know them all.
However, as I scanned the Daily Record webpage my eye was caught by a headline alongside the main story. It was the story of a mother in Govan who had been found dead beside her malnourished baby. The woman had had her limited leave to remain revoked and had lost her job as a result. She was in desperate straits and had come to the notice of some charities. I don’t know why or how she died. All I know is she died and her baby was malnourished after the woman lost her job because of UK Home Office regulations.
I feel sick. I feel angry. If we don’t know that we could do better for human beings in an Independent Scotland then we should all give up the fight now. However, I am convinced that we could not do any worse than the people who have put such abhorrent policies and practices in place. I hope we are a kinder and more caring society than the people who uphold Tory policies in Scotland.
GERS figures? Two figures – a dead mother and a malnourished baby in 21st century Scotland.
