The First Minister was accused of concealing the true extent of the countrys financial difficulties yesterday, the day after he published the Scottish Governments long-awaited blueprint for leaving the UK. Meanwhile, Spains Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dealt a blow to SNP claims that the usual, lengthy EU membership procedures would not apply to an independent Scotland. A Better Together analysis, by former senior civil servant Jim Gallagher, suggested the newly independent state could face a black hole in its finances of £9 billion to £10bn in financial year 2016-17, the year the SNP say the country would formally split from the UK if there is a Yes vote next September. The White Paper said the country would be between £4.3bn and £5.5bn in the red in 2016-17. Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Darling, the former Labour Chancellor, launched a furious attack on the slapdash, wildly optimistic approach of the independence blueprint. He said: Is Alex Salmond taking the people of Scotland seriously? It looks like he taking us for a ride.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 11:02:00 +0000
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