Very few people in Scotland give a monkey's chuff what the Daily Mail writes about Scotland but the comments on such stories (which, in contrast to most stories in the Daily Mail, are invariably unmoderated) reveal a deep rooted anti-Scottish prejudice amongst sections of English society which borders on racist.
It would come as a shock to many of these armchair bigots if they were to read the McCrone Report, a document prepared by a Tory economist in the wake of SNP electoral success in the early 1970s. McCrone concluded that with the benefit of North Sea Oil and independent Scotland in the 1970s would quickly have become a country as rich as Switzerland (rather than the post-industrial wasteland that Thatcher created). Unsurprisingly this report was kept secret until 2005 when it was grudgingly released due to a Freedom of Information request by the SNP.

George Eaton is one of the few London-based lefty journos who writes well on Scotland, and this piece neatly scythes through much of the Unionist guff that clogs up debate north and south of the border. But he gets one or two things wrong. First of all it's worth noting - for the sake of argument, at least - that Londoners get a higher share of public funds spent them per head than Scots:£10,256 to £10,212. Secondly, he doesn't mention the historic 39% defence underspend in Scotland. Thirdly, the Scottish fiscal blackhole is the result of high levels of capital borrowing. Capital spending projects tend to pay for themselves in increased growth over the course of ten or fifteen years. For the four years running up to the 08/09 crash, Scotland had a current account surplus, including revenues from North Sea oil. This suggests the financial health of an independent Scotland would be much better than that of the rump-UK. Finally, estimates suggest Scotland has as many as twenty-five to thirty years of oil left, which gives it more than enough time to develop technologies capable of exploiting its massive renewables potential. Given the value of oil is going to rise in that time, it will generate more than enough wealth too.

So what you are saying is that Scots who have filled a very high percentage of top jobs in England at times from politics to banking to industry are somehow not capable of running their own country. The arrogance and ignorance of some English people is breathtaking. I sincerely hope the Daily Mail "story" leads to a cut in the subsidy as that will be the straw that broke the camels back and the answer to Alex Salmonds dreams. I myself can't wait to leave the union as you can gather.

Oh, the good old Daily Mail getting their facts wrong yet again. If they think we get an unfair better deal, why are they so desperate to hang on to us? Oh that's right - we've got oil.

The Scots have their own National Parliament, yet still send MPs to govern England - Gordon Brown still sticks in the craw !!

Fairness is demanded by the English, but the Scots demand superior treatment continually. They cry oil, whilst England has several oil fields of its own and gas fields, as well.

The Scots can have higher funding, if they then agree to pay back the Darian bail-out and all the taxes we paid to support them prior to the oil discovery. Oh, and give the English the vote on Scottish Independence - they'd HAVE to have it then !

The arrogance of the Scots is astounding !

Thats a bit unfair. Gordon is rarely seen around Westminster these days.

The Mail up to their usual disgraceful borderline racist s**t. The "subsidies" north of the border apply to EVERYONE there...not just Scots. I've lived in (and paid substantial taxes in) England for fifty years. And "suffered" by receiving lower subsidies (there's a joke in there somewhere) My legacy - I leave you two educated, qualified professional, high-taxpaying children plus two "English" (almost qualified) grandchildren. They will all support you in your old age.

George Hill

Why do you think that more people in England want Scotland to have their independence than in Scotland. There is no reason to insult Helen Wright, surely we are all entitled to our views. I happen to think that Alex Salmond is head and shoulders above the rest of the Britains Politicians.

I also note however that Gordon Brown along with all the sitting Scottish Labour MPs and most of the sitting Liberal Democrat MPs signed the Scottish Bill of Right. In which they all said that they would put Scotlands demands above all others. I would on that basis he shouldn't even have served in a UK Government but then so many other who had also signed were in those Cabinets.

I am not having a whine, I just don't think that Scotland should be having this excess, just as I'm sure many English People didn't think they should have received such generous terms under The Goschen Proportion 188-1958.

Lets end this never ending debate and split up the UK. Then we wouldn't have all this mud slinging going on.

The Barnett Formula is actually unfair to Scotland since we have vastly more miles of road per head of population than any English region.Deduct transport infrastructure costs and it's plain that Scotland is not on any kind of cushy number in the union.
Whoever heard of any other country in the world whose industries based on natural resources are not counted in an analysis of the country's economy?Scotland gets this treatment though courtesy of the UK Treasury.The trick being that we're a UK region when contributing oil revenue to the Exchequer and become a "too poor nation" when our economy(minus the oil revenue) is being assessed.
Far from being too poor,Scotland has the largest oil reserves in the EU.One eighth of EU gas reserves.25% of the EU tidal and wind energy.10% of the EU wave energy.69% of UK coal reserves.70% of UK fish landings.Our whisky industry was found to account for 25% of UK food and drink exports in 2007.Scotland's tourist industry is a big earner despite the recent "UK Riots" headline lies.No wonder we never had an independence referendum when it was up to Westminster on whether to hold one.

I speak from Glasgow.

Why does everyone in the UK think that s/he is an expert on Scottish finance, while in fact almost totally ignorant of it. The Daily Mail and its friends have much to answer for in stirring up inaccurate and tendentious comment.

At least you blow apart the meaningless comparisons between Scotland and the English "average". Individual comparisons on a regional basis get nearer the truth. Why though do you not quote the [high] figure for London?

You are quite right about the need for a needs based distribution to replace a long-outdated fudge created for purely political reasons.

Helen Wright, you can choose figures that show Scotland is subsidised by England. A Scottish Nationalist (like me, for example) could choose another set of figures to show the opposite. We'd both be equally correct, and equally dishonest.
Would England be ruined as an independent country without oil revenues? Of course not. Would Scotland be screwed without the Barnett formula? No.
Both countries would thrive independently of one another-with effective government. I'm glad for knee jerk reactions to the bullshit printed in the Mail about funding of Scotland, because every day it brings full fiscal autonomy closer to my country.
You're right, Swatandra. It'll be our problem, not yours.
Incidentally, Helen, you should read something about the Darien crisis before you start spouting on about it. It ruined the Scottish nobility (you know, the parasites the English government bribed to pass the Treaty of Union), but civic Scotland-the burghs and the nascent bourgoisie-was prospering.

What subsidy?

Presumably you mean the one Scots send South for London's imperial projects - such as Crossrail, a high-speed rail line going to "the North" (i.e. Birmingham, or - perhaps, if they are very good - Manchester), and the great Olympics swindle?!

Scotland contributes far more per head of population than any other region in the UK, other than London and the South East - and that is without the massive subsidy sent to England's capitol by the rest of the country.

When England is begging for electricity, oil and water from an independent Scotland ten years down the line, we shall see who relies on whom.

@Helen Wright

'give the English the vote on Scottish Independence'

Yes, the master should have an equal say in whether the slave is to go free.

Anyone who thinks the bigger country joins the littler country out of charity, and not self-interest, is beyond naive - surely the history of statecraft is not so boring that you should willfully ignore the entirety of it?

We're forgetting roughly the same thing happened about a 100 years ago when Norway and Sweden split...

Norways not doing too shabby at the moment.