ANENT yesterday’s front-page headline (Anti-indy cash splash shows PM ‘panic’ over Yes support, February 11), is it not time that we demanded more information on the subject of the costs of the Union Unit and also gave more publicity to what these costs mean?
As the objective of this Unit is to defend the unity of the UK against the threat of Scotland leaving, that must mean all these costs will be regarded as spent on behalf of the whole UK. When the next dodgy GERS figures are produced, therefore, a population proportion of these costs will appear on Scotland’s debit side of the accounts, thereby no doubt conveniently increasing the level of our assumed deficit.
WATCH: Nicola Sturgeon hits out at Union Unit for saying knowledge of Scotland isn't needed
That means that Scottish taxpayers will be deemed to have paid about 8.5% of the costs of the work to prevent us from exercising our democratic right to decide our future – in other words, we will have been paying to defeat ourselves!
Since I doubt that we would consider this a good or justifiable use of our taxes, should we not be told the full extent of what we pay to give Westminster more control over us?
That would need to include a) the sum total of the costs of this Unit, plus b) the total costs of the current Scotland Office, and c) the total costs of the new “UK Government in Scotland” hubs, including building, equipping and staffing.
All added together and divided by our proportion of the UK population would then give us realistic information on what we are paying towards the defeat of our democratic rights.
After all, until very recently the full remit of the Scotland Office required only a Secretary of State and around ten of a staff in relatively small premises, for which, of course, the costs were deducted from our budget.
I think we should be told all this – don’t you?
L McGregor
Falkirk
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel