The annual report of Scottish Government and Expenditure for 2004 - 2005 was published today. I'm not a financial expert by any means, but the top figures tell me a lot about whether or not we should be considering independence.
In 2004 - 2005 Government revenue collected in Scotland (our taxes) was £36.4 billion excluding north sea oil revenue. If you add all oil revenue in revenue would amount to £41.6 billion. Now, of course Scotland wouldn't get all the north sea oil revenue so the figure would be lower than that.
In 2004-2005 Government expenditure (devolved and identifiable reserved money) was £47.7 billion. So, under a best case scenario Scotland would have been £6.1 billion short in 04-05.
So, looking at this with the knowledge that oil revenue will decline over the years, just where would the nationalists get the extra cash?
