… the English media down yonder has been being particular unkind to us Jocks of late relating all kinds of nastiness about how we manage our finances and spend yonder southerners hard earned (paid?) taxes.
Of course the situation isn’t helped when we have folks like Kelvin McKenzie(good Scottish name that) telling all and sundry that we’re a bunch of sponging gets spending all that wealth created down in the South East of Enger-land … anyway enough of that ‘big tube’, as our statesman like First Minster referred to him.
If you live in yonder land of Enger-land then no doubt you will have had an opportunity to peruse the media therein - mostly of course I am referring, to the machinations of the largely London based press. Even further yonder media bosses and tycoons would seem intent on perpetuating the lie that your (i.e. not our) taxes are funding a life of McRiley up here in the far far North - where men are men and sheep are scared …
I wouldn’t even be surprised if that what you believe given some of the headlines down there:
Scotland to offer free dental checks: The public services gap England and Scotland widened as ministers pledged to give children free access to dental checks at schools - The Telegraph
All pupils aged four to seven will get free dinners in Scotland: Children in Scotland are to get free school meals while thousands of pupils in England pay as much as £10 a week - Daily Mail
Give the Scots financial independence: so long as they pay for it themselves: From breakfast tables to pub inglenooks, from Cornwall to Cumbria, you could almost hear the blood pressure rising - Daily Mail
Scot Free: they all live high life on OUR taxes - News of the world, thanks to Little Man in a Toque for that one
Jocks Away - Daily Mail … funny, can’t find the link for that one! see here instead.
… funny they don’t repeat these headlines in their Scottish editions?!
The thing these stories seem to have in common is that they decry the service gap between England and Scotland and state (falsely) that this is being funded by English taxes. The truth of the matter is discussed at length in the related links at the end of this post.
This is actually a post I’ve been meaning to make for a couple of weeks, following a couple of articles in The Herald. I’ve done a lot reading since then and much of the comment attached to that reading seems to believe the spoon fed lies, that has prompted this post.
The Herald tackles 5 popular ‘myths’ about Scotland’s spending and as their points are succinct I’ll just quote them here:
Myth 1: Scots get more public cash than anyone else.
The Truth: Public spending in Scotland is just £9631 per head, lower than the £10,271 for Northern Ireland and London’s average of £9748.Myth 2: English taxes pay for Scotland’s high spending.
The Truth: Scotland brings in £9593 per head in tax - more than anywhere in the UK outside of London. Latest estimates show the tax take from Scotland is £49bn compared with total spending of £49.2bn …Myth 3: Scots milk the welfare state
The Truth: Latest figures show people living in North-East England claim on average £3284 per head. Northern Ireland £3256 and £3136 in Wales in state benefits. Scotland’s pension and benefit cost is £3086 per head.Myth 4: Scots enjoy better public services than the rest of the UK
The Truth: The Welsh, not the Scots, get free prescriptions, while NHS waiting times in Scotland are broadly in line with England …Myth 5: State subsidy pays for Scots “big ticket” projects
The Truth: London’s Crossrail project is to cost £16bn - seven and a half times the annual Scottish transport budget. The 2012 London Olympics means a loss of £9.3bn lottery funding for the rest of the UK.
The links to the actual articles are in the related links below but that’s a brief summary. I’m just fed up hearing people banging on about how much better off we are up here thanks to English taxes.
The Scottish parliament gets a budget, how they spend it is up to them, but they have to make it cover all their expenditure … it doesn’t get topped up in any way. Expenditure in one area means cuts in others - it’s called governance.
The Herald links below really are worth a read if you’re inclined that way, but if you only look at two, look at the first two.
Related Links:
Scotching the Myth - The Herald
Why the figures peddled by Scotland’s critics don’t add up - The Herald
Subsidy junkies jibe is a well-scotched myth - The Herald
MP defiant over spending claims - The Herald
So much for handouts - The Herald
Our Streets aren’t aved with English gold - The Telegraph
Comment is free: Back off, Jock-baiters - Guardian Unlimited
) who doesn’t even know how to write his own language! I’ve met refugees with a better grasp of the English language 
