Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cameron urged to investigate misleading figures

Alex Salmond has urged Prime Minister David Cameron to investigate the source of  “grossly misleading" claims about set-up costs for a new state.
Alex Salmond has urged Prime Minister David Cameron to investigate the source of “grossly misleading" claims about set-up costs for a new state.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been urged to investigate why the UK Government issued “spectacularly wrong” set-up costs for an independent Scotland.

First Minister Alex Salmond urged the Conservative leader to ensure the probe established which minister signed-off the “grossly misleading claim” that taxpayers would need to “fork-out £2.7billion”.

The SNP leader wrote to Mr Cameron yesterday after London School of Economics professor Patrick Dunleavy said the initial cost of establishing a new state would be about £200million.

His report does not attach a total price tag to setting up a new state because he said transition costs would depend “very heavily” on how both the UK and Scottish governments approached negotiations.

Prof Dunleavy estimated that immediate set-up costs to duplicate core Westminster functions would be £200million, but “hundreds of millions of pounds more” would be needed to build the government IT systems.

In a letter to the prime minister, Mr Salmond wrote: “You will be aware that last month your government gave a highly misleading briefing on the structure and cost of the Scottish Government in an independent Scotland.

“I would therefore ask that you launch an immediate investigation into why your government issued spectacularly wrong information.

“The investigation should establish which minister signed-off this grossly misleading claim.”

Mr Salmond claimed the situation had damaged the UK Government’s credibility and made it “very difficult” for people to trust any information it issued.

But a UK Government spokesman claimed it had been “absolutely clear and up-front with voters” and the only way to avoid the cost of independence was to reject it.

“Rather than kicking up yet more sand, the Scottish Government needs to tell people how much it will cost to set-up a new country,” he added.

“if building the new Forth bridge cost £1.4billion, then trying to claim that setting up a whole new state for a fraction of that is just not credible.”