Scotland gets more back from the UK than it puts in, according to the Scottish secretary.
Banks are safer, mortgages are cheaper and “public spending in Scotland is consistently 10% higher than the UK average”, Alistair Carmichael said.
The UK Government minister will make a speech today at Stirling University highlighting issues raised in the Scotland Analysis programme, a series of papers designed to promote the UK ahead of the referendum.
Mr Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, is expected to say: “Right now, we get the benefits from natural resources like North Sea oil – but are able to manage the volatility in production and price as part of a much larger and diverse economy made up of 60million individuals rather than just 5million; 4.5million companies rather than 320,000 – a market with no boundaries, no borders, no customs – but with a stable UK currency; a single financial system, and a single body of rules and regulations.
“Let us not forget we get more back than we put in. Public spending in Scotland is consistently 10% higher than the UK average.”
He will say: “For too long we’ve let go unspoken the contribution that Scotland makes to the UK. And we’ve been equally silent on the benefits that we get from being part of it.
“2013 was the year when the UK Government started putting the record straight.
“We’re talking about a complex, detailed piece of analytical work – that’s because what we have in the UK is a product of years, of decades worth of co-operation and negotiation.
“You’ll find no grandiose flights of fancy here, only the very facts of our United Kingdom: our banks are safer; we have greater financial protection for savers and pensioners; greater levels of competition delivering cheaper mortgages and insurance for families and businesses; we invest in research, infrastructure and industry to remain at the forefront of new technological developments.”