I am not of the view that independence is economically impossible. But I’m also not a denier of facts. The deficit, Brexit and the pandemic are facts. And Sturgeon’s existing economic prospectus poses huge logistical problems.

Source Direct: The Economics of Feasible Independence


I share the anxiety that this unprecedented peacetime crisis of the British state may pass without a firm conclusion. For this reason, I have campaigned for years for an early referendum. But I am also wary of a potentially sadistic dynamic between leadership and base.

Source Direct: Indy Shoegazers


“The disappearance of the gradualists is also their final triumph. Aided by a frenzied media and political opposition, they have come to symbolise independence without the need to manifest any concrete support for the cause, or demonstrate any viable strategy.”

David Jamieson: The twilight and triumph of the SNP gradualists


The UK Government’s budget deficit for this year will reach 19 per cent of GDP for 2020/21, according to Chancellor Rishi Sunak. It’s worth reflecting on that figure in the context of the Scottish independence debate. For years, we have been told by opponents of independence that a prospective budget deficit in an independent Scotland […]

Doubling down on the Growth Commission is a huge mistake



“The purpose of an experiment is to determine whether observations of the real world agree with or conflict with the predictions derived from a hypothesis. If they agree, confidence in the hypothesis increases; otherwise, it decreases.” It is time for the independence movement to get to grips with the scientific method. Something does not become […]

Robin Mcalpine: Sterlingisation is a terrible idea and a massive liability



“When 75 percent of the nation would vote for independence with ‘the right economic case’, when is the Scottish Government finally going to publish one?”

Ellen Höfer: The blank White Paper


Merry GERS-mas! No, Lionel Messi is not signing for Rangers. GERS day is the geek term for the ultimate geeky day in Scottish politics, where a statistical publication is wielded like a constitutional axe, weaponised as the definitive financial statement of whether an independent Scotland is perfectly viable or a disaster waiting to happen, depending […]

On GERS day 2020, we should remember that economics is about choices