Scots warned of economic chaos: Country would have to raise tax or slash their spending if it became independent, says top economist, by John Stevens. Nicola Sturgeon has just issued a call for a second referendum of Scottish Independence. Here’s Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies:

We get just about as much tax per person from everyone in Scotland as we do in the rest of the UK … But spending in Scotland is more than £1,000 per person higher than spending in the rest of the UK. So what that means is that there is a big transfer of money from the rest of the UK to Scotland … if Scotland were to become independent it would have to either reduce its spending by more than £1,000 per head or increase its taxes by more than £1,000 per head. …

Two things have changed since the last Scottish referendum … the Scottish fiscal situation has got worse, relative to that of the rest of the UK, because the oil price has gone down …

Secondly, the Brexit vote means the UK looks like it is going to come out of the single market. But if an independent Scotland were to be in the EU, within the single market … that potentially hinders it very badly in terms of its access to the UK market.’ Business leaders warned a second vote would create uncertainty for firms.