March 24 2016: The Proposed First Day of an Independent Scotland
It was to have been the birth of a new nation.
It was to have been the birth of a new nation.
If Scotland had voted Yes instead of No in September 2014, March 24 2016 had been marked in the diary as the first day of an independent Scotland – a truly historic day.
But in some ways, life north of the border would have continued as before.
The Queen would have remained head of state of an independent Scotland, and the country would have continued to use the pound – or at least, that is what the Scottish Government proposed.
There were no plans for border crossings at Gretna and viewers in Scotland would still have been able to tune into BBC favourites such as EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing.
Crucially, however, the Scottish Government would have assumed responsibility for a range of issues currently decided by the UK Government.
The white paper on independence, hailed by former first minister Alex Salmond as the most comprehensive blueprint for an independent country ever published, declared: “On the day Scotland becomes independent, the Scottish Parliament and Government will assume responsibility for matters like the economy and welfare, that are currently decided at Westminster.
“The Scottish Government and Parliament will be able to use these powers to do more to improve the quality of life for people across Scotland.”
It continued: “Scotland already has many of the institutions that a modern independent democratic state needs: a modern parliament elected by proportional representation, a government accountable to parliament, a civil service appointed on merit and supporting the elected government and an independent judiciary and legal system.
“The difference brought in by independence is that powers currently exercised in Scotland by the Westminster Parliament will be transferred to the Scottish Parliament.”
Mr Salmond said the white paper was a “mission statement and a prospectus for the kind of country we should be”.
It included a series of pledges from the SNP on its priorities if the party went on to form the government in an independent Scotland – including a transformation in childcare, a plan to cut corporation tax and simplify the tax system, and the removal of Trident nuclear weapons from the Clyde within the first term of an independent parliament.
Revenues from North Sea oil and gas were forecast to “generate approximately £48 billion in tax revenue between 2012-13 and 2017-18” according to the white paper, which based this on an average price of approximately 113 US dollars per barrel.
However, the price of oil has plummeted, with a barrel of Brent crude now worth approximately 42 US dollars, although this is up from a low point of 28 US dollars on January 20 2016.
The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures from the Scottish Government showed revenue from the North Sea fell by more than 50% last year, leaving Scotland with a deficit of £14.9 billion for 2014-15.
Scotland’s deficit was 9.7% of GDP – twice the rate of 4.9% for the UK as a whole, according to the data, which was published earlier in March.
