Letter to the Editor

The annual controversy over the Scottish Government Expenditure and Revenues Scotland (GERS) figures has died down somewhat. This report proved that Scotland benefits from around £15bn each year by being in the UK. I though this figure might resonate with readers if the numbers were shown in a local context.
GERS estimates that every man, woman and child in Scotland benefits by an extra £1,914 from membership of the UK. For Largs with a population of just over 11,000 - that means a total of £21.8m would be lost to the town. Fairlie with a population of 1,510 would lose £2.9m. Cumbrae - population 1,350 would lose £2.5m and Skelmorlie - population 1,880, would lose £3.6m. The North Coast Ward along (pop 16,200) would lose around £31.4m and the whole of North Ayrshire would see spending reduced by £272.5m.
These are eye-water numbers and it hardly seems possible that anyone aware of the damage it would cost would even contemplate wreaking such havoc on themselves, their families, friends and neighbours. 
This would be particularly devastating at the current time, when the economy is in a very precarious position and we are trying to recover from the effects of Covid.

Valerie Reid
Largs Labour Party