An excellent paper which is even more pertinent today than it was back in January. Thanks for republishing it and for the inclusion of the Conclusion of Gove's paper to the Covid Enquiry, which confirms what we've experienced throughout the last three years: an endless MSM & political undermining of everything about Scotland from sports to economy, to politics, to governmental competence, to education, to health, to languages, to culture, to our identity. There's been a clear and concerted effort to denigrate every aspect of life in Scotland. It's now up to the Scottish people to put our country's existence and future prospects first and vote for independence. The disarray in English politics means that the time has never been better to show we can do it. It's of prime importance that our politicians in all the indpendence-supporting parties can work together to avoid splitting the pro-Indy vote. The time for separate parties to follow their own political paths comes when we achieve independence and hold our first Scottish Parliamentary Election.
Further congratulations on getting your paper published by Richard Murphy today and I look forward to your future contributions on his blogsite.
Another thing which requires immediate action from the Scottish Government is to call a halt to the annual nonsense of GERS. It's a pseudo-report pretending to be an accounting document, when in fact very few of the figures cited in it are actual, probative data; most are 'estimates and apportionments' of UK data (some of which are themselves unreliable). Many years back I did a study of the data based on auditing principles: could the GERS data be tracked back to original data which itself could be proven to be accurate. My findings were that c 4% of the GERS data passed that test; the rest were estimates/apportionments. If, as a trainee accountant, I had presented such a set of accounts for approval by the partner-in-charge, I'd have been ridiculed in no uncertain terms and possibly shown the door.
But that's not all that's wrong with it: it uses single entry accounting and there is no balance sheet. This means that the fundamental concept of double-entry accounting - every debit requires a credit in order to balance the books - does not exist, so costs can be added and income reduced without evidence in order to produce the desired outcome: Scotland too wee, too stupid, too poor and too incompetent to be independent of the UK. There are plenty of other technical faults, but you the message: GERS is used to weaken and slander Scotland, its people and its governance. It costs money to produce (which will be marked as being a cost devolved to Scotland) and there is no statutory requirement to publish it, so why does the SNP Gov continue to issue it?
Why indeed? It's a rod we make with which to beat ourselves. Incomprehensible unless you realise that Holyrood is a Westminster construct and won't ever really go against it.
Perhaps five years ago, when I asked, inside the SNP and with an experienced MP and other leading members present, for an explanation of when and why the governing party had adopted the annual GERS statistics, I was met with silence. No answer at all. That was one of the many reasons I left that traitorous party.
Thanks for sharing your research. I’m a new subscriber so appreciate you republishing. Once revealed the evidence speaks for itself and shows what we are up against. If you could ever use research or editorial assistance please get in touch.
An excellent paper which is even more pertinent today than it was back in January. Thanks for republishing it and for the inclusion of the Conclusion of Gove's paper to the Covid Enquiry, which confirms what we've experienced throughout the last three years: an endless MSM & political undermining of everything about Scotland from sports to economy, to politics, to governmental competence, to education, to health, to languages, to culture, to our identity. There's been a clear and concerted effort to denigrate every aspect of life in Scotland. It's now up to the Scottish people to put our country's existence and future prospects first and vote for independence. The disarray in English politics means that the time has never been better to show we can do it. It's of prime importance that our politicians in all the indpendence-supporting parties can work together to avoid splitting the pro-Indy vote. The time for separate parties to follow their own political paths comes when we achieve independence and hold our first Scottish Parliamentary Election.
Further congratulations on getting your paper published by Richard Murphy today and I look forward to your future contributions on his blogsite.
Regards,
Ken
Thank you, Ken
Another thing which requires immediate action from the Scottish Government is to call a halt to the annual nonsense of GERS. It's a pseudo-report pretending to be an accounting document, when in fact very few of the figures cited in it are actual, probative data; most are 'estimates and apportionments' of UK data (some of which are themselves unreliable). Many years back I did a study of the data based on auditing principles: could the GERS data be tracked back to original data which itself could be proven to be accurate. My findings were that c 4% of the GERS data passed that test; the rest were estimates/apportionments. If, as a trainee accountant, I had presented such a set of accounts for approval by the partner-in-charge, I'd have been ridiculed in no uncertain terms and possibly shown the door.
But that's not all that's wrong with it: it uses single entry accounting and there is no balance sheet. This means that the fundamental concept of double-entry accounting - every debit requires a credit in order to balance the books - does not exist, so costs can be added and income reduced without evidence in order to produce the desired outcome: Scotland too wee, too stupid, too poor and too incompetent to be independent of the UK. There are plenty of other technical faults, but you the message: GERS is used to weaken and slander Scotland, its people and its governance. It costs money to produce (which will be marked as being a cost devolved to Scotland) and there is no statutory requirement to publish it, so why does the SNP Gov continue to issue it?
Why indeed? It's a rod we make with which to beat ourselves. Incomprehensible unless you realise that Holyrood is a Westminster construct and won't ever really go against it.
Perhaps five years ago, when I asked, inside the SNP and with an experienced MP and other leading members present, for an explanation of when and why the governing party had adopted the annual GERS statistics, I was met with silence. No answer at all. That was one of the many reasons I left that traitorous party.
Thanks for sharing your research. I’m a new subscriber so appreciate you republishing. Once revealed the evidence speaks for itself and shows what we are up against. If you could ever use research or editorial assistance please get in touch.
Thank you, Cathy. I appreciate the offer! Best, Leah