One of the common responses to Welsh Independence, is that we could not afford it. Where would we get the £25 billion or so that the Welsh budget requires ? simple answer – Taxes. No, not new or increased taxes, but revenues already generated here in Wales.
The unionist parties have perpetuated the myth that Wales receives more taxpayers money than it generates, but this is simply not true, and over the next few weeks I will set out to prove this in detail – step by step.
Just to start things off, can you imagine the reaction of Peter Hain to a proposed Welsh budget which predicted a £1 billion gap between spending and income??
Well in 2003/2004 the UK government current expenditure (ie the bit that has to be paid for out of taxation) was £449 Billion. For the same period, current income (ie income tax, VAT, surpluses etc) was only £444 Billion which represents a budget deficit of £5 billion. However, the current income also has to cover the cost of annual capital depreciation of £16 billion, leaving an overall UK budget deficit of £21 billion – with Wales’s proportional share being equivalent to £1 billion. Can the UK government afford its own independence??
We should not be asking if we can afford to be independent – we should be asking if we can afford not to be!!!!
(More to follow)
3 comments:
Good post. I am already looking forward to the next installment.....;-)
Good stuff - the Unionists constantly play on the idea of our economic dependence to undermine the cause of independence.
Expose this - and the British state's failings - and people will flock to the cause.
This analysis needs more exposure. Commentaries contradicting the myth of Scottish economic dependence on England are currently being given wider media coverage.Why is there silence from Wales?
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