Regardless of which side of the argument you sit on, most people need to learn a bit about what they're quoting, figures wise.
I'll give you a couple of examples to help you on your way.
Tax raised. Government figures of tax receipts are actually estimates. For example, UK corporation tax figures are an estimate based on a survey of 600 companies and extrapolated. 9.4% of this is attributed to Scotland.
Infrastructure spends. When calculating Scotland's share of national infrastructure spend, it is calculated by taking a percentage of UK infrastructure spend. So it will include, for example, estimated expenditure on The London Underground and HS2.
Excise and Duty. There is no way of actually calculating this on a regional basis, so for example, whisky taxation receives the same 9-10% estimate in the income column for Scotland.
I'm actually amazed that a bunch of people who generally work at a reasonable level believe for one second that the disjointed government departments we have in the UK could ever put that kind of information together accurately, both for the UK as a whole and for the component countries.
Everything the government does in this country is made up of estimates of estimates extrapolated from estimates. If they could actually put together an estimate within £5Bn I'd be amazed.
I'll give you a couple of examples to help you on your way.
Tax raised. Government figures of tax receipts are actually estimates. For example, UK corporation tax figures are an estimate based on a survey of 600 companies and extrapolated. 9.4% of this is attributed to Scotland.
Infrastructure spends. When calculating Scotland's share of national infrastructure spend, it is calculated by taking a percentage of UK infrastructure spend. So it will include, for example, estimated expenditure on The London Underground and HS2.
Excise and Duty. There is no way of actually calculating this on a regional basis, so for example, whisky taxation receives the same 9-10% estimate in the income column for Scotland.
I'm actually amazed that a bunch of people who generally work at a reasonable level believe for one second that the disjointed government departments we have in the UK could ever put that kind of information together accurately, both for the UK as a whole and for the component countries.
Everything the government does in this country is made up of estimates of estimates extrapolated from estimates. If they could actually put together an estimate within £5Bn I'd be amazed.
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