Scots Warned They Can't Afford Welfare Bill Under Independence
It seems the tab for the dole up north is a bit stiff
Scotland will not be able to afford its welfare bill if it leaves the Union, Iain Duncan Smith will warn today during a visit to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Work and Pensions Secretary will say that the annual benefit and pensions bill in Scotland is almost twice as much as the revenues raised each year from North Sea oil and gas.
He will add that welfare spending in Scotland is currently about six per cent higher than the average elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Scots also stand to become the biggest winners from the Coalition's forthcoming welfare reforms.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?