Independent Scotland in EU would make Scots £3,000 a year richer, claims SNP

An independent Scotland would make Scots £3,000 a year richer, the SNP has claimed.The party said the “independence dividend” would come as a result of the economic cost of Brexit.According to Stanford University economics professor Nick Bloom, up to 8% of the UK’s GDP has been lost due to leaving the EU – about £3,000 per adult.Keith Brown, SNP deputy leader, said the figures showed how leaving the UK would benefit Scotland’s economy.SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said Brexit had been a ‘disaster’ for the economy (Jane Barlow/PA)PA ArchiveHe made the claim days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggested that an independence vote could be held if public opinion showed demand for one.Mr Brown said: “Andy Burnham has stated the conditions for an independence referendum and now we know one of the prizes on offer – an independence dividend worth up to £3,000 for every person.“Brexit has been an utter disaster for Scotland’s economy and public services – Westminster will never take us back into the EU, independence is the only way to make it happen.“Leaving the EU has damaged growth and investment, costing the public finances £250 million every day – so much of the cost-of-living crisis that is hurting people across Scotland today can be traced back to the decision to drag us out of the EU against our will.“Andy Burnham is wedded to Brexit, so it is encouraging that he has set out the process and recognised the need for allowing the people of Scotland a choice over our own future.“Only by taking our place as an independent nation in the EU can Scotland turn the page on our chapter in broken Brexit Britain. Scotland needs a fresh start with independence.”Scottish Labour said the claims were “utter mince from a deluded and desperate SNP”.A spokesperson said: “This use of numbers is the most damning indictment of maths in Scotland since this week’s Pisa results.“Instead of talking spurious rubbish, the SNP should focus on doing their jobs for once.”Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggested an independence vote could be held if public opinion showed demand for one (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA WireOn Thursday, Mr Swinney wrote to Mr Burnham about how a legal mechanism for a second independence referendum could be agreed.He said it is “important” he and Mr Burnham discuss “how we turn that principle into an agreed legal mechanism, as exists in Northern Ireland”.Read MoreHe said previous UK leaders’ refusal to consider the option of another referendum was “clearly unsustainable”, and Mr Burnham’s remarks were a “long-overdue acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future”.The Prime Minister had indicated that Scotland should be in “exactly the same situation” as Northern Ireland.But in a letter to the First Minister on Thursday, he reiterated that a second independence vote was “off limits”.The Prime Minister said his Commons remarks had been “simply highlighting that there is no consensus for an independence referendum in Scotland”.Mr Burnham told the First Minister: “As I made clear to you personally when we met recently in Glasgow, independence and a referendum are off limits as it would take our focus away from growing the economy and helping families with the cost of living.”Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat public reform spokesperson David Green said the claims independence would make Scots £3,000 a year richer were “a load of rubbish”.Hitting out at the SNP, Mr Green said: “They might as well say that breaking up the UK will give everyone a puppy or a Ferrari.“My advice to the Government is to get on with fixing health and education and stop spreading nonsense. That is what people expect.”