Commenting on the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures published today, Liberal Democrat Shadow Finance Secretary Tavish Scott MSP said:

"The SNP used to call the GERS figures "a discredited, inaccurate and incredible political exercise". Yet today the Finance Secretary hails them as making the case for independence.

“The reality is that after 6 months of delay, the Finance Secretary has been forced to cherry-pick the one scenario where Scotland would be in surplus. Even then, the annual surplus amounts to just 10 days of Scottish Government spending. Yet his own figures show that the true picture is of a deficit of £2.7 billion even with oil revenues.

“The five year figures also show the danger of basing the nation's financial future on oil alone. The £800 million surplus Mr Swinney claims for 06-07 comes nowhere near wiping out the £6 billion deficit accumulated over the previous four years, even with oil revenues.

“What the figures do show is a clear case for Scotland to remain part of the UK, but raise as much of its own spending as practical.”