hmm, put like that, there seems to be a very good case for the English asking for independence from the Scots.

But as someone who was fortunate enough to live through and vote in the last Quebec referendum, and now living back in the UK, I really do think we should have one. I have shares in various flag-making companies.

“Scotland, according to unionists, is hugely subsidised by the English taxpayer. Public spending, £1,503 per Scot above the English average, is financed by hardworking families in the home counties. Alone, Scotland would stagger into economic collapse.

More than £20 billion comes to Scotland from Whitehall each year, providing public spending per Scot of £8,265.

Scotland’s net deficit, that is the spending that benefits Scots but is not raised in Scotland, amounts to 13% of gross domestic product (GDP), more than four times the figure for the UK.

One recent calculation estimates that just 163,000 Scottish taxpayers, from a population of 5m, make any net contribution to the exchequer. The rest receive more than they pay out.”