By stewartb
‘Sir Tom Hunter saying Ireland has a £60billion surplus and Scotland has a £30billion deficit.’
Hadn’t seen this latest intervention in Scotland’s polity by the wealthy entrepreneur, but I do recall a similar theme covered in The Herald last year (on 5 September). Whether down to a deficit of understanding, a deficit in the journalism or a ‘political/economic ‘blindness’ caused by Unionism, the part of the article available to read online for free was IMHO fundamentally flawed!
This was the headline: ‘Business veterans say Scotland can learn from Ireland’s success’.
The article opened with this: ‘ONLY by engaging with the business community will Scotland’s economy get the kickstart it needs, according to business stalwarts Sir Tom Hunter and Lord Willie Haughey who have said that the Scottish Government must look to southern Ireland’s success.’
I draw attention to the use of the word ‘only’ here as it immediately seems to be out of place – or actually WRONG – when we then get this insight ‘Sir Tom and Lord Haughey, speaking on the Go Radio Business Show with Hunter & Haughey, pointed to the recently-published Oxford Economics report – titled Lessons from Ireland for Scotland’s Economy, A Paper for the Hunter Foundation – WHICH REVEALED A KEY FACTOR OF IRELAND’S ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION HAS BEEN LOW CORPORATION TAX.’ (my emphasis)
One might well ask: (i) how does Scotland and its government go about replicating the ‘key factor’ of low corporation tax whilst within a Union in which that tax is reserved; (ii) which government has been setting CT rates over more than a decade now of an SNP government inn Scotland – obviously Tory governments in Westminster which Scotland’s electorate by majorities rejected time after time; and (iii) which government has taken overall taxation in the UK to a record high level?
The BBC News website (29 September, 2023) reported ‘Tax levels in the UK are at their highest since records began 70 years ago – and are unlikely to come down, a leading think tank (the Institute for Fiscal Studies) says.’ So, the ONLY thing Scotland’s economy needs is …..?
The distinction between the agency available to the government of Ireland – and ultimately to its electorate – and that available here in Scotland could not be more stark. I have no difficulty in believing that Herald journalism may be deliberately disingenuous: are these ‘business veterans’ being deliberately disingenuous too?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Tom Hunter has being banging this particular drum for a very long time, as have many highly placed Ministers in HMG including the latest well-heeled charlatan in #10.
You are correct on the disingenuous aspect of implying agency to SG, but the argument of CT being pivotal to Ireland’s success has long been debunked, it was at best a sweetener which will shortly disappear, only to survive in the myths and legends of UK business minds…
Ireland’s success stems from it’s investment in it’s people and their education, infrastructure, transport and communication links, building trust with investors that their long-term investment is in safe hands.
Ireland being brought into line on corporation tax will make no difference to continued investment in Ireland, and new businesses will continue to grow because of that earned trust.
The investments and businesses in Ireland will not be spaffed up a wall in 10 years time when the next lunatic fringe get elected to office and do something daft – That’s a perfidious albion trait…
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You are correct about corporation tax. It may have made a contribution when first introduced but the main, and lasting, attractions of Ireland are its young and highly educated population and its membership of the EU. These factors, and others, allowed Ireland to turn its economy from one that took things out of the box and screwed it together to a high value economy that researched and developed what went into the box in the first place and then send it off round the world.eg pharmaceuticals.
The contribution made to Ireland’s economy has been a huge factor too. I was in Ireland in the Spring of 2008. They were holding a referendum I think on the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. I followed the debates in the papers and on TV. One statementt has always stuck with me. It came from one of Ireland’s earliest Commissioners to the EU who said: ‘When we decided to join the EU we decided to go all the way in and explore every nook and cranny and make it work for us’. That they certainly did. Scotland take note.
By the way, the level of debate in that ref was way above anything in the Brexit ref. A far more clued up audience for a start.
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Not just a more clued up audience but a very different political and media class.
– Politically the government are always reminded of revolution, it is the people who are in charge of the vehicle, the government only get to hold the steering wheel until they do something annoying.
– Intelligent journalism never went away, it stunned me to see so many read newspapers and discuss the topics of the day, the Sun etc were treated as tripe.
On reading the papers on matters UK, it was the strangest feeling of being on the outside of the goldfish bowl looking in, whilst the fish were oblivious to anything beyond what was right in front of them…
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Would that be the same Ireland that was for many years the focus of ‘thick Irish’ jokes by British comedians?; a country that the unionists used to tell us was ‘priest ridden’?; a country that, following Brexit Ms Priti Patel was saying should be forced out of Europe because by sharing an island with part of Britain it was causing problems in ‘getting Brexit done’?
Alasdair Macdonald
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My last job before I retired involved quite a bit of travelling. For example, I was in India 7 times in 3.5 years. I found I got more insight and analysis of events in the UK from the newspapers there than I did from papers in the UK. Similarly the English language papers in the Gulf States although they were mainly aimed at the ex-pat community.
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My reply above was meant for Bob but it will do for Alasdair too
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Indeed it was and is Alasdair, but there’s the flip side which is distinctly unpleasant, the “bog irish” from a “UQ” perspective…
When I first looked at Ireland to rescue my life/career from Scotland suicide ca 2000, in discussing the idea with local friends, it was the one from Co Antrim almost 20 years before who amazed me most, bigotry with an intellectual slant.
I was delighted on first return to advise the country she’d never lived had tarmacadam roads better than most of the UK, the locals were no longer in muddy bare footed, and electricity had indeed reached Cork many decades previously.
As Legerwood observed from an Indian perspective, the view from outside of the UK is quite an eye-opener.
One of the principle reasons “travel to foreign parts broadens the mind” these days is to become aware of the relentless propaganda on which the United Kingdom subsides, and no that was not a spelling error.
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The ”ONLY thing Scotland’s economy needs ” is to accept , without criticism , business advice from billionaire entrepreneurs who , after all, know how to get rich and have been so good for the economies of the world . They would never advocate asset stripping a nation’s industries for a quick profit or take all their wealth off shore to avoid taxes or …
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Tax evading liars stealing public money under the UK Gov tax regime. They want it to continue.
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IR republic not paying for illegal wars, tax evasion, Trident, redundant weaponry, nuclear, HS2, Brexit etc. Not wasting £Billions like the UK Gov. IR Lower cost of living. Higher living standards. More equal and fair. After the illegal Partition of Ireland. Ireland could vote to reunite. Get rid of corrupt Westminster.
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Dublins traffic problems need to be addressed. Trams €1. Need more of them.
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“…Herald journalism may be deliberately disingenuous: are these ‘business veterans’ being deliberately disingenuous too?” Eh, Aye!
If you look closely at many unionists complaints about Scotland, you will notice that they are actually telling you just how crap the UK is.
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I have thoughts on just how good Ireland’s economy is, but I’ll restrict my comments to the matter of government deficits versus surpluses.
It’s mathematically possible for governments to run either a deficit or a surplus, and have a good economy. There is an accounting identity between the sectoral balances that relates the private, public (government) and foreign sector balances.
If the foreign sector balance (balance of trade) is positive, as in the case of Ireland, it’s more likely that the government can run a surplus while the private sector also runs a surplus.
In the case of the UK or Scotland, which have foreign sector deficits, the government has to run a deficit to keep the private sector in surplus.
The point is that it’s good for the private sector (us) to be in surplus – meaning we can afford to live and have some savings. When the foreign sector is in balance, the government will be spending more than it taxes and the private sector will be in surplus. It actually works the other way round – if we have a surplus, the government will have a deficit.
The fact that Ireland is in the Eurozone is a complicating factor, which means it has relinquished the advantage of having its own currency. This means it depends on support from the European Central Bank, and suffers from a lack of control of fiscal and monetary policy.
Note: Whether it’s good or bad to have a foreign sector surplus depends on circumstances. However, in an ideal scenario, you should only devote enough resources to exporting in order to fund the import of essential goods and services. Expending too much effort on exporting may not be such a great idea. In fact, relying on others to buy your goods can be dangerous. An example would be Germany’s reliance on exporting cars. When the EV revolution started, the competition from Japan and elsewhere had serious implications for the German automobile industry.
Perhaps it would be better if countries aimed for balanced trade rather than being pushed towards export-led growth.
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Scotland did have balanced trade before Westminster poor, bad decisions. Brexit etc. Borrowing and spending more in the rest of the UK and giving Scotland the bill. In debt repayments.
Any deficit in Scotland are caused by Westminster poor, bad decisions. Not supported by Scotland. No taxation without representation. Lack of democracy. Scotland outvoted 10 to 1 in Westminster. UK Gv playing havoc with Scotland revenues and resources. The UK the most unequal place in the world.
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