@MinnieMous3
My links were just to show the Barnett formula myth is just that, a myth. At the end of the day it will obviously cost more to deliver public services to 5.8m people across 78,000km2 than 55m people across 123km2. That's just reality and isn't unfair in the slightest, unless you think people in less densely populated areas don't deserve the same access to education, health care and public services as those in more populous places?
I'm also glad you posted the full fact article as it further backs up my previous point.
For example
"Some of the UK government’s spending is notional or ‘non-identifiable spending’. That means the money isn’t necessarily spent in Scotland, but does reflect its share of spending on the UK as a whole. This includes things like defence spending."
Which was the point I previously made(and you glossed over). When England decide to renew trident, or build a high speed railway (that'll never reach Scotland), or host a giant sports day in London, they get to pass some of that cost on to the other UK nations and then have the cheek to claim we're spending more than we generate.
I must also point out that Scotland can't run a deficit according to the Budget (Scotland) Act and we must delivery a balanced budget every year (which we do). The deficit they make reference to in the article comes from the GERS figures, which are widely held as shite, and attempt to apportion a share of the UK deficit across Scotland.
When you apply the same process across all UK regions only London and the South East are in surplus. This is simply because that's where most companies have registered their HQs hence that's where the majority of UK tax revenue is registered.
To further illustrate their unreliability take the oil and gas figures. Any oil and gas that is exported directly from the offshore fields, or that is landed/processed outside of Scotland aren't counted as Scottish revenue, even though they are a Scottish resource.
Finally, I'll end this quote from your article
"If Scotland were to become independent, the IFS says the future finances would depend on a number of different things; in particular the share of the UK debt Scotland would negotiate taking on, how the Scottish economy would perform after independence, and what policies the Scottish government introduced."
So essentially they admit they've not a clue how Scotland would do as an independent nation and all the previous talk is based on assumptions and guesswork.