Why does Yes campaign think separation is better?

Why would Scotland be better separated from the Union? There are so many reasons, according to Robin McAlpine - a few of which he shares with readers.

And there were specific questions which could only be answered by either the Yes or No camps.

In this article, Robin McAlpine tackles the second question levelled at the Yes campaign.

Robin graduated from Glasgow University to work as a journalist, moving to London to become Press Officer to George Robertson, then Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

He then spent 12 years as head of public affairs for Scotland’s university sector.

Robin is currently director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation and Editor of the Scottish Left Review, Scotland’s leading left-of-centre political magazine.

In 2004 he set up the Scottish Left Review Press, a publishing arm of the Scottish Left Review.

Question: I think Scotland do rather better than their counterparts in England out of the UK Budget and devolution has worked well. Why does the Independence Lobby think we will do better separated from the Union?

Robin said: “So many reasons. If spending 30 years subsidising London while Scotland’s economy declined seems like good value then by all means go ahead and vote No.

“But in the end for me it is about behaving like grown ups. London treats Scotland like a naughty child, telling us how much money we can have or not have, what we can do or not do, telling us whatever story they think will passify us this week.

“We’ll be better independent simply because it will force us to stand on our own feet, make our own decisions – and our own mistakes.

“The closer you keep power to you the easier it is to keep an eye on it. And god knows we need to keep an eye on power.”

Keep checking our website today for further answers from Robin, and Professor Adam Tomkins from the No campaign, throughout the day.