On Saturday it was the seventh anniversary of the Scottish vote on independence – how time flies. That contest saw a decisive ten point majority against separation; not that you’d know it from the way Nicola Sturgeon conducts her affairs. The SNP First Minister succeeded Alex Salmond in the post just weeks after the plebiscite and has spent most of her time in office talking tough and delivering little on making Scexit a reality.
In many ways it’s a good thing the vote did not go the SNP’s way. There’s the whole 300 years of history shtick of course but as the calculations of the 2013 White Paper on independence make clear, not all of the predictions necessary for the sunlit uplands of an independent Scotland have managed to come true. Below is Steerpike’s guide to seven claims seven years on which have not turned out exactly the way Sturgeon et al envisaged…
Oil
Perhaps most obvious difference between what was promised by the Yes supporters and what has actually transpired is the huge difference in the oil price between 2014 and 2021.
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