Scots Independence Costs 'Badly Misrepresented'

The Treasury has "badly misrepresented" a study on the cost of Scottish independence, the academic behind the research has said.

Patrick Dunleavy, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics (LSE), says that when Treasury officials used his research to calculate the start-up costs of independence, they overstated the figure by 12 times.

The criticism is an embarrassment for Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who is due to present detailed figures on the economics of independence at an event described by Whitehall officials as a "major milestone" in the independence debate. 

Speaking ahead of publication, Mr Alexander said: "Our analysis ... is forward looking.

"It is the most comprehensive analysis of the fiscal position of Scotland yet produced and will set out the scale of the current and future UK dividend for Scotland."

However, the controversy surrounding figures presented to the media in a Treasury briefing threaten to overshadow Mr Alexander's launch of the analysis paper.

Officials had briefed that, partly based on the research of Professor Dunleavy, they estimated the start-up costs for an independent Scottish Government at £2.7bn.

It was a calculation of how much it would cost to set up 180 government departments, in line with recent equivalent costs in Whitehall.

The Scottish Government strongly criticised the figure, saying it would not need anything like 180 departments and that much of the departmental infrastructure was already in place in Scotland.

The Professor himself echoed the view.

He wrote on Twitter: "UK Treasury press release on Scotland costs of government badly misrepresents LSE research.

"Appears to take minimum Whitehall reorganisation cost of £15m and multiply by 180 agencies to get £2.7bn. Overstates maybe 12 times?"

Later, he tweeted: "Could they be this crude? Phone call from Treasury guy later confirms: Yes, they had been."

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has demanded the Treasury withdraw the figures and apologise.

He said: "This is a devastating verdict on the Treasury's figures from one of the authors of the report they have been using to base their work on.

"And it totally undermines everything they have to say this week about the finances of an independent Scotland."

Mr Salmond is also due to publish his analysis on the economics of independence in a separate media briefing.