Yes chief says country can thrive under independence

An independent Scotland has the finances to be a fairer and more prosperous country, Yes Scotland’s chief executive has claimed.

Speaking at a public meeting last night, Blair Jenkins said Scotland could more than afford to build the kind of nation that “most people wanted for themselves and future generations”.

He said: “Scotland is a wealthy country but it often doesn’t feel that way. That’s because of the unfair distribution of wealth and opportunity in the UK.

“Under successive Labour and Conservative governments over the last 30 years the UK has become the fourth most unequal country in the developed world and is well on the way to becoming the most unequal.”

He continued: “Scotland has a lower life expectancy than any other country in western or central Europe. And our shocking health inequalities are largely based on economic inequalities.”

Mr Jenkins was joined on the platform at Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre by Scottish Greens MSP Alison Johnstone, SNP MSP Colin Beattie, Derek Durkin of Trade Unionists for Independence and Jeane Freeman, one of the founders of Women for Independence.