Scotland has a huge political and economic problem. Decades of socialism and over dependence on oil have left them with an economy that does not sustain the population there, so they are totally reliant on handouts from English taxpayers. (Click highlighted text to see further analysis and facts). These handouts could soon be reduced sharply as the Scottish Parliament gets more economic powers. And if Scotland were totally independent it would be a very poor place indeed. Another Greece or Venezuela. These are the facts.

The Scottish people vote for an impossible romantic dream instead of voting for good governance. In fact, with the SNP, they vote for bad governance. And before that, voting Labour, they also voted for bad governance. Since May 1999 the Scottish people have not done the one thing that would do them the most good; voting Conservative.

The Scottish Parliament, because of the Barnett Formula, has more money to spend on each person than in England. In 2012/3 state expenditure in England was £8,529 per person, whilst in Scotland it was £10,152 per person. So Scottish public services should be much better than English public services, but they aren’t, they are much worse.

The Scottish government has been responsible for three main areas; policing, health and education. And all three have become disaster areas. Here are just a few snippets:

• Lamara Bell and John Yuill earlier this month lay in a crashed car for three days after police failed to respond when calls were made to their chaotic Bilston Glen call centre.
• UN human rights advisers said that Police Scotland’s use of stop-and-search powers could breach international law. For instance 83 children under the age of 11 were stopped and searched in 6 months last year without any proof of a crime.
• There is strong evidence that  Police Scotland has been using illegal surveillance devices on at least two journalists in a bid to discover the identity of their sources.
• Then the death in police custody of Sheku Bayoh a 31-year-old father of two with no previous history of violence. Several different versions of the incident were given by the police, a 5ft 10ins, 12st 10lb man was held down by five police officers including one weighing in at 25st and 6ft 4ins tall. He was not carrying a weapon as police later lied and nor was there any question of a threat to national security as had also been claimed.
• Scotland’s famous Higher school exam has been dumbed down with 79.1 per cent of the new version being graded at levels A to C despite research showing literacy standards have dropped at all years measured in Scotland’s schools.
• The research also showed that less than half of S2 boys (47%) were doing well, very well or performing beyond the level they were being assessed for in writing, down from 58% in 2012. The proportion of S2 girls whose writing was of the same standard also dropped, from 70% to 63%. In the most-deprived communities, just two-fifths (41%) of S2 pupils were said to be performing well or very well in writing, a drop of 11%.
• The SNP policy of free university tuition is a disaster. It is preventing Scottish students from going to English universities and is attracting large numbers of freeloaders from the EU. Also despite having no university fees these are still largely middle class institutions, unlike in England, where there are fees.
• In Scottish hospitals in January this year 703 people had to wait for more than 12 hours in A&E departments, with just over 87% of patients seen within the four-hour target time. Incredibly bad demand management.
• More than half of GPs in Lothian, Ayrshire and Arran, and Glasgow and Greater Clyde health boards say that their workload is unmanageable. A consequence of the SNP taking £1bn out of GP funding.

I could go on and on. Google searches reveal the SNP’s very many failings of governance. In fact the Labour Party have put together a list of 100 broken SNP promises, which must have been pretty easy to do.

And the Scottish people agree! A recent TNS poll gave the following results in Scotland for the SNP Government there:

• The economy: Good 25 per cent, Poor 24 per cent, Neither 45 per cent.
• The NHS: Good 34 per cent, Poor 29 per cent, Neither 33 per cent.
• Education: Good 30 per cent, Poor 19 per cent, Neither 40 per cent.
• Crime and Justice: Good 23 per cent, Poor 29 per cent, Neither 40 per cent.

Now contrast and compare the above with the dazzling achievements of the Conservatives, who inherited an economy trashed by Gordon Brown:

• Record number of people in work. More than a million fewer out of work.
• Rapidly increasing school standards and performance.
• Far fewer crimes whilst wasting far less on unnecessary policing.
• Highest economic growth of any G7 country.
• Increased NHS spending.
• Rapidly reduced Government deficit.

The lesson is very simple. If you want good governance you vote Conservative. And you definitely don’t vote SNP.