I am very happy to do that. Before I do so, I thank the committee for giving John Swinney and me the opportunity to come back here today to give evidence at the end of your inquiry, just as we gave evidence at the start of it. All of us have enjoyed following the evidence in the course of the inquiry, and we look forward very much to your report.
My strong belief and position is that a yes vote, leading to Scotland becoming an independent country, will be good for Scotland. In particular, it will be good for our economy. It will give Scotland control over the decision-making levers that determine the success and prosperity of any economy. It will enable us to design an economic policy that is right for our needs and circumstances.
The starting point for us in the debate—I hope that it is the starting point for everybody in the debate, regardless of what side they are on—is that Scotland is a rich country. It is an extremely wealthy country, blessed with extraordinary resources—both human resources and natural resources. An independent Scotland would be the 14th richest country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development per head of population, generating wealth per head of population higher than that of Japan, France, the United Kingdom itself and indeed the vast majority of independent countries.
We have a strong, diverse economy. As Standard & Poor’s said recently, even excluding North Sea oil and gas revenues, an independent Scotland would qualify for its highest economic assessment. The projections that we published two weeks ago on Scotland’s public finances show that, fiscally, we would begin life as an independent Scotland in, at worst, roughly the same position as and, at best, a slightly better position than the UK. We can be independent, because we have that enormous starting point as an independent country.
The real arguments for independence concern what it enables us to do. It is about the control over policy levers that I spoke about, which will allow us to design an economic policy that addresses our challenges. An independent Scotland, like all countries, will face challenges. It is important to address those challenges and to maximise the opportunities. Giving ourselves control over economic policy, levers such as immigration policy and both sides of the balance sheet—spending and revenue—so that we can, for example, transform childcare will enable us to transform our economy more sustainably, grow our working age population and increase the level of participation in the labour market.
In the paper that we published just two weeks ago, we set out some of the opportunities for the Scottish economy over the medium to long term that would arise if, through using those levers to best advantage, we were able to achieve those aims.
Independence is all about opportunity. It is about putting yourself in the driving seat with regard to the decisions that shape any country. I believe that it would be incredibly good for Scotland and for the Scottish economy.