[5] In a leaked memo the then Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Lang wrote "I judge that [GERS] is just what is needed at present in our campaign to maintain the initiative and undermine the other parties.
Economics professor Hervey Gibson recalled "My reaction, both emotional and professional, was that where Scotland was making disproportionate drawings on the National (UK) exchequer these had usually been carefully estimated and emphasised, and where it was making net or disproportionate contributions to the exchequer these had been assumed away or hidden under crude assumptions about ‘reflecting national averages’".
[8] In 1998, the University of Strathclyde published the Jim and Margaret Cuthbert-authored "A critique of GERS: government expenditure and revenue in Scotland."
[12] The stated primary objective of the authors of GERS is to estimate a set of public sector accounts for Scotland through detailed analysis of official UK and Scottish Government finance statistics.
[13] In November 2013, GERS figures from the most recent available report (financial year 2011/2012) were included within Scotland's Future, the Scottish Government's independence white paper.
Based on the GERS report it was stated that, compared to the UK, Scotland contributed more tax per head, had stronger public finances and had much higher GDP per head[14] Based on the methodologies used, falling oil revenues resulted in the final GERS report before the referendum, published in March 2014, indicating a weaker Scottish economic position than previous years.
[15] However, methodology was still an issue - in May 2014 Merryn Somerset Webb in the Financial Times sought input to GERS credibility from James Ferguson of The MacroStrategy Partnership.
I’m giving you one less thing to think about: you can now happily ignore all the financial arguments for a separate Scotland on the basis that no one knows what they actually are.
"[19] It should be noted, however, that, at a subsequent appearance before the Holyrood, Finance and Constitution Committee, Murphy was criticised for being unable to justify these claims.