Livingstone: London 'subsidising Scots lifestyle'

From the Scotsman:

"The outspoken Labour mayor made the remark at a reception on Monday night as he tried to explain why the city needed a new £10 billion rail link.

He told politicians: "We need Crossrail to keep London's economy ticking over so that we can continue to pay for the Scottish to live the lifestyle to which they are accustomed."

Predictably, Alex Salmond of the SNP responded by saying the subsidy was all the other way:

"'When you include all Scotland's resources, we subsidise the rest of the UK by £3,000 a year for the average Scottish family.'

This '£200 billion raid' on Scottish resources over 30 years was 'the greatest act of international larceny since the Spanish stole the Inca gold', he said."

I wouldn't be so churlish. There you are, sweating away on the tube for unfeasibly long and over-priced commutes, working long hours in a city where you seem to need several kidneys to sell before you can afford a house - and all to 'subsidise my lifestyle'. The least I can do is raise a glass of Buckfast to you all.