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11 April 2025

Scotland’s public spending timebomb

The country needs a Thatcher or a Blair to provide a dose of fiscal reality.

By Chris Deerin

The names of Graeme Roy and Stephen Boyle won’t ring many, if any, bells with the average Scottish voter. They are, however, two of the most significant and consequential figures in public life.

Roy and Boyle are the people’s brain and voice when it comes to keeping watch over the devolved state’s performance, the former as head of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, the latter as Auditor General.

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