In your dreams Nicola

When it comes to deciding whether to believe Frank Field or Nicola Sturgeon, it's a no-brainer, for Calton at any rate. It was not for nothing that Field was appointed poverty tsar by the coalition government in Westminster even although he is a Labour MP. He knows what he is talking about and is not afraid to speak his mind. Conviction politicians are a rare breed these days but Field is up there with the best of them. So, when he says that an independent Scotland will face an unaffordable pensions and welfare bill, Calton believes him. Let's face it - although parts of Glasgow have a lower life expectancy, well-off pensioners have been retiring to the nicer parts of Scotland for years, to the extent that some places resemble little England, and the net result is that we are going to have a higher proportion of over-65s to under-65s than down south. That means a bigger pensions bill with fewer tax payers to fund it. Sturgeon seems to think that oil revenues will solve all our problems and allow us to have a Scandinavian-style welfare system without the taxes to match. Dream on Nicola.