Scotland – The Land of Milk and Honey Where Everything is Free

If you want to live the life of Riley, go to Scotland. Money from England is just thrown at you at every point of your existence. Scotland receives around £45–50 billion per year via the Barnett formula block grant (for recent years like 2024/25–2025/26), with the latest 2025-26 figure reaching a £50 billion burden.

Public spending per head in Scotland is notably higher than in England (e.g., ~14% higher for identifiable expenditure in recent data).

Each person in Scotland receives around £2,400–£2,700 more in public spending per year than the average in England (latest 2024/25 figures).

Latest Official Figures (2024/25)

England: £13,134 per person
Scotland: £15,563 per person
Difference: £2,429 more per person in Scotland (about 18.5% higher than England)

University tuition is free for eligible Scottish-domiciled students (those ordinarily resident in Scotland) studying full-time undergraduate degrees in Scotland. Students from the rest of the UK (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) pay full fees in Scotland, currently up to around £9,535 per year. International students pay much higher overseas fees (£10,000–£26,000+ per year depending on the course and university).

The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2024-25 report shows that Universal Credit benefits payments are rising at exponential rates in Scotland. From £3.187 billion (2022-23) to £3.903 billion (2023-24) to £5.245 billion (2024-25). Some Scottish families on benefits can receive up to £67,000 per annum, not including free NHS care, housing, education, and a free top-of-the-range car.

This reflects higher caseloads, uprating for inflation, and the ongoing rollout/expansion of UC under the Labour government.

No doubt, with the amount of money thrown at the Scots, £400,000 was syphoned off by the Scottish National Party chairman and his wife, Nicola Sturgeon; the theft was hoped to be overlooked; however, a turn of bad luck caused the illicit activity to be uncovered. This is a tiny part of the endemic corruption and fraud that encapsulates a place where literally billions of English taxpayers’ money are thrown every year. No doubt, there is a lot more going on under the radar that will never come to light.