New study proves Scottish independence would cost billions (and billions and billions)

Another day, another BBC anti-independence headline, this time its "Scottish independence: Cost of new bodies 'could be £1.5bn'"

Reading further we discover "The cost of setting up all the bodies needed in an independent Scotland could be £1.5bn, the UK Treasury has claimed. It based the figure on research into the costs of setting up an independent state in Quebec, which have been estimated at 1% of GDP"

One wee thing, aside from all the state institutions Scotland already has, struck me reading this, Quebec i.e. French Canada, speaks French, the rest of North America? Less so. So the comparison doesn't appear especially valid (give or take the likelihood of additional subsidies for cheucters) given language imposes additional costs on a state, like translators, documentation and what no. Then there are the savings to be made from no longer paying for London based civil servants (and the associated debate over what Scotland's share of those assets should be). Hey ho.