We all saw this happen before under Thatcher. The SouthEast of England went through a housing boom, a bonuses boom and then a mini recession whilst the Scots, Northern English and Welsh slid into greater deprivation and squalor. And we (even I ) blamed it on Thatcher. Now it seems its the mentality to blame. Blair and Westminster now has the honour of pushing more Scots into squalor than Thatcher ever did.

Gross domestic product indicators, show people in London and the southeast are now 59% better off than those in the northeast - the poorest region - compared with 43% in 1989.

Some Scots HAVE increased their wealth but at the expense of an increasingly poor majority.