Are you feeling £1,400 better off every year?
by Back in March 2025, we asked a simple question based on independent economic analysis: Do you feel £1,400 better off every year?
We asked it because that was the amount of money the Westminster government said every Scot would be better off every year if the voted ‘No’ in the 2014 independence referendum.
Yet, due to the very same Westminster government’s disastrous economic policies that was the amount that had been lost by every family in Scotland.
Fast forward to today, and a devastating new report reveals that the financial damage inflicted by Westminster hasn’t just continued – it has rapidly accelerated into a full-blown collapse of individual living standards.
The landmark UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 has delivered a damning verdict on the state of the UK economy. It reveals that between 2020 and 2025, the average wealth per adult in the UK plummeted by an astonishing 23.2%.
Think about that for a moment. Under Westminster’s watch, the average adult in this country now owns nearly a quarter less than they did just five years ago.
This isn’t just a post-pandemic blub affecting everyone equally. Out of more than 30 major economies analysed by UBS, the UK suffered the single biggest drop in individual wealth on the planet.
While independent European nations protected their citizens, the UK plummeted faster and further than countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, or Kazakhstan.
As SNP MSP David Linden noted:
“We now have it confirmed that the average UK adult owns almost a quarter less now than they did just five years ago. The UK’s economic model is fundamentally broken. Growth has evaporated and the cost of living has skyrocketed as broken, Brexit Britain has fallen behind the rest of the world.”
The UBS report uncovers an even uglier truth thst while typical households are being drained, the very richest are pooling more assets than ever.
While median wealth – what a typical person actually owns – collapsed, the UK still managed to mint 43,000 new US dollar millionaires in 2025 alone.
This isn’t an accident; it’s the natural result of an economic system designed to funnel wealth upward while leaving the rest of society to scramble for crumbs.
We don’t just have to rely on international banks to see the rot. Every piece of economic data published since our last look in 2025 confirms that the UK is trapped in a spiral of decline and division:
- Deepening Poverty:The Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty 2026 Report revealed that progress on tackling poverty has completely flatlined, remaining stuck between 20% and 22% for two decades, while the depth of poverty has grown significantly more severe. The verdict from their grassroots groups was simple: “Nothing’s changed? Everything’s changed. It’s worse.”
- Gaping Structural Inequality:According to data updated by the House of Commons Library on Income Inequality, OECD indicators confirm that the UK maintains some of the absolute highest levels of income inequality in the entirety of Europe.
- Billionaire Power vs. Everyday Struggle:The Oxfam 2026 Global Inequality Report put a spotlight on the staggering concentration of British wealth, confirming that the richest 56 people in the UK now hold more wealth than 27 million of their fellow citizens combined.
The message from these figures is unarguable: The Westminster economic model is completely finished.
Whether it is a Tory government or a Labour government holding the keys to Downing Street, the structural foundations of Westminster remain identical.
They are firmly committed to a Brexit that cuts us off from the world’s largest single market, depresses economic growth, and drives up the price of everyday essentials.
People in Scotland should not be forced to face the threat of a “Farage-style future” inside a failing, broken UK state.
We have a choice. Through a fresh start with independence, Scotland can escape the gravitational pull of Westminster’s economic decline.
We can rejoin the European Union, unlock our immense renewable energy wealth, and build a fairer, more egalitarian society where economic growth actually benefits the majority – not just the top 1%.
The data proves that staying under Westminster rules means watching your hard-earned wealth disappear year after year. Independence is no longer just a political choice; it is an economic necessity to protect our families and secure our future.