CLAIM: "It's clear that an independent Scotland would start life with a large deficit. It would need to get that down, and that would mean difficult choices." - David Phillips, an associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), April 26, 2021. DOORSTEP ANSWER: No-one can say what Scotland’s debt or deficit might be until after the independence negotiations. If we refuse to take on responsibility for buying Trident and the like, our starting debt might be zero – like owning the house but having no mortgage. WHAT THE IFS SAID: The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an independent economic research body which specialises in taxation and public spending. It was founded in 1965 by a group of right-wing London bankers and investment managers who wanted to criticise the economic policy of the then Labour Government.