Professor John Bryson of Birmingham University – an expert in enterprise and economic geography – used the economic track record of a newly independent Ireland as a blueprint for how Scotland would fare should it ever vote to leave the UK.

The professor said it could take 30 to 60 years for Scotland to reach a prosperous fiscal footing, with the intervening period marked by a decline in living standards and public services.

“The Scottish Government should acknowledge that post-independence would involve a long adjustment period,” he wrote in an analysis of the recent paper released by the Scottish Government on Scotland’s post-independence economy.

“I would suggest this should take between one or two generations, or between 30 and 60 years.

“These will be difficult years during which living standards and public service provision will decline as Scotland negotiates a new future with Britain and with other trading partners.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Politics Matters

Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter and join the fightback against Scottish Nationalism.