In the industry jargon, the SNIB is a “development finance company”, but it can more accurately be described as a wannabe sovereign wealth fund. The organisation defines its purpose as investing in Scottish companies that deliver not only commercial profits, but also “environmental, social, and financial returns for the people of Scotland”. The very idea seems parasitical — taking British (read: predominantly English) taxpayers’ money to invest solely on Scotland’s behalf, presumably with the longer-term vision of making the idea of an independent Scotland seem more economically viable.

In any case, the SNIB has hardly achieved dizzying success. In its first full financial year, the SNIB made a loss of £3.4 million. It is now facing a loss of up to £9 million on an investment made in Circularity Scotland. The company was supposed to be running Scotland’s deposit return scheme — an initiative which would have forced shoppers in Scotland to pay a 20p deposit when buying a canned or bottled drink and be refunded only when depositing the empty drink at a recycling centre.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters