If London subsidises the rest of the UK, where does that leave Scotland? | Nils Pratley

ONS regional breakdown of taxes and spending highlights Brexit threat - and clouds case for Scottish independence

It hardly counts as news that the UK is really two economies but here are the hard numbers to demonstrate the point. London, the south-east and the east of England recorded net fiscal surpluses in 2016 - in order words, tax receipts exceeded public spending on a per-head basis. The rest of the UK was in deficit, says the Office for National Statistics in its first such regional breakdown.

Some differences were substantial. At one end of the scale, London showed a surplus of just over 3,000 per person - the difference between revenues of 15,756 per head and spending of 12,686. Northern Ireland had the biggest deficit - about 5,400 per person - and Wales was next at 4,500.

Related: London economy subsidises rest of UK, new ONS figures show