It is that time of year again, when the 'notional' state of Scotland's public finances is revealed and everybody - surprise! - discovers that the numbers back up whatever they already thought.

Scotland's newspaper columnists on Thursday binged on GERS and the never-ending constitutional debate such figures provoke.

The Daily Mail

Staunchly unionist, the right-wing tabloid had already breathlessly outlined what it sees as the horrors of independence before writer John MacLeod got his tuppence.

The latest numbers show a theoretical deficit of nearly £13 billion between tax raised in Scotland and government spending in the country - and our share of UK expenditure.

"These figures are the stuff of Nationalist nightmares," wrote Mr MacLeod. "Cynics can make ready use of them as a bullet through the heart of the First Minister's lifelong dream, independence itself."

Mr MacLeod said the notional deficit was why Nicola Sturgeon "was much keener on threatening a second referendum than organising one" and why, despite Tory woes at Westminster, "Nationalist nerves are taut and morale strained". The FM, he suggested, will be off soon.

The National

Over at The Herald's pro-independence sister paper there was a very different stance from its columnist Lesley Riddoch. Now Ms Riddoch reckons there are hidden transfers from Scotland to England within GERS. She cites one well-known factor: that English people live longer and therefore soak up far more social security, per capita.

READ MORE: Tory moots Scots 'freeport' amid EU fears of money-laundering

This theme of the 2014 independence referendum has been re-animated this week after a Tory think tank suggested raising the pension age to 75 - two years after the average Glaswegian man dies.

"The longer life expectancy of wealthy people means they draw pensions for a longer period than poorer folk," Ms Riddoch wrote. "Thus, a pensioner in Chelsea may live to the ripe old age of 90 and collect 25 years of pension, representing 150% of the National Insurance contributions he or she is likely to have made.

"Meanwhile the average pensioner in Easterhouse will probably live until 72, collect just seven years of pension (unless Iain Duncan Smith’s shameful proposals rob them of even that) and get back only a half of the NI contributions paid in. So, working Scots on low incomes with relatively short life expectancies are currently helping finance the pensions of longer-living folk elsewhere. That’s the bad news. The good news is that this Scottish pensions “underspend” would create money in the kitty for a better state pension upon independence."

READ MORE: Paper Review: "It will be war" between SNP and Wings Party

The Daily Express

Arch-unionist columnist Alan Cochrane targetted Ms Sturgeon herself. People who accuse the FM of ignoring the job are wrong, Mr Cochrane said. "La Sturgeon reckons that winning independence is the day job and everything else - like running the country - is secondary," he argued. "That is why she cleared off to Shetland yet again instead of facing the music over accounts that show Scotland's deficit is the worst in Europe."

Mr Cochrane, however, also took a swipe at the Tory leadership in London and its No-deal Brexit preparations. "I find their so-called reassurances far from convincing," he said.

"I 'm not suggesting any of them are lying; it's just that they haven't a clue what's going to happen after October 31, always assuming we get that far in one piece.," he added.

"There has never, ever, been such a time of appalling uncertainty - other than war - in British public life."

READ MORE: Brexiteer Scottish Secretary equates SNP to extreme nationalists overseas

The Courier

Alex Bell used to advise the SNP. Now he is looking beyond the party, which he says exists merely "to create the ideal circumstances for a vote on Indy". "Even if GERS is inaccurate it implies there would be some reduction. There is an urgent need for model budgets for post-independence scenarios.

Mr Bell reckons there is room for a new party - though not the one tentatively proposed by blogger Stuart Campbell of Wings Over Scotland. "Instead, there is a desperate need for a group focused on life after Yes. This would bypass SNP "bluff "and unionist "hysteria" on finances.

"In truth," he wrote, "neither side is clear on what would happen after a es vote.

"The future is there to be shaped, or at least better understood.

"Certainly Scotland could be a lot better prepared. The old white paper on independence was never more than a sales brochure, and the Wings Over Scotland Wee Blue Book only a primer on how to be offensive. If Scotland is serious about a new nation protecting prize public services while playing a constructive role in the world, it needs a new approach, and no