Scotland would have had strongest currency in Europe

[Duke Malcolm]

Auntie Provides :

Papers reveal oil fears over SNP


A secret Whitehall dossier written 30 years ago has revealed that Labour ministers were concerned about the case for Scottish independence.
The information was kept confidential at the time to keep Nationalism at bay.

The paper was obtained by the Scottish National Party under freedom of information legislation.

Written by a leading government economist in 1974, it sets out how oil would have given Scotland one of the strongest currencies in Europe.

The report by Professor Gavin McCrone also stated that Scotland would have had "embarrassingly" large tax surpluses.

'Industrial desert'

But Dr McCrone's projections for independence were kept secret because of Labour's fears about a surge in SNP popularity.

The report shows officials advising ministers about how to take "the wind out of the SNP sails".

"This is a fundamental lie that the people of Scotland have been spun for 30 years" -Kenny MacAskill, SNP

Kenny MacAskill, of the Scottish National Party, said the report was proof of 30 years of official lies, cover-ups and betrayal.

He added that it showed how much Scotland would have benefited from independence and oil.

He said that in the 30 years since the report, Scotland had suffered low economic growth and manufacturing decline while at the same time oil wealth had "transformed" Canadian provinces and Arabian shiekdoms.

"Some have chosen when they've discovered oil to make the desert bloom and the tragedy was that in 30 years in some areas of Scotland, the UK Government has created an industrial desert," he said.

Service cuts

Mr MacAskill insisted that, with prices rising rapidly, oil was now "on the agenda" and he claimed an independent Scotland "would never be richer".

He added: "I would first of all like to have an apology from the UK Government for lying to us.

"We're not talking about something that's negligible.

"This is a fundamental lie that the people of Scotland have been spun for 30 years - that we were too wee, we couldn't do it, that the oil was going to run out - when they knew for 30 years that Scotland was sitting on a bountiful presence that would have transformed our economy for the better."

However Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling dismissed the document.

He said: "This is typical of the Nationalists, looking back to the past. This document is 30 years old.

"The fact is that all recent figures show an independent Scotland would have a fiscal deficit even if oil revenues are taken into account. That would mean cuts in public services."

[GoreBag]

Arrrgh. I friggin' knew it.

[Kagemusha]

You should break of from GB if they are only taking advantage of you.Then you guys can join in a nordic union with the scandinavian Countries.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

It's fun to see that the SNP were right all along.
However, I'm sure the revenues are now such that the argument would not work.

[GoreBag]

At this point, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and tell them to have a try. It's a good time to get in the oil market, what with the prices being so high.

[GoreBag]

That will never happen, realistically. "Shaken" is an extreme understatement.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

From an American perspective, the UK is an extremely bias union. Something should be shaken up so that all of the member "states" are treated equally.

Er, our whole country is substantially less than the size of some of your states. We don't need a federal system, we aren't large enough to warrant it.

The entirety of the UK is subsidised by the South and London, anyway. Seems a bit unfair to complain about an 'unfair union' on that basis.

[Marcellus]

From an American perspective, the UK is an extremely bias union. Something should be shaken up so that all of the member "states" are treated equally.

Rank Name Population (2001 census)
1 England 49,138,831
2 Scotland 5,062,011
3 Wales 2,903,085
4 Northern Ireland 1,685,267
United Kingdom 58,789,194

England forms 5/6th of the population of the UK, and most of its economic wealth. It's really not that surprising that politics in the UK seem 'biased' towards England. Actually, in some ways it's biased against England: we have no national assembly.

And BKS is right, London and the South East basically pays for all the rest of the UK (I seem to remember hearing that if the square mile [the very centre of London; the business area] were a separate country, then it would be the 14th richest on its own. In comparison the entirity of the UK is the fourth richest country in the world.)