Dear All
Do you remember the SNP ran with a slogan
that ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’?
Well that campaign idea died a quick death
at the ballot box.
The Scottish National Party specialise in
local politics, the big politics such as done at Westminster is to their taste.
The public en masse reject pretty much
every candidate at election time, out of the entire number of Scottish MPs the
SNP manage to get only 6!
There are 6 SNP MPs there at present and in
the last election, the same 6 managed to hold their seats.
Now, as everyone climbs aboard for a no
vote, the latest bad, really bad news is that there are plummeting oil revenues
which have contributed to a reversal in Scotland's economic fortunes relative
to the UK.
What does that mean?
Well, the claim of living in one of the
wealthiest countries in the world has taken a rather large knock.
Oil revenues dropped by more than
two-fifths in 2012/13!
That is a huge drop of 40%.
You can’t gamble an economy on just Oil
wealth coming in through taxation; it is foolhardy bordering on incompetent.
Some time ago I said, the second term of
this parliament should be Government and local Government reform that never
happened and it should have. Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon rushed
into independence unprepared and out of their depth, woefully out of their
depth.
Now, Scotland's deficit is above the UK's
for the first time in recent years, according to Government Expenditure and
Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures.
And the SNP still don’t have a Plan B.
How would you feel if society was
effectively turned on its head because of an unplanned stoppage in the Elgin
oil field?
The entire country would be held to ransom
by an oil company!
The Elgin shutdown was a "one-off
event", according to Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond, who said he
does not expect unplanned stoppages every year.
He can see into the future?
If that was the case, can he explain why he
has made so many disastrous mistakes?
The SNP moved unpopular Nicola Sturgeon
into Alex Neil’s old job, so there was a shift in Scottish Government spending
towards capital investment.
This was to try and buy the vote and make
unlikeable Ms. Sturgeon popular.
Not enough money to achieve that project or
learning outcome.
Money went to projects such as building
schools and roads, and investments in national water board Scottish Water.
Scotland's deficit is -5.9%.
Have you noticed cuts to council budgets?
How does a supposed wealthy country like
Scotland which the SNP claim is rich have to any suffer cuts?
Alex Salmond's opponents’ say today's
publication of bad news is a "landmark" moment in the independence
campaign.
Last year's deficit would have made Scots
£500 per person poorer rising to £1,000 by 2016/17.
Trying to put a spin on the 40% drop, Salmond
said:
"North Sea revenue fell by 41% between
2011/12 and 2012/13. This, in part, was caused by unplanned disruption to
production and above average levels of spending on development.
"Capital investment by the oil and gas
industry reached a record £14 billion last year, and of course that reduces
receipts in the short-term because of capital allowances which will
substantially increase tax returns for the future. The key stoppage for this
year was the Elgin-Franklin field where the pipeline for the Elgin field came
down, which affected the whole transmission system of a number of other gas
fields. It had a significant effect on the overall production and therefore
revenue. Elgin-Franklin is now back in production, so it's a one-off event
which affected the 12/13 figures. I would argue that if you can have a decline
in oil revenue of over 40% in single year but still have a current balance
which is identical to the UK; that indicates the underlying strength of the
Scottish economy. In the last five years, Scotland would have been relatively
better off by £8 billion, or almost £1,600 per head. People can point at other
things and the electorate will judge whether there is consistency in looking
over the five-year period."
This is the same mentality that sunk the
Titanic; ‘everyone is alright no need to worry’, while the ship is sinking!
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny
Alexander said:
"Today the Scottish Government's
argument for independence has been undermined by their own figures”.
Alexander added:
"It shows that in 2012-13, the
Scottish deficit per person was almost £500 worse than that of the UK. By
2016-17 this gap is forecast to have widened to around £1,000 per person.
"
Alistair Darling, leader of the Better
Together campaign, said:
"This is a landmark moment in the
debate. This is the day that Alex Salmond's own figures made the case against
independence”.
Every day is a landmark; the Scottish
National Party has lost the plot because they are run by a nasty, vile, vicious
clique at their core, fronted by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
Darling added:
"If Scotland was independent today we
would have no option but to cut spending on services like schools and hospitals
or put up taxes - or probably both. Today as part of the UK we don't have to do
that."
Iain Gray, Labour Party's Scottish finance
spokesman, added:
"These figures are an embarrassment
for Alex Salmond and John Swinney and completely discredit the SNP's fiscal
case for independence. Their White Paper has cost taxpayers £1.3 million but
the economic predictions it contains are out by billions of pounds."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie
Rennie said:
"If this was the first day of
independence, Scotland's chancellor of the exchequer would be announcing an
emergency budget to increase taxes or cut spending on schools, hospitals and
universities. But because we share across the United Kingdom through good times
and bad, those decisions are not necessary. This shows the value of not being
dependent on one uncertain, volatile and finite resource."
It seems that many Nationalists have been
sold a ‘pig in a poke’ by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, much longer can
this dreadful campaign with no substance continue before people in the SNP realise
that they are being used not for independence but to shore up the current SNP
leadership who have betrayed them.
The Scottish independence campaign is dead,
much of the credit goes to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon who at every stage
undermined their own case by gross stupidity that beggars belief.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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