Summary
SO NOW we know. Even the Whitehall mandarins believed it was Scotland's oil. Secret memos released under the 30-year rule last week show that civil servants advising Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson thought black gold in the North Sea made Scottish independence a real possibility.
The rise of the then youthful and delightfully gung-ho SNPwas viewed with real fear and trepidation in London. SNP slogans at the time declared "It's Scotland's Oil", orwarned that we had the choice of being rich Scots or poor Brits. But Whitehall needed oil revenues to pay off the UK's massive debts. So the Sir Humphreys recommended that Wilson "buy off" the Scots. A frankmemo said we should be given "what they can be persuaded to accept as a satisfactory deal over oil" to "weaken demands for devolution and buy time". Yet, three decades later, Scotland has no oil fund. No share of the revenue. No deal.See the full content of this document
Extract
Why Did Everyone Think It Was Our Oil, Except Us?
The mandarins had nothing to fear.
Whitehall thought we would rebel:but it underestimated Scotland's capacity for self-flagellation.Scotland's growth continues to lag behind that of England, despite the oil.In those three decades we have seen the Home Counties develop into one of the richest, most ec...See the full content of this document
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