OIL FIGURES SHOW COST OF UNION AS £814 MILLION CUT CONFIRMED

OIL FIGURES SHOW COST OF UNION AS £814 MILLION CUT CONFIRMED

£50 BILLION OIL REVENUES KEEP UK AFLOAT

CHANCELLOR REFUSES SCOTTISH SPENDING AS £10 BILLION OIL REVENUE INCREASE

Revenue figures for North Sea Oil contained in the Pre-Budget Report show Scotland’s oil will pump £50 billion into the UK Treasury over the next six years while Scotland’s spending is squeezed by London.

As the Scottish Parliament confirms a reduction of over £800 million in Scotland’s budget for the coming year after Labour failed to invest in Scottish recovery the Chancellor is relying on an additional £10 billion from the North Sea – equal to the revised cost of the bail out – to keep the UK economy afloat.

North Sea revenues for the next six years are expected to be higher than the money claimed by the Treasury in the years from 2003/4 to 2008/9.

Commenting on the figures SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie MP said:

“Scotland’s oil and gas is keeping the UK economy afloat at a time when the UK Government is cutting Scottish spending.

“With £50 billion expected in North Sea revenues over the next six years, more than the Treasury made in the last six years there is no clearer statement of the cost to Scotland of the Union.

"The Chancellor had the opportunity to deliver for Scotland and failed. Under the current constitutional arrangements, we don't have the borrowing powers needed to mitigate the damage his actions will cause.

“Scotland’s budget will fall by over £800 million next year, while revenues from our natural resources go through the roof.

“If we can take anything from today it is that Scotland - a country with a current budget surplus for three years running to the tune of 2.3 billion pounds, compared to a UK deficit of 24 billion pounds over the same period - desperately needs the full powers of independence to manage our own finances in a far more effective manner.

“While Labour cuts budgets, taxes hard working Scots and refuses to put forward essential investment in housing and recovery Scotland’s oil is bankrolling the rest of the UK.”