– The REAL Reason Britain is Freaking Out About Scottish Independence (Washington’s Blog, Sep 17, 2014):
David Cameron and the British media have been freaking out about the potential Scottish independence.
They’ve blathered on about “history”, “common defense” and other red herrings.
But it’s really all about oil …
Specifically, if Scotland becomes independent, it gets to keep 90% of the revenues from its huge oil reserves.
The New York Times reports:
Scottish nationalists have long argued that being governed from London has deprived their country of its fair share of the wealth from Britain’s oil and natural gas fields, which mostly lie in North Sea waters off their shores.
“It’s Scotland’s oil” was the rallying cry in the 1970s that helped raise the profile of the Scottish Nationalist Party, which now leads the country and is pushing for a vote to secede in the referendum on Thursday. Alex Salmond, the politician leading the separatist movement, has pointed to North Sea energy as the treasure that would help finance an independent Scotland — ensuring that the country could continue the generous public spending, including free university tuition, that he is promising voters.
Al Jazeera notes:
Massive oil reserves in the North Sea are at the heart of the Scottish independence debate. Many are questioning whether the reserves are just for Scotland or if the rest of the United Kingodm should continue to benefit from their profits.
NBC writes:
The ‘Yes’ campaign … says Scots should have total control of their own affairs and that revenue from Scotland’s offshore oil fields would sustain the country’s economy.
In addition, as Max Keiser explained:
(1) The UK can now borrow cheaply using the giant Scottish oil reserves as collateral
(2) If Scotland leaves, the collateral (oil reserves) is no longer available
(3) So the cost of borrowing money for Britain skyrockets
Scotland’s North Sea oil reserves are slowing running out, and so oil won’t be such a valuable resource forever. But for now, it is still invaluable (especially as collateral for British borrowing) … and the key to Britain’s panic over potential Scottish independence.
The UK will find a way to keep Scotland, they will use lawyers, lawsuits, etc. If anyone has ever read Dickens, the UK legal system takes cases and can go for generations without end…….if Scotland votes for freedom, the fight goes on for generations.
If Scotland were to succeed, and get free of the UK, they would be smart to join BRICS. The UK ought to do the same…..you can keep your own currency.
Scotland can’t control the oil output. It has only one refinery, at Grangemouth, which is 51% owned by Queen. Liza & the Rothschilds.
The next two biggest investors in the North Sea are Chevron ( part of Rockefellers Exxon) and Shell ( again the Royals & Rothschilds) Brent is a Shell field.
Finally, as discusses here many times, the fields became marginal 10 years ago, and it will be interesting to see how they bargain it balanced with the exponential costs of getting it out of the ground.
This is all academic now as Scotland has chosen to stay in the Union.
English voters will now loudly demand a re-calibration of, or an end to, The Barnett Formula. Devised in the 1970’s during another period of potential devolution jitters it allows slightly more money to be given to Scotland (per head of population) than England. What concentrating on this formula neatly avoids is consideration of income: Barnett only deals with expenditure. This is a double blow for Scotland as Britain keeps the oil revenues and will now have the support of English voters to reduce expenditure in Scotland. Nice.