Dave Thompson MSP

Danny Alexander has come under fire by First Minister Alex Salmond for downplaying the potential of North Sea oil. The First Minister stated that the Scottish Government’s detailed forecasts are based on robust assumptions and that Mr Alexander should acknowledge the expertise and authority of Sir Donald Mackay, Economic Adviser to the Secretary of State for Scotland, who quite literally wrote the book on the political economy of North Sea oil, rather than cite the OBR’s ability to pinpoint the next three decades when they have failed to forecast accurately for the last three years.

Dave Thompson MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch said: “This is another example of Danny Alexander and the Treasury playing hard and loose with Scotland’s economic outlook and follows a report by Professor Dunleavy on Scotland’s transition costs to independence, which was commissioned by the Sunday Post and produced by the London School of Economics, that found Danny Alexander’s UK Treasury exaggerated the set up costs by over £1bn”.

Mr Thompson highlighted: “The downplaying of Scotland’s oil forecasts and the report from Professor Dunleavy highlights yet more examples of the UK Government’s attempts to peddle fear on independence and shamefully this has been aided and abetted by Highland MP Danny Alexander”.

My Thompson went on: “Neither the UK Government nor the Scottish Government can predict the future with absolute certainty. However, in the lead up to the referendum, both Governments have a duty to inform the general public in as honest a manner as possible, as this will lead to better informed decision making come the day of the vote”.

Dave concluded: “The UK Government is losing credibility with each new scare story that is found to be untrue. The general public are losing patience with this style of campaigning which is why the polls are showing more and more people declaring their intention to vote “yes” in September”.

Notes:

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) last week cut 25% from its own previous pessimistic forecasts for the oil and gas sector.  The OBR now claims that total oil and gas receipts between 2013-14 and 2040-41 will amount to just £39.3bn - a massive £17bn less than it forecast last year and £22bn less than two years ago.

The OBR followed yet another downgrading of the estimated revenue from the North Sea by the body set up by UK Chancellor George Osborne.

Sunday Post Article

http://www.sundaypost.com/news-views/scotland/independence-referendum/independence-on-trial/costs/dunleavy-report-the-true-costs-of-uk-split-revealed-1.434938