Let us first turn to oil, I know this is a well-beaten path to the point of boredom but bear with me for the time being. It has been recorded multiple times this year that the North Sea oil & gas industry will see record investments. A record amount of £13 billion will be invested this year, and with as much as £44 billion expected to be invested over the next five years. In anyone's eyes, this is obviously a sign that the Scottish oil & gas sector is still a strong industry that continues to attract billions worth in investments year on year. It also shows that oil reserves are not declining at the rapidity which unionists claim they are; there is still as much as £1.5 trillion worth in the North Sea sector alone, with the Scottish North Atlantic sector, extending all the way to Rockall, still untouched. And besides, why would multinational companies be investing so many tens of billions into a "volatile and declining" resource?
Not in the eyes of unionists and the UK government however. They still rattle on that North Sea oil revenues are a "dangerous and volatile basis for the Scottish economy". Yet when they talk about it on a UK level, it not longer becomes a burden but a blessing. This hypocrisy shows the real reason Westminster wants to keep Scotland, self interest. For them, Scotland's revenues are a handy way to finance their primary focus on developing London, leaving everywhere else in the UK trailing behind like provincial backwater's.
It has been known for many years, despite the UK government's best attempts at keeping it secret, that Scottish oil revenues are what kept the Thatcher government afloat in the 80's. They've contributed as much as £300 billion to the Treasury since the first drill was operational. It was the Scottish oil in the 80's which allowed Thatcher to dismantle Scotland's manufacturing base and go ahead with her rapid programme of privatisation.
Therefore it can clearly be seen that in terms of North Sea oil, the UK government are being extremely hypocritical. They know that North Sea oil & gas is still a viable and prosperous sector, and are not afraid to prop it up and revere it as an integral part of the UK economy. Yet when it comes to Scotland, the oil revenues somehow become a burden to us, and are not something we should base our economy on. Yet here's the thing, Scotland's economy would not be based on oil at all. Scotland's economy is open, diverse and as developed as any other European nation. Scotland has a quarter of the whole of Europe's renewable energy potential and is the epicentre of research and development for renewables in Europe. We still have a strong manufacturing base in terms of electronics, making 28% of Europe's PC's. And Scotland is also one of the main places in Europe for games development, with leading company Rockstar based in Inverness, and such places as Dundee being one of the games development hubs of Europe.
This phenomenon amongst unionist figures reveals yet again one of the lies in their argument. They state that in fighting for the union, they are working Scotland's best interests. When instead they are only working in one interest, their own. They are using Scotland's open and prosperous economy that could benefit the people of Scotland massively under independence, to finance their obsession with London and the banking sector. Thatcher did it, and the government today are doing it. To stop our wealth and resources being siphoned off in the future to fund a corrupt and greed-ridden system, we have to votes Yes in 2014, for our generation and the many future generations to come.
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