IF anything highlights the incompetence of the UK Government then it must be the news that, apparently, it is now losing money from North Sea oil and gas (“North Sea oil crisis us costing taxpayers millions”, The Herald, October 22). It seems that being able to make a profit from such a valuable resource is beyond the bean counters in Westminster.
If anything this latest example of failure from the UK Government highlights why we should never allow them to make decisions over Scotland's future.
regards,
Kenny MacLaren,
2 Avondale Drive, Paisley.
IT is now costing Scottish taxpayers to subsidise the oil companies to take our oil out of our waters.
We are giving our steel production to the Chinese and now paying the Americans to take our oil.
Is this not the economics of the madhouse? So much for the broad shoulders of the UK.
WP Kerr,
56 Sandyknowes Road, Cumbernauld.
READING our Energy Minister’s assurance that the forthcoming fiscal reforms will "encourage additional production and investment that will boost government revenues in the coming years" in relation to the oil industry, can only recoil in disbelief at such a bland response to the news (that North Sea oil revenues have turned negative – that is, the UK in effect pays the oil companies to continue producing.
It may be that there will be a rapid reversion to positive tax returns when the oil price rises as it will eventually (Saudi Arabia cannot keep on flowing in excess, can it?), but there will almost certainly never be anywhere near the 2011-2012 estimate of £10 billion (Scotland's balance sheet 2013), more likely less than £2bn given the expenditure needed for the remaining deep-sea reserves. So the current estimate for our annual fiscal deficit of £15bn will continue to dominate fiscal thinking - taking into account that it is embedded in the UK's annual £100bn deficit, we don't actually see it ourselves yet, anywhere than we see our share of the UK's £1,600bn accumulated debt - our share of about £120bn is embedded in that.
Holyrood and Nicola Sturgeon need to tell us how it is planned to manage in the future to continue spending as much as we do if full fiscal autonomy does eventuate – no more extra expenditure per head compared with the average UK citizen, currently between £1,200 and £1,60 according to how it is estimated. Massive borrowing as replacement only adds to the debt and fiscal deficit woes.
Joe Darby,
Glenburn, St Martins Mill, Cullicudden, Dingwall.
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