Talking-up Scotland

The case is building with the entry of Professor Andrew Cumbers who supports the Business for Scotland report as ‘correct’ in its assessment of the failures of the UK government to tax the oil majors at the same time as they were being taxed quite heavily by every other oil producing nation. See this graph from my earlier piece on the same topic:

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/08/05/oil-companies-making-more-at-50-per-barrel-than-they-did-at-100-per-barrel-yet-the-uk-government-is-not-taxing-them-is-this-a-ploy-to-undermine-the-case-for-scottish-independence-or-just-interlockin/

You’ll see at the bottom of this article the many media reports on this story. An answer is needed from Westminster. Professor Cumber and Business for Scotland re-told a story that had already been told in 2016 by the International Transport Workers’ Federation and reported in Tax Justice:

‘New analysis of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas suggests that the combination of tax giveaways by the government, and aggressive avoidance by multinationals, means that the country may actually be subsidising the extraction of its natural resources. A new report published today by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) sets out a series of shocking statistics on the UK’s failure to obtain an appropriate share of its own resource wealth. Among them, these stand out:

• In 2014, UK consumers paid 6 times more tax on petrol, excluding VAT, than the North Sea oil and gas industry paid on all taxes related to production.
• Chevron’s effective tax rate in 2014 on earnings from North Sea production was 5.4%; statutory tax rates (of various types) on oil and gas should have totalled 61-82%.
• In 2014, 3 (Shell, BP & Total) of the top 4 North Sea producers produced more than £4.3 billion worth of oil and gas and received over £300 million in net tax refunds.

The ITF argue that while the oil sector has successfully lobbied for and won huge tax breaks from the UK government, the companies involved continued to pursue aggressive tax avoidance as standard practice. The Chevron report (see graphic for UK structure, click to enlarge) provides a detailed case study of tax dodging tactics which are replicated by others, particularly Nexen – on which the Times had a frontpage splash yesterday, using ITF analysis to show that the Chinese government-backed company received tax credits of £2 billion.’

http://www.taxjustice.net/2016/08/25/uks-north-sea-oil-revenues-giving-away/

Now, writing for Common Space, Professor Cumber has added his weight to the Business for Scotland report and by implication, the earlier ones:

‘ENERGY SECTOR expert Andrew Cumbers, professor of regional political economy at Glasgow University, has told CommonSpace that a recent controversial report by the pro-independence think tank Business for Scotland is “correct about UK mismanagement of the North Sea, and I think that goes back years”.’

I guess it’s kind of obvious why the corporate media ignored the leftist International Transport Workers’ Federation and Tax Justice, in 2016. Perhaps they’ll feel obliged to pay more attention to a Glasgow University professor?

To further elaborate the evidence from the graph above and the quote just above, here is an extract from the CommonSpace account:

‘The BFS report, released in anticipation of this week’s Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures, claimed that the UK’s mismanagement of North Sea oil had cost Scotland tens of billions of pounds in the two years since the collapse in oil prices. BFS said that during the price crash, when a barrel of oil lost more than half of its price-value, Norway has made almost £29.33bn in oil and gas revenues. By contrast, the UK is predicting it will lose nearly £22.8m. However, BFS also pointed out that Norway kept taxation on oil at and gas at 78 per cent, and drew on its sovereign wealth fund to help workers, rather than subsidising large oil companies, as the UK does with its policy of tax rebates for new oil field exploration and rig decommissioning. If the UK Government had adopted the same policy, Scotland would have a multi-billion pound oil fund…..The continued approach to North Sea oil and gas … basically seems to be driven largely by corporate interest.’

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/11561/claims-uk-mismanaged-north-sea-oil-backed-energy-sector-expert

Other coverage though often contaminated by Murdo Fraser:

UK Government accused of ‘mismanagement’ of oil and gas industry – News for the Oil and Gas Sector

Oil ‘mismanagement’ blamed for Scotland’s deficit – The Courier

https://www.thecourier.co.uk › News › Politics › Scottish politics

Energy Voice | UK Government accused of ‘mismanagement’ of oil and …

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/…/uk-government-accused-mismanagement-…

Claims UK mismanaged North Sea oil backed up by energy sector …

https://www.commonspace.scot/…/claims-uk-mismanaged-north-sea-oil-backed-energ…

How Westminster helped squander Scotland’s black gold | Kevin …

https://www.theguardian.com › Opinion › Oil

Revealed: Westminster and the big lie about Scotland’s oil (From …

http://www.heraldscotland.com/…/15483952.Revealed__Westminster_and_the_big_lie_abo…

Pro-Scottish independence group claims Treasury threw away £17bn …

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/…/pro-scottish-independence-group-claims-treasury-thr…

This story should not be allowed to die. At the very least it has been incompetence or chummy corruption but it is also highly coincidental with Westminster’s need to undermine the case for Scottish independence in 2014 and in the years running up to the referendum.

The Scottish Fisherman’s Organisation is a collective, which processes catches for its members and has just reported a whopping (technical term) 88% increase in profits. This comes at the same time as other evidence of massive growth in the Scottish food and drinks industries which are currently dominating the UK export market. See, for example:

SNP Minister intervenes to ensure more fish are landed in Scotland to benefit both fishermen and local businesses that depend on fishing

With only 8% of the population, Scotland accounts for more than 28% of UK food and drink exports. Too wee to survive on our own?

As Scotland massively increases its number of breweries and distilleries, food and drink start-ups here have had a higher survival rate and have grown at a faster rate than in the rest of the UK

Scottish Government awards 13 firms £3.5m in new grants to maintain push for growth in food and drink sales

Dramatic growth in Scottish fish and shellfish farming output. More evidence we can thrive.

Scottish Fisheries stocks to rise significantly this year

Turnover for the group rose 40% to £19.1 million with exports accounting for £11.61 million of that and confidence is high for the year ahead.

http://www.insider.co.uk/company-results-forecasts/scottish-fishermens-organisation-can-thrive-11033016

Is this all? How can we expect to survive? We’ll starve! 😊

© theconstructionindex.co.uk

In 2016, STV reported:

‘The SNP Scottish Government has built or refurbished twice as many schools as the previous administration, Holyrood researchers have found.’

During the SNP administrations from 2008 to 2015, they built 607 schools while during the Labour administrations from 1999 to 2007, only 308 were built. The data was obtained by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice). I think this kind of information captures perfectly the advantages of government by a party independent of a London-based HQ.

https://stv.tv/news/politics/1363964-snp-built-more-schools-than-previous-administration/

Now, the SNP have committed to a further 116 new schools in this administration, spending £1.8 billion, despite Westminster cut-backs. Included in this will be:

• Jedburgh Intergenerational Campus will replace Jedburgh Grammar School, Parkside and Howdenburn Primary Schools, in the Scottish Borders
• Sighthill Community Campus will replace St Stephen’s Primary School and St Kevin’s Primary School in Glasgow
• Underbank Primary School and Walston Primary School in South Lanarkshire will both be replaced 

Notably, at least one new school project is being delivered in every local authority area in Scotland. Remember also, the SNP-led government has had to pick up the bill to repair the schools with collapsing walls built under Labour’s PFI scheme.

https://news.gov.scot/news/funding-for-new-schools-1

Combine this with the fact that the Scottish government is building twice as many affordable homes per capita than the Westminster government and you are again reminded of what governments should be doing.

SNP government spending on affordable housing to be more than twice, per head of population, than that of Tory government

© orkneyferries.co.uk

We’ve already seen the chaos the SNP has caused [sarcasm alert] by promoting tourism in the Western Isles. There have been huge cuts for vehicle passengers, like Oban to Mull, from £56.65 to £16.45 and Mallaig to Skye, from £29.05 to £12.20. Scottish ministers have since been blamed for promoting overcrowding chaos on Skye. Now the Aberdeen to the Northern Isles ferry charges are to be cut by 40% to promote tourism. Will there be chaos there too with horses of tourists blocking the roads?

Am I missing something? Don’t the islanders want more tourists spending more money? Shouldn’t the local businesses invest in bigger car parks themselves and set-up attractive guided bus tours so the tourists leave their cars in the car parks? Isn’t the Scottish Government doing just what it should be doing; stimulating rural economies?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/09/skye-islanders-call-for-help-with-overcrowding-after-tourism-surge

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/15068-minister-confirms-big-cut-in-ferry-fares

 

© pinterest.co.uk

You may think I’m scraping the barrel with this story….with my teeth, but there is, it has to be said a shortage of suitable stories for my blog at the moment. So, this from Yougov four days ago and strangely inflated by Fife Today’s report on the 9^th August, is todays addition to the evidence for the Scots being having stronger communitarian tendencies. You know the other things – free care for the elderly, bus passes, no tuition fees and the bedroom tax neutered.

So, it’s no surprise that we say we should slip more under the pillow of bairns traumatised by tooth extraction. According to Yougov, the UK average is 88p while the Scottish one is £1. I don’t like the new £1 coin, do you? But then, I never like change (joke pinched from the Edinburgh Festival)

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/08/18/brits-believe-tooth-fairy-should-pay-average-88p-t/

However, according to Fife Today’s unattributed survey, the Scottish average paid is £1.60 per tooth while the UK average is £1.49.

Maybe it’s two different surveys; one based on what respondents say we should give and one based on what we say we do give?

Either way, more damning evidence against the Union.

http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/lifestyle/tooth-fairies-pay-scottish-children-an-average-of-1-60-per-tooth-1-4525800

Using biofuel from from ‘draff’, the residue of husks after fermentation of the grain and the residual waste liquid ‘pot ale’, a car was driven round Edinburgh in July.

‘Whisky-fuelled car makes first journey’ Calm down it’s not the good stuff!

Now, a Scottish scientist, Douglas Martin who is only 26, has found another use by growing algae from Whisky ‘co-products’ and feeding the omega 3 rich algae to fish. The Edinburgh-based Scientist has won an award including £5 000 to help grow his company MiAlgae. This is, I gather, an example of the ‘circular economy’. I don’t know why it’s not just called recycling. Here’s how it works:

‘We use other industries’ waste, create microalgae from it, whilst also cleaning the co-products. Our process is the embodiment of the circular economy.’

https://sbnn.co.uk/2017/08/15/young-scottish-scientist-wins-low-carbon-entrepreneurship-award-shell-algae-start/

The global seaweed industry is worth more than $5 billion per annum. That was news to me I must admit. Although I know there is a seaweed industry in Scotland, especially on the west coast, where it’s used in food, cosmetics and in fertilisers. There was of course a lucrative kelp industry in the Western Isles in the not-so-distant past and the Scottish Government has just issued guidelines on ‘Building a commercial seaweed industry’ in Scotland:

https://news.gov.scot/news/building-a-commercial-seaweed-industry

The main risks to the industry however are disease and pests which can have devastating effects on the crop and the dependent population often in developing parts of the world with fragile economies.

So, Dr Elizabeth Cottier-Cook of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is to lead a project which aims to find solutions to the pest infestations and the disease but also to train local people in identifying and preventing the disease.

https://www.sams.ac.uk/news/sams-news-globalseaweed-launch.html

© heraldscotland.com

We’ve already seen the linked indicators of increasing health in the Scottish economy in demand for office and industrial space, in business confidence, in increased employment and in increased starting salaries:

‘Staggering’ 175% increase in Edinburgh office take-up is further evidence of booming Scottish economy

As economy grows faster in Scotland than in England, rents for industrial space climb faster here too

Nope, still no recession, Fraser of Allander ‘Institute’: Scottish employment climbs to record high while unemployment and inactivity falls over the quarter.

Scottish businesses showing signs of greater health than those in the rest of the UK

Good news for the Scottish economy again! Big rise in permanent jobs and starting salaries climb in Scotland

Predictably, house prices are starting to rise at a faster rate than in England and Wales too. According to Your Move and reported in the Insider, prices went up 4.6% in the last year, in Scotland, as opposed to only 3.3% in England and Wales. Bear in mind the English figures include the still booming South-East of England.

http://www.insider.co.uk/news/house-price-growth-scotland-outpacing-11007981

 

Why the UK’s geology means fracking will never come to Scotland and should never have been allowed in England because it’s 55 000 000 years too late!

Despite support for fracking falling to an all-time low of 17%, the UK government is pushing ahead and overriding the objections of local communities and local authorities. The health risks are well known but UK politicians insist standards will be higher in the UK than they have been in the US where we’ve seen several disasters. See, for example:

‘How 10 Years of Fracking Has Been a Disaster for Our Water, Land and Climate’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margie-alt/how-10-years-of-fracking_b_9806768.html

However, there is another issue rarely addressed and that is the general unsuitability of the UK’s geology compared to that of parts of the USA. A quite extended and complex piece from Oil and Gas People yesterday is summarised here. The link to the full piece is below.

I think these two extracts sum up the differences:

1. The most successful US shale areas, such as the Marcellus, Barnett, Haynesville and Bakken, all lie at depths and temperatures that mean they are ready to expel their oil and gas when fracked. The basins in which these occur are primarily in relatively stable, undeformed areas away from the edges of active tectonic plates, which geologists refer to as “intracratonic” basins. They are characterised by continuous layers of rock with only gentle dips and few fractures or major faults. This all aids subsurface imaging, gas/oil detection and the directional drilling needed for shale exploration.
2. A cursory look at the geological map of the UK shows a very different proposition. The whole land mass has been significantly uplifted by a chain of geological events that started some 55m years ago with the upward rise of a plume of magma under Iceland. This helped break the tectonic plate in two, pushing Greenland and North America in one direction and the eastern segment containing the British Isles in the other, forming the Atlantic Ocean in between…. In short, even where a shale source in the UK may have high organic content and thick and favourable mineralogy, the complex structure of the basins will be detrimental to ultimate recovery….As a result, the opportunity has been overhyped and reserve estimates remain unknown.

So, with hesitation, as non-geologist, I think what the report is saying is that the UK’s geology is too fractured, folded and complex for easy access to large economically viable deposits and that the rock itself often does not have a sufficiently high organic content there to be extracted.

Even considering UK basins said to hold large deposits such as in Lancashire and West Lothian, these rock formations were deformed, not for the first time, 290 million years ago making their structures even more complex and fractured. The report concludes that for UK shale oil extraction, it’s 55 million years too late!

https://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/14910/there-may-be-a-huge-flaw-in-uk-fracking-hopes/

From a piece in Insider yesterday:

‘Strong demand for whisky, salmon and beer has lifted UK exports by 8.5 per cent to a record high of £10.2bn in the first half of the year.’

Also, [UK] Food Minister George Eustice said:

‘These encouraging figures show that the UK’s high-quality foods and high standards are sought after around the world.’

There was no mention, of the enormous and disproportionate role that Scottish food and drink plays in all this success. See:

With only 8% of the population, Scotland accounts for more than 28% of UK food and drink exports. Too wee to survive on our own?

Scottish Government awards 13 firms £3.5m in new grants to maintain push for growth in food and drink sales

As Scotland massively increases its number of breweries and distilleries, food and drink start-ups here have had a higher survival rate and have grown at a faster rate than in the rest of the UK

Once more, the evidence for full autonomy shouts out loud.

http://www.insider.co.uk/news/soaring-whisky-salmon-sales-help-11008755