Scottish nationalism’s oil dilemma
Once the black stuff fuelled separatism. These days it is a political headache
FOR FIFTY years the Scottish National Party (SNP) ran on oil. The discovery of deposits beneath the North Sea in 1969 transformed Britain’s public finances, and ignited the separatist movement. Before the independence referendum of 2014, Alex Salmond, the party’s leader, told Scots that Westminster had frittered away their riches, pointing to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund as an example to follow. Even after defeat, Nicola Sturgeon, his successor, charmed oil executives, stressing their shared ambition to suck the seabed dry.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Slippery”
Britain August 21st 2021
- Policymakers weigh up the future of Britain’s pandemic state
- Out of lockdown, Britons are discovering other viruses still exist
- The number of young adults in Britain is about to rise sharply
- Scottish nationalism’s oil dilemma
- Boris Johnson promises to take in more Afghan refugees
- For some MPs Afghanistan is personal as well as political
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