Scottish independence: leaked confidential SNP document 'stresses need to move away from fossil fuels', Salmond and Sturgeon plan crippling higher taxes and higher energy bills for working class Scots, the truth eventually comes out always!

Dear All

It seems that every day something else surfaces why the people of Scotland shouldn’t vote Yes to independence.

In public Alex Salmond has been screaming about the riches of Oil, billions and billions of pounds just sloshing about the place.

The ‘lake’ however isn’t stable because although there is Oil, the SNP can’t control of the price on the world market.

Now, we have a leaked SNP document which contents are explosive, the document tells of the need to move away from "damaging, price-volatile fossil fuels".

For some time, I have been saying the independence bid is all wrong, there is no detail and there is no plan or vision.

Government and local government reform was the task of the second term of the Scottish Government, however, given reports, the first term although spun by the SNP as a success patently wasn’t.

I wrote previously that two successful terms of public office where needed as a minimum before a bid could be considered.

The SNP Document, titled Scotland's Energy Future, emerged only a day after Alex Salmond unveiled a major piece of spin stressing the value of North Sea oil to the economy.

Roll up roll up and get your £300,000 for every man and women in Scotland.

Except you can’t get the money!

The pro-UK Better Together campaign, which obtained the document, said it revealed SNP Ministers' private fears about relying too heavily on oil.

Recently Alex Salmond was shouting about and making claims of a second North Sea boom.

The only boom is the rather large sound of his independence dream exploding in his face, because the Nationalists have been using assumptions and trying to pass them off as facts, which is so shoddy that most would call it ‘dishonest politics’.

The renewable industry works, but it works because of heavy subsidy from Westminster, the technology isn’t developed enough, yes, it works, but it needs to work better to drive down costs to the consumers.

Research in this area is still ongoing, but for the SNP to be want to Promise more wind and wave power in an independent Scotland would probably mean higher energy bills.

The leaked SNP document states:

"The transition to renewable energy reduces our dependence on damaging, price volatile fossil fuels, bringing greater stability in energy prices for consumers."

The idea also claims public support for windfarms in Scotland which would allow them to expand while continuing to be subsidised by taxpayers in England.

In an independent Scotland, who can seriously believe that taxpayers in England will fork out their cash to heat the resident of another country!

Does that stack up with you?

I personally doubt it.

The report also confirms SNP plans to remain in a single energy market, the assumption is that the rest of the UK will agree to this, where is the evidence?

However, just like the pie in the sky, the SNP want to create a separate regulator which would be able to tackle fuel poverty.

The business of business is business, not charity.

So, yet again, we seem to be getting the cold hard facts from John Swinney's department, down the road or across the street, we have Alex Salmond and his merry men telling a different story.

And this isn’t the first time that the Finance Secretary has raised similar concerns about fluctuating oil revenues or indeed Scotland’s ability to pay its way.

Labour's shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said:

"This leaked paper yet again makes public the private concern of SNP ministers about the volatility and instability of oil prices. The tax we get from the North Sea is so volatile that the difference between the highest and lowest years is the equivalent of Scotland's NHS budget. By pooling our resources across the whole of the UK we can better manage the peaks and troughs of oil revenue."

The Conservatives' Scotland Office minister David Mundell said:

"I welcome the latest recognition from the Scottish Government remaining in the UK is the best way to secure our future. Their paper argues for the regulation of a single UK-wide market, as we have. It also argues for the continued subsidy of renewables by consumers across the UK, which already happens and gives Scotland a share of funding which is higher than its population share. The fact is Scotland needs the wide consumer base of the UK to underpin its renewables ambitions."

So, there are two versions running in the SNP, the spin from Alex Salmond and the real fears coming from John Swinney's department about how to balance the books.

When evidence like this is brought into the public domain, one can wonder how many people who have voted SNP in the past will still do so, clearly Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon don’t understand the big picture, and the small one is also a bit too much for them to grasp.

I sense what they don’t want to say publicly is that in an independent Scotland it won’t just be higher taxes that will be needed but big business will also experience the windfall of higher energy bills paid for the ordinary working class people of Scotland.  

I am voting No to independence, because I don’t trust Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University