Scottish independence: how many times have Scots been lied and misled by Alex Salmond’s Government, John Swinney apologises and blames officials for misinterpreted indy oil jobs forecast, yet again facts that are fiction!

Dear All

How many times have we been lied too or misled by the Scottish National Party in Government?

The latest falsehood to be exposed that is that Scottish Government officials say they wrongly interpreted data.

The claim was made that the oil and gas industry would create 34,000 jobs in Scotland over the next two years.

Is this a pattern?

Working class Scots told something which when examined turns out to be untrue.

I said it before and I say it again, there is an issue of trust which Alex Salmond cannot hide from any longer.

The bogus figure of 34,000 was in fact referred to UK-wide jobs and not Scottish jobs.

Sooner or later the truth always gets out.

Once you have misled or lied in politics, how do people take you seriously? Mistakes happen, people understand genuine mistakes but when right across an entire range of subjects get slanted; people then close their minds.

The paper was published on July 23 and was amended three days later; however, this still leaves a bad smell.

John Swinney, SNP Finance Secretary has now acknowledged the error in a written response to Conservative finance spokesman Gavin Brown.

Everything that the SNP say or produce will be gone through line by line, checked, filed and cross referenced, lying isn’t an option.

  

Swinney said:

"This was a result of an incorrect interpretation of data presented by Lloyds Banking Group by Scottish Government officials in the original published version of Maximising the Return from Oil and Gas in an Independent Scotland. The Scottish Government report was subsequently updated on the 26 July 2013 and it now states that: 'Lloyds Banking Group forecast in March 2013 that future growth in the sector will create 34,000 jobs in the industry and related businesses across the UK over the next two years, with all areas of Scotland expected to benefit'."

Opposition parties haven’t been slow to seize on this latest debacle and accused the Government of trying to pretend the figure applied to Scotland alone.

They also added that the SNP Government sneaking out a correction to the paper on the quiet.

Mr Brown said:

"On many occasions the Scottish Government has put its own unusual interpretation on figures and tried to paint it as reality. This time it used a UK figure and pretended it was a Scottish statistic, then blamed Lloyds for the mistake. However, it turns out the error was the Scottish Government's and I'm glad that has now been clarified in black and white. It's also concerning to note the Scottish Government doesn't appear to have an estimate of the number of jobs that will be created in the oil and gas industry in future years. Given the separation argument relies heavily on the sector, this leaves a substantial gap; something that has to be addressed as soon as possible."

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said:

"I am sure there are a few red faces in government offices just now. What is more concerning is the fact that it seems ministers tried to correct the record without letting anyone know what they were up to. This was a basic factual mistake that should have been acknowledged and corrected in the full glare of the public eye. Instead they tried to sneak out a correction without fanfare while parliament was in recess."

The SNP Government is paralysed and has been so since all the SNP Ministers have ran off to chase the independence dream: what they should have done was to be at their desks doing their jobs.

There are so few people willing to work for Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon now!

The Scottish independence campaign is dead, anyone who is working class working for the campaign should face up to the fact that they are just used as cheap labour and regarded as a mug!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University