Scots should control fair share of oil, says Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo said 'What I have in mind is full fiscal autonomy for Scotland ... full authority for Scotland to raise its own taxes and ... the end of UK subsidy to Scotland'

By David Lee and David Maddox
Published on Monday 14 November 2011 12:15

THE UK government should give Scotland an “appropriate” share of North Sea oil and gas revenues to preserve the Union, according to the former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo.

Mr Portillo told The Scotsman the UK government should take control from the SNP of the debate on Scotland’s future, and that England was “sleeping while events go on north of the Border”.

He said he did not think there was an appetite for independence in Scotland – and that “in his heart of hearts”, First Minister Alex Salmond knew he could not deliver it. Mr Salmond, he said, was playing “a new game where he pretends he’s after independence but hopes we settle somewhere in middle”.

The former defence secretary – who was once tipped to become prime minister and who still wields huge influence as a political commentator – called on the UK government to offer the SNP full fiscal autonomy, adding that Scots would find this difficult to refuse, so maintaining the Union.

“What I have in mind is full fiscal autonomy for Scotland, which would require the settlement of the division of oil and gas between England and Scotland, full authority for Scotland to raise its own taxes and to set its own rates of corporation tax and income tax, the end of UK subsidy to Scotland and the settlement of the West Lothian Question.”

He added: “You would be trading whatever share was deemed appropriate of oil and gas, which is a declining resource, whose price is very volatile, against the certainty of UK income.”

His comments are at odds with those made by Chancellor George Osborne, who said on Friday that the ball was in Mr Salmond’s court on an independence referendum. Mr Osborne said yesterday that uncertainty over the referendum was harming Scotland’s economy.

Asked where he thought the power lay in the debate over Scotland’s future, Mr Portillo said: “All the momentum is with Alex Salmond. The UK government seems to be mightily distracted by other issues and I think England is sleeping while events go on north of the Border.

“As for the legal position, I am not qualified to comment but if the UK called a referendum on the future of Scotland, it would be difficult to contest that they had right to do that. It might not be the brightest thing to do because that might be another example that people would cite of the UK imposing its will on Scotland.”

Mr Portillo, who made a documentary on Mr Salmond before this year’s election, said this approach might play into the SNP leader’s hands.

“I think the UK government would have to think about that very, very carefully,” he said. “There is an alternative, which is the UK government making an offer to Scotland that many Scots would think too good to refuse but which might have some problems for Alex Salmond.”

He said full fiscal autonomy would open up “inconsistencies” in the SNP position, adding: “As an Englishman I don’t feel particularly threatened by fiscal autonomy for Scotland.”

However, Mr Portillo was not sure if there was an “honest broker” who could deliver such a deal, and accepted it would be difficult for Prime Minister David Cameron to do it himself.

He said he “profoundly hoped” there was serious thought being given at Westminster to the future of Scotland, but added: “I’m not aware of one [an honest broker to make an offer on fiscal autonomy] because Alex Salmond has been left the field so much to himself. What political rival does he face? None.”

Mr Portillo did not think that Mr Salmond’s political strength in Scotland would necessarily be his undoing. He said: “Anybody who is in a supreme position – one thinks of Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher – is in danger from himself or herself, but it can take a long time to work through.

“I think, across his career, Alex Salmond has made a number of mistakes but he is pretty good at recovering from them. I don’t see his day of doom coming particularly close. I came up in April to make a programme that was possibly about the last days of Alex Salmond and it soon became pretty clear it was not that. This is not a man to be underestimated.”

Mr Salmond was “absolutely on the front foot” in the constitutional debate, Mr Portillo said

“He probably gets up every morning and thinks about this and has done for many years,” he said. “But for David Cameron – who has actually been very thoughtful about Scotland – it is one of a very long list of things he has to pay attention to, and obviously with Libya and the euro and so on, he’s obviously not giving it the attention Alex Salmond is.”

Mr Portillo said he thought Mr Cameron had been very careful not to upset the Union by taking on issues such as the West Lothian Question.

“I have always been quite impressed that although the Conservative position now in Scotland is so desperate and that there might be an argument to make the case for English votes on English matters, David Cameron has not done that,” he said.

“He did not make anything of the West Lothian Question when Gordon Brown was leader. If I had been leader, I’d probably have said that it was intolerable to have a Scottish MP leading the UK Parliament making decisions over English people that did not affect his constituency in Scotland – but Cameron made nothing of that. He has been very concerned not to upset the Union.”

Last night Mr Portillo’s approach was welcomed by SNP ministers. A spokesman for the First Minister said: “Mr Portillo’s comments on fiscal autonomy and control of oil revenues do at least put forward a positive Unionist alternative as we approach the referendum – something wholly lacking from the Westminster parties themselves.”

The SNP’s opponents agreed with Mr Portillo that Mr Salmond is not genuinely pushing for full independence but is looking for “independence lite”.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “What seems to matter most for Alex Salmond is getting anything at all he could claim as a personal legacy. But it shouldn’t be about Alex. Scotland wants a straightforward, single, unambiguous referendum question. If he really has Scotland’s best interests in mind he would stop prevaricating and get on with it.”

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: “The SNP has a mandate for a referendum, but they have an obligation to the people of Scotland to do so on the basis of a clear question and on a fair timescale.”

On the money or figures of fiction?

THE nationalist government's senior economic adviser will publish a controversial annual report on Scotland's expenditure and revenue, which the SNP derided as a "dodgy dossier" during the election campaign.

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Eddison548

Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 08:18 AM

We had huge amounts of oil ,what do we get in return.the dearest fuel costs in Europe ,living in poverty in rubbish housing that costs a fortune and now over run with immigrants.Better we had never found the black stuff.

Scots should control fair share of oil, says Michael Portillo

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