Oil in the open

Donnie Morrison (Letters, 23 April) is entirely wrong to suggest that the UK Government somehow “hid” information about North Sea oil wealth.

Not only was oil revenue made clear from the outset, but forecasts about future income – which were actually overly optimistic – were in the public domain from the early 1970s.

The SNP, which often asked for this information to be repeated in parliamentary questions at the time, certainly knew about the full extent of North Sea oil – it was used extensively in its election materials. Far from “highly confidential”.

David Gardiner