SNP demands apology for secret oil revenue papers

THE SNP demanded an apology from the government yesterday after uncovering secret Whitehall papers detailing how North Sea oil would enable an independent Scotland to prosper.

Expert economic advice prepared for Tory ministers in 1974 and provided to the then Labour government the following year said an independent Scotland, "transformed" by oil revenues, could become a leading European power.

Kenny MacAskill, of the SNP, accused Labour and Tory ministers of "conspiring to deny Scots their rightful wealth" and demanded an apology.