BBC Question Time: Ruth Davidson Says The SNP Has Been 'Found Out' After Oil Revenue Crash

The Scottish National Party has been accused of trying to “con” the Scottish public into voting for independence after figures emerged showing the collapse in North Sea oil has dented the country's finances. On BBC’s Question Time, Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, claimed the SNP had been “found out” over it claims each Scot would be £500 better off out of the United Kingdom. But the SNP’s John Swinney, the finance minister, said the claims were based on a single year’s figures. The heated exchange was one of many that underlined how the fall-out from the 2014 “No” vote continues to glow.

This week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled official figures showing Scotland last year ran up a £15 billion deficit that was proportionately twice the size of the UK’s. She blamed the collapse in the oil price and UK Government “mismanagement” of the North Sea. But next year’s oil revenues are expected to be far worse, with Scottish government figures showing the total income fell from £1.8 billion in 2014/15 to only £55 million in the first half of 2015/16. During Question Time from Dundee, Davidson attempting to pick apart the SNP’s economic case for going it alone, arguing: “You can’t sell a case for low taxation, high welfare on an oil price that was unusually high, with revenues that were unassailable and unprovable. They’ve been found out.”


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