How black gold was hijacked North sea oil and the betrayal of Scotland. It was a document that could have changed the course of Scottish history. Nineteen pages long, Written in an elegant, understated academic hand by the leading Scottish economist Gavin Mc. Crone, presented to the Cabinet office in April 1. Harvey Brief History Of Neoliberalismo' title='Harvey Brief History Of Neoliberalismo' />Westminster vault for thirty years. It revealed how North Sea oil could have made an independent Scotland as prosperous as Switzerland. The Freedom of Information Act has yielded many insights and revelations into the working of the British government, but none so vivid as the contents of Professor Mc. Crones paper, written on request in the dog days of Ted Heaths Tory government and only just unearthed under the FOI rules. Earlier this week, the Chancellor Gordon Brown underlined the vital revenue stream that North Sea oil still is in the context of British politics. In his pre budget report, Mr Brown extracted an extra 6. North Sea oil and gas producers, to be taken over the next three years. Economists like the Liberal Democrats Treasury spokesman Vince Cable say that high oil prices have already bailed out the Treasury to the tune of 1 billion this year. Imagine then, what the oil could have done for a Scotland which chose independence in the mid 1. Thirty years ago, Professor Mc. Crone answered that very question and his conclusions shocked his political masters. Although BP first discovered the giant Forties oilfield in 1. Nigerias entire daily production the real rush for black gold had only begun around 1. Yom Kippur War caused a crisis in the Middle East and forced prices up to around 1. By the time the oil companies realised that North Sea drilling was not only cost effective but highly lucrative, and the British government realised it was sitting on a gold mine, the Scottish nationalists had already laid claim to the oil. The Its Scotlands Oil campaign began in 1. If only they had seen the professors research. Harvey Brief History Of Neoliberalism' title='Harvey Brief History Of Neoliberalism' />An independent Scotlands budget surpluses as a result of the oil boom, wrote Professor Mc. Crone, would be so large as to be embarrassing. Scotlands currency would become the hardest in Europe, with the exception perhaps of the Norwegian Kronor. From being poorer than their southern neighbours, Scots would quite possibly become richer. Scotland would be in a position to lend heavily to England and this situation could last for a very long time into the future. In short, the oil would put the British boot, after centuries of resentment, firmly on the foot standing north of the border. Within days of its receipt at Westminster in 1. Professor Mc. Crones document was judged as incendiary and classified as secret. It would be sat upon for the next thirty years. The mandarins demanded that Professor Mc. Crones 1. 9 page analysis be given only a most restricted circulation in the Scottish Office because of the extreme sensitivity of the subject. The subject was sensitive alright. This is a story of Whitehall betrayal that will satisfy the pre conceptions of the most extreme Scottish anglophobe. It was the comparison with Norway that particularly worried the Westminster politicians. In the mid 1. 97. Norway was fully independent and about to take advantage of an oil boom that has generated undreamed of prosperity to the present day. In Scotland, the situation was somewhat different, and potentially explosive. National pride had been hugely galvanised by the appearance of the Scotland Football Team in the 1. World Cup, a competition for which the England side had failed to qualify. But economically, the outlook was bleak. Heavy manufacturing, which had been the heart and soul of the Scottish economy for generations, was in deep trouble. Between 1. 97. 0 and 1. Free Latin American Dance Music Downloads on this page. Scotland fell by a third, while steel production plunged by a fifth. Shipbuilding, the mainstay of the Clyde, was in particular trouble. After the Heath government refused to bail out four yards in Upper Clyde in 1. Some 7. 0,0. 00 people marched calling for government help and a 4. Meanwhile, in politics, the nationalists were riding high as never before. The 1. 97. 0 general election saw the SNP poll just 1. But in February 1. Within eight months, by the October election of that year, their support had risen to the all time high of 3. The party was also nipping at the heels of Labour in 3. Labour held seats. This was the high tide of Scottish nationalism. Previously unheard of would be terrorist cells began to emerge The Scottish Legion, Jacobites, Border Clan, Tartan Army and the 1. Organisation, which took its name from the famous historic Declaration of Arbroath, stating So long as 1. English rule. American companies based in Aberdeen became nervous that a Scottish breakaway, socialist in outlook, was threatening their interests. Web Only Features July 26, 2017 Jonathan Chait Is Wrong Neoliberalism Is Real and Fundamentally Opposed to Left Principles. The latest book by David Harvey. You thought capitalism was permanent Think again. David Harvey unravels the contradictions at the heart of capitalism. Pressure was exerted on the government to control the situation. Professor Mc. Crones report, in such volatile circumstances, would almost certainly have provoked a turning point in the history of the United Kingdom. Billy Wolfe, who was leader of the SNP at the time and the man credited with developing the nationalists as a clearly defined left of centre political party, is in no doubt of what the Mc. Crone findings could have meant. If that information had been published before the October 1. Mr Wolfe, we would have won Scotland and it would be a much wealthier and happier place. A whole lot of economic factors would be a lot different, especially in the fishing, steel and shipbuilding industries. It would have been a tremendous boost for Scotland. Tam Dalyell, who served as Labour MP in West Lothian for 4. In my view it might have done, he said. It could have tipped the balance it a number of seats including mine. Oil was very much a totemic issue. NANCY PARTNER. Foucaults Iconic Afterlife The Posthumous Reach of Words and Things. History and Theory, Theme Issue 54 December 2016, 3553. The scholarship on economic neoliberalism, its definition, proliferation, and effects, has been dominated by authors who are highly critical of the concepts. Volume 221 published on. Why Marry The Role of Tradition in Womens Marital Aspirations Julia Carter. Researching Migration in a Superdiverse Society. Neoliberalism or neoliberalism refers primarily to the 20thcentury resurgence of 19thcentury ideas associated with laissezfaire economic liberalism. Website of David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Geography at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Preface to the 6th edition The Heterodox Economics Directory is an informal guide to heterodox economics and aims to document the institutional diversity and. The Best Anarchist, Communist, Socialist Books The Best Anarchist, Communist, and Socialist Books reading list covers nearly all the essential writers of leftwing. It was new and it was dramatic. Politics at that time was very different. In 1. 97. 4 my majority went from around 6,0. February to around 2,0. October general election. It was most unpleasant. People were saying its our oil. By the mid 1. North Sea north of the 5. Scottish jurisdiction. That meant around 9. UKs oil and gas reserves fell within Scottish waters. Such was the fear of the rise of Scottish nationalism that the document remained secret under the governments of Callaghan, Thatcher, Major and even Tony Blair. Its very existence only emerged when Scottish National Party researchers, thought to be acting on a tip off from a former official, placed a carefully worded request under the freedom of information legislation. Next week the Scottish Executive is due to publish the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland analysis, which charts expenditure north of the border. Statistics for 2. Scotland compared with 5,4. England. It also showed that Scotland received 9. It is an old English nationalist refrain that the Scots are both over subsidised and over represented in the British Parliament. In response to the first of those charges, for the first time in thirty years the Scots now, in the form of Professor Mc. Clones suppressed report, have hard evidence to suggest that it could have been Scotland, not England, sending money across the border. Yesterday Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, made it clear that the 3. Mc. Clone papers were not just a dusty history lesson, but would form a central part of their campaigning for the future. He said The impact of this would have been dynamite.