TORIES ADMIT BLOCKING OIL BOOM IN THE CLYDE
It was revealed in the run up to the first Scottish independence referendum that declassified documents showed that the Ministry of Defence forced oil firms to withdraw applications to drill for oil in the Firth of Clyde, fearing exploration of the seabed would interfere with nuclear submarines travelling to and from Faslane.
And Lord Heseltine, who was Defence Secretary at the time, confirmed it.
Asked by a member of the Scottish media if it was the right decision, he said: “I do remember that. The question is whether it was right for strategic or defence reasons.
“Briefed as I would be on Britain’s national security issues, the implication is that someone should’ve said: ‘Yes but the politics of this are unattractive so you should override the strategic defence interests of Britain for the sake of some opinion poll in some local parish council’.
“I would’ve said: ‘You’ve got the wrong Secretary of State.”
“Forgive me, but I was Defence Secretary to defend Scotland.”
And he said it was still the right decision today.
He explained: “We’ve still got nuclear submarines, we’ve still got a defence alliance with America, we still have to defend this country against any contingency many of which we can’t foresee, so what’s changed?”
With that said, Scotland still has an unfathomed number of barrels of oil lying in the Firth of Clyde basin waiting to be recovered. The potential oil boom would transform local economies right along the Clyde, from Glasgow right down the Ayrshire coast and possibly beyond to Port Patrick. But this has to remain on hold, indefinitely, due to Westminster objections to relocating their nuclear submarines away from the area.
SNP backbencher Chic Brodie, who tried to encourage surveyors to return to the Firth of Clyde to establish the full extent of oil and gas reserves, said: “These answers from Michael Heseltine confirm the Thatcher Government knew about the oil and covered that up for defence reasons.
“The truth is out.”
But the former Deputy Prime Minister criticised the SNP's position. He also criticised the Yes campaign’s commitment to rid Scottish waters of nuclear submarines.
He added: “This is a classic example of why the Yes campaign was not going to be allowed to win.
“It’s the worst sort of populism, exploiting defence interests on the basis that somehow the English will defend us whatever we do.”
Lord Heseltine was Defence Secretary from 1983 until he walked out of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet in 1986 after a row over the future of Westland helicopters.
His return to frontline politics in 1990 forced Thatcher to step down, but it was John Major who took over as PM with Heseltine as Environment Secretary, charged with dismantling the hated poll tax, which was foisted upon Scotland a full year before people in England and Wales.
He added: “I think we were wrong to tax the Scots like this. I admit, that politically it was a mistake. But I would point out to our friends north of the border that it was a Tory Government that got rid of it again, largely because I insisted upon it.
“That does not justify breaking up the UK just because one Government made one mistake.”
Heseltine was against Brexit but once a Tory always a Tory. At least our oil has not been gutted out as in the North Sea and shipped to England. Let's make sure there is no future second theft.
ReplyDeleteWell we got the right decision for the wrong reasons - we absolutely cannot start drilling for oil in the Firth of Clyde - that is madness. We need to leave it in the ground and support the local marine based industries that have so much potential for the future, but depend on clean and undisturbed seas.
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