The wee bit hill and glen

The Independent, rather surprisingly, seems much more sympathetic to the SNP than one might expect. It tells the story of the McCrone report of 1974 which, if made public, might possibly have led to Scottish independence. Not exactly new news, of course, but worth recording:

"An independent Scotland's budget surpluses as a result of the oil boom, wrote Professor McCrone, would be so large as to be "embarrassing".
Scotland's 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 1974, Professor McCrone's document was judged as incendiary and classified as secret. It would be sat upon for the next thirty years.
The mandarins demanded that Professor McCrone's 19-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."

Ah well. One more betrayal by London to add to the list. But interesting that a London newspaper should acknowledge the fact. And there is not a lot that we can do about it now. Anyway, who wants to be rich when we can be happy moaning about the perfidy of our southern neighbours?