Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ
So it's the "UK's oil" as opposed to England's or Scotland's?
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Yes, at present, it is, and it has never at any point in history been anything other than the UK's oil.
If, in future, the Union was split, then a national maritime boundary would have to be drawn between England and Scotland. There isn't one at present, nor has there ever been one, as the conventions that establish them didn't exist the last time England and Scotland were independent of each other. Such a boundary would put about 80% of the UK's reserves under Scottish control and the remaining 20% under English. That has, since the mid 1970s, been almost the entire rationale for a viable, independent Scottish state - oil revenues.
However, claiming that future oil revenue would prop up a Scottish state is one thing, what the Nationalists are doing is going a step further and whingeing "It's Scotland's Oil!" as if the rotten English have somehow stolen it. This is an outright falsehood, but they use it because they believe it serves their purpose in whipping up nationalist sentiment.