Many thanks, Jim McLean. These facts and figures should be publicized again and again. The manipulation (to put it mildly) with regard to revenue from oil in the North Sea was one of the reasons Jim Sillars left the Labour Party some thirty years ago, once he'd risen to a "salary grade" which made him privy to knowledge of this particular deception.

On another tack, I saw Jeremy Paxman on BBC last night being characteristically rude to Nicola Sturgeon (he's a particularly abrasive television journalist, in the Robin Day mould, she's the Deputy leader of the S.N.P.). Among other things, she was asked about whether an independent Scotland would be a Monarchy. To my own disappointment (although I know it's long been the position of the S.N.P.) she said it would, that the current Queen would continue as Head of State, whereupon Paxman interrupted again, saying, "Have you asked her?" The notion that any territory would willingly be surrendered by any member of this most rapacious, mean, vulgar, contemptible nest of usurpers is in itself laughable.

The issue of currency also arose (whether Scotland would retain the Pound Sterling or change to the Euro). In this regard, as long ago as 2002 or 2003, I was told, in casual conversation, by a Japanese Economic Analyst or Advisor or Policy-Maker or Strategist (etc.), that the majority opinion among businesses she dealt with was that Scotland would be using the Euro before England. Interesting.