Oil to regret

More than £350 billion has been promised by the Chancellor to keep business from collapsingduringthecovid-19 crisis. This will inevitably lead to a large rise in the national debt, which was already standing at almost two thousand billion pounds and, no doubt, will result in longterm tax rises for everyone and a much diminished standard of living for most. It could all have been so different.

We only have to look at little Norway, who prudently put away the bulk of their oil revenues in their sovereign wealth fund, which now stands at two trillion dollars. Norway will have not the slightest trouble in funding their economy for many years, if necessary.

The UK actually produced more oil than Norway but, in complete contrast, the UK government, with their usual short-sightedness, blew every penny in cutting income tax for the wealthiest, from 60 per cent to 40 per cent, so there is not a penny left to fund us through these difficult times.

If we had saved even half of what Norway saved for a rainy day we would now be able to easily sail through the economic storm which awaits us, but that would have required prudence and planning, neither of which is to be found in Westminster.

JAMES DUNCAN Rattray Grove, Edinburgh

Bill Jamieson worries about how we will pay for the government’s “soaring debt”, but he must be aware of this solution which did the rounds in the 2008 crash. It is a slow day

in a small Scottish town, the streets are deserted, times are tough, everyone’s in debt and living on credit. A tourist drives through, stops at the hotel, and lays a £50 note on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

He goes upstairs, so the hotel owner grabs the note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the £50 and runs out to pay his debt to the pig farmer who happens to walk past. The pig farmer takes the £50 and rushes off to pay his bill to the vet.

The vet takes the £50 and runs to pay her debt to the hotel where she held her hen party the week before. The hotel keeper places the £50 note back on the counter where the tourist left it. The tourist reappears, says the rooms are all unsatisfactory, picks up the £50 and leaves.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. But the townspeople are now out of debt and look to the future with optimism. Poosie Nancie, Bill Jamieson’s feisty Fife feline, would surely agree!

JOHN BIRKETT Horseleys Park, St Andrews