Embarrassing SNP actions

Sir, - The SNP now want the UK Government to look at incentives to boost oil and gas exploration.

It is another concrete sign of the desperate state of an industry so many of us rely on for work.

It has been laid so and so many have been laid off since the oil price collapsed from $115 dollars a barrel to $63.

But this was the industry that the SNP built its independence case on.

It was oil revenue that was to bankroll Scotland to become another Celtic Tiger in an arc of prosperity in the north Atlantic.

The truth is, if we had voted for independence last September, come 2016 we would have been in the poorhouse.

I take no pleasure from this because I am a patriotic Scot who cares for his country.

What I do object to is the SNP’s refusal to admit what our economic position would be.

I wish they would state simply that they gambled everything on oil and got caught out by the price collapse.

But the bluff, the fast talking and the howling down of opponents continues to drown out what should be a frank debate about our country’s finances and its future.

Oil was to be the great wealth generator for Scotland but now First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is demanding support from the UK Government.

Does she or the SNP not see the irony in this? I find it quite embarrassing. Charles Wilson. King’s Road, Rosyth.

Oil was to be the great wealth generator for Scotland but now First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is demanding support from the UK Government