Published in the Edinburgh Evening News, December 20th, 2024, in The Herald, December 21st and in The National, December 20th.
Starmer is in Norway to discuss energy deals with the Nordic energy powerhouse that he claims will 1) boost that elusive thing he’s chasing called “economic growth”, and 2) reduce energy prices. He’s wrong on both counts. Growth is actually declining and UK electricity prices, already the highest in the world, are rising again in January.
Sir Keir is also touting carbon capture, a scam designed to enhance oil recovery and profitability rather than capture carbon. And it’s supported by generous tax credits.
I find it fascinating that no one asks why Norway, a nation of 5 million people, is the richest country on earth. It’s quite simple. Norway retained ownership of its vast energy resources and revenues and has created the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund recently valued at $1.8 trillion, a figure which has more than doubled in the last five years. That’s $200,000 per Norwegian.
Read this and weep, Scotland. Norway established the wealth fund in 1996 as a ‘rainy-day’ fund. Today it owns 1.5% of all globally listed stocks and is 4 times the size of Norway’s GDP.
For years the UK (Scotland) produced more oil and gas than Norway, but it didn’t create a sovereign wealth fund.
That’s because in the 1980s the UK sold off its energy assets - Britoil, BP and British Gas - to private corporations and governments, including Norway’s. So profits flowed not to the UK government but to these private entities and foreign governments instead.
In 1980, the UK Cabinet Office warned privatisation would be foolish in the long run.
Indeed. This mass privatisation of state assets meant the UK lost at least $400bn. Professor Sukhdev Johal at Queen Mary University of London estimates the UK could have built a sovereign wealth fund of £850bn had the UK followed the Norwegian model. That’s around £13,000 per person.
What did the UK do with all that money - £67bn - from selling off its state assets? It cut taxes for the wealthy. The top income tax rate was slashed from 60% to 40% and the corporate from 52% to 33%. But it also cut public investment which fell from 4% in the 1970s to 1% in the 1990s.
And presto chango - inequality soared:
Norway is now successfully investing in renewables and owns stakes in several UK projects. Norway also invests heavily in education, employment and training because it knows that its people are its most valuable asset.
The lesson is clear - retain public ownership of public assets for the public good. But this doesn’t resonate with the UK establishment which has done very nicely out of the wholesale privatisation of the UK economy and doesn’t particularly care for the great unwashed public.
In closing, I’ll just share this seasonal meme:
Watch out Norway, there's a thief about!
I have a book, among too many, called 'Natural Resources In Scotland, Symposium at the Royal Society Edinburgh'. Published by, Scottish Council (Development and Industry) 1960.
It covers everything, soil and minerals, agriculture, water, energy, fishing, land use, forestry, humans (human resources), doesn't mention oil but they had an idea I am sure by the 60's that it was there. Notice the title, it doesn't say Scotland's Resources, that would indicacte ownership.
There are films some available online to watch at NLS moving image archive, going back I think to the 70's about Scotland's oil.
It's tragic, every drop of Scotland's massive oil reserves has been taken by the country next door, the £trillions have been squandered, spent on bank rolling the city of London and Canary wharfe.
Meanwhile Scotland was the drugs capital of Europe, (drugs easily imported via Scotland's vast coasts, unprotected by the UK security as is their duty) and had the lowest life expectancy in the western world. It's convenient to have people drugged up when they want your resources, just have to look at Latin America for that. No opportunities, people left Scotland in their droves, meanwhile many English folk made a small fortune working on the rigs, (we had a neighbour in NE Eng who did that) for a few years it was very highly paid.
Starmer is in Norway to see how much more he can garner support to thieve much more of Scotland's vast energy resources, meanwhile cutting Scotland's 'block grant'. It would be funny given the blatant arrogance of the lying theiveing BritEnglish administration,, but it's enough to make you weep. Love the image, so very apt, but he should have a map of Scotland and Saltire in his shoved into his waist coat as well.
Well said Leah