How is Osborne going to make good a £5.6bn shortfall in oil revenue?

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Chris Giles gleefully reports in the FT this morning that:

Oil rout would have wrecked an independent Scotland's finances

before adding:

Had Scotland voted Yes to independence, it would now be looking at oil revenues of £1.25bn instead of £6.9bn in 2016-17

What Giles fails to mention is that the UK is suffering the same loss.

And a loss of VAT as well, at least.

Of course, he may assume that the oil price will stimulate growth and so assist recovery and so make good that shortfall. But he fails to mention any such impact for Scotland so I assume he ignores it in the UK too.

In which case what he also fails to mention is that Osborne is going to be quite a few billion short of his stated targets too. But saying so might have spoiled Giles' glee. So I will do it instead.

And also mention if ever there was a case for a variable carbon tax based on fluctuations in the oil price then this situation may create it. But maybe that's a little too creative for Giles.


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