IT WOULD be remiss of me not to counter Councillor Chisholm’s raving nonsense about oil revenue being a bonus and not fundamental to our [Scotland’s] economy (Labour remarks on oil situation ‘leave a lot to be desired’, Times, 29th January).

This is not a statement anybody would be willing to make if they had any idea what Scotland’s finances under the current constitutional set up look like.

We have a set of figures supplied by HMRC, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, and endorsed by the Scottish Government that tell a different story, which seems to have escaped Councillor Chisholm and his colleagues in the SNP.

According to Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland’s latest figures (2012-2013), our geographical share of North Sea oil revenue was £5.5bn, making up approximately 10 per cent of the total revenue taken here in Scotland; and if you consider the same set of figures posted a net fiscal deficit of £12.1bn, you can begin to see why statements about bonuses and “free money” - as one other Fife SNP councillor described North Sea oil revenue to me - are patent nonsense.

According to the same set of figures, Scotland’s current net fiscal deficit is made up of a revenue take of £53.2bn and expenditure totalling £65.1bn. This £12.1bn deficit is made up by central government via the Barnett Formula.

If we were to remove that geographical share of North Sea oil revenue, our deficit would be in the region of £18bn, making North Sea oil more of a necessity than a bonus in my book. And with the onslaught of falling oil prices, the situation here in Scotland is destined to worsen. I have no problem with criticising past Governments for not making better use of the revenues from North Sea oil, instead of frittering it away on needless dole money as the likes of Thatcher did; but, in her case, I need not remind Councillor Chisholm which party’s vote of no confidence paved the way for her election when 11 SNP MPs held sway in Westminster.

Nor need I remind him of the consequences of her time in power and the effects on the once proud mining communities he represents! So in that respect, we’ll take no lectures from him or his party about being in bed with the Tories.

I would also be interested to hear what conjuring tricks his party would use to create an oil fund whilst running a deficit. Maybe he is on to something and between us we can turn fundamental economic principles on its head and buck conventional thinking that such funds are only economically viable when running a surplus...I’m all ears, councillor. In summary, anybody who sees North Sea oil as a bonus or some kind of fun money is living in cloud cuckoo land. North Sea oil is very much an integral and necessary part of our economy and without it we would be in pretty poor shape. So I would insist that Councillor Chisholm and the rest of them stop petty point-scoring and whingeing about nasty politicians making faces behind their backs and get to work putting this crisis at the top of their collective agenda.

ARCHIE FERGUSON, Lochgelly.