WHY is Scotland, an energy rich nation, facing a horrendous cost-of-living crisis and the worst decline in living standards on record?
What kind of renewables potential does Scotland have, and how could Scotland’s people benefit from its use – both through environmental advantages and fair distribution of profits?
Where have the profits from Scotland’s oil gone, and how do we stop history from repeating itself with the rest of our natural resources?
These are the questions we aim to answer in our major new McCrone Report series, launching on Monday 27 and running until Friday, March 3.
What is the series about?
We all know the story of the McCrone Report by now. Some 49 years ago, the PM received a report on the astonishing wealth of Scotland’s oil – which was hushed up for decades to suppress independence support.
We’re publishing that report in full again, but going further. We’re digging into exactly how that squandering of oil wealth harmed us – to the extent that its ramifications are felt in the cost-of-living crisis – and how the UK Government threatens Scotland’s ability to move to net zero.
READ MORE: The truth behind Scotland's oil and the McCrone Report
We’ll have data-driven content tracking exactly how the UK wasted Scotland’s resources, while small countries like Norway thrived.
We’ll be talking to experts on Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and community energy ownership to explore the possibilities available to our country.
We’ll be focusing on the human, and environmental, impact of the energy crisis – and how independence can help ease that suffering.
And most important we’re thinking about solutions. What can we learn from our small-nation neighbours? How can moving away from the private energy model benefit Scots? And exactly what has the Union got to do with all of this?
It's all free!
The best part is all of this is completely FREE content, so you can share it with loved ones who haven’t been won around to independence yet. That’s right, no paywall all week long.
On top of that, we’ll have a special edition of our Holyrood Weekly podcast to tell the story, plus a one-off Worst of Westminster newsletter special totally devoted to how the UK squandered Scotland’s energy potential.
There will be daily livestreams from our journalists across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, explaining the research and data, and lots of easily digestible TikTok content – telling this massive story in shareable clip-form.
No other news title in Scotland, or the UK, is going to tell this story, and we want to make sure it can be read by as many people as possible.
And it’s thanks to everyone who subscribes to The National and picks up our papers that we’ve been able to remove the paywall! If you haven’t already signed up for a subscription, now is the perfect time.
You can bulk buy copies now
This is the important part for Yes groups and party branches: You can now pre-order bulk-buy copies to help spread the message.
You have until Thursday, midday, to do so.
50 copies = £15, with postage £3.95
100 copies = £25, with postage £3.95
500 copies = £100, postage £5
1000 copies = £150 with postage £10
You can pre-order via this link.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel