OUR esteemed Prime Minister pronounced at the recent Labour conference that Scottish nationalism was the "politics of grievance". Let us consider this for a moment.

As we know, in 1974 Professor Gavin McCrone [pictured] produced a report for the Scottish Office entitled The Economics of Nationalism Re-examined. It was classified as "secret" and only made public 30 years later under the Freedom of Information legislation. It is interesting to quote from some of that report now that the Labour executive has seen fit to say, conveniently ahead of the 2007 elections, that independence would put Scotland GBP11bn in the red.

The McCrone report said: "The balance of payments gain for Scotland from the North Sea oil would easily swamp the existing deficit whatever its size and transform Scotland into a country with a substantial and chronic surplus - to a quite embarrassing degree and its [Scotland's] currency would become the hardest in Europe, with the exception, perhaps of the Norwegian kroner."

The report continued: "An exchange rate of GBP1 Scots to 120p sterling within two years of independence, therefore, would seem quite probable": "An independent Scotland could now expect to have massive surpluses both on its budget and on its balance of payments and with proper husbanding of resources this situation could last for a very long time into the future": "Britain is now counting so heavily on North Sea oil to redress its balance of payments that it is easy to imagine England in dire straits without it": "The example of Norwegian policy on government revenue from oil likewise shows up the failure of British [policy]."

The Norwegian oil fund is now worth in excess of GBP89bn while the North Sea revenue has disappeared, presumably to pay off debts and fund an illegal war while Scotland languishes at the bottom of most lists.

Politics of grievance? Not without some justification, I suggest. And this is only one area where grievance could be considered appropriate.

The Westminster Scottish MP, Douglas Alexander, tells us that nationalism is "inward-looking at a time when we should be looking outwards". I couldn't agree more, and that is precisely what the SNP demands for Scotland: to look outwards to the friendly world and not, as over the past 300 years, always south to Westminster simply to continue to be cheated and lied to.

Nigel Dewar Gibb 15 Kirklee Road, Glasgow.