Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne hits out at SNP, says falling oil prices would have forced independent Holyrood into catastrophic cuts
Chancellor George Osborne used this afternoon's Autumn Statement to make a dig at the Scottish nationalists, issuing a stark warning about what might have been had they had succeeded in securing independence.
Citing the severe drop-off in global oil prices since the Scottish referendum in September 2014, Osborne said the knock-on effects on government revenues would have forced Holyrood into making "catastrophic cuts" to public services.
"Of course, if Scotland had voted for independence, they would have had their own Spending Review this autumn," Osborne told MPs, adding, "With world oil prices falling, and revenues from the North Sea forecast by the OBR to be down 94 per cent, we would have seen catastrophic cuts to Scottish public services."
"Thankfully, Scotland remains a strong part of a stronger United Kingdom," he added.