Independent Scotland would have been 'scuttling' to IMF after oil crash, says Nick Boles

A UK Government minister has sparked fury after claiming an independent Scotland would be "scuttling" to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout because of the global crash in oil prices.

Nick Boles took the swipe during angry exchanges in the House of Commons.

The SNP's White Paper on independence had forecast that oil prices would be around $113 a barrel, but they are currently below $40 a barrel.

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SNP MP Hannah Bardell had told the Business Minister that oil and gas companies in Scotland were concerned about the cost of the apprenticeship levy announced by George Osborne in the Autumn Statement.

She said: "There is significant concern that this levy may represent a second charge, with many oil and gas companies already paying levies to industry trading bodies.

"It also represents an additional cost to these companies at a time when controlling business costs is of paramount importance.

"Will you commit to meeting with I and my colleagues and a delegation from the industry to hear their concerns and discuss how the apprenticeship levy scheme can be designed to take account of these circumstances?"

In his reply, Mr Boles said: "Of course I'll be delighted to meet you and that delegation.

"But I'll be asking them what they thought of your party's plans for Scotland's economy that rested upon oil prices at a $100 a barrel, which would now see an independent Scotland entirely bankrupt and probably scuttling to the IMF."

A spokeswoman for the SNP said: "It's no surprise that at the last election the Tories recorded their worst share of the vote in Scotland since 1865.

"In reality, Scotland remains the biggest oil producer in the EU, and even without oil, Scotland has the third highest income per head of the 12 countries and regions of the UK, behind only London and the South East.

"UK Government forecasts for oil prices were higher than the Scottish government's in the run-up to the referendum, and as oil industry figures are on record as saying - no one saw this coming. 

"That's exactly why - rather than talking Scotland's economy down - the Tories should be apologising for their part in not saving a single penny of Scotland's vast oil revenues over the last 40 years."