Take a Look at What We Could Have Won
What the Oil Boom did for Norway, and what we could have had too...
The example of Norway is often thrown around in discussions about Scottish independence as a kind of “could have, should have, would have” and it’s not hard to see why. Two nations of similar size, Similar population, Similar geography, Similar Industries which discovered the same North Sea oil at roughly the same time.
So why does Norway have a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund… while Scotland has food banks?
Stavanger, and a Reality Check
When I left school in the early ’90s, I went to sea as a merchant seaman. Like most sailors, I enjoyed a foreign port call—but there was one place we weren’t exactly buzzing about: Stavanger.
We’d heard the stories - sky-high taxes - Eye-watering prices. We imagined a country where ordinary people were getting rinsed—paying through the nose just to get by.
“Poor bastards,” we thought. “They must be scunnered.” We couldn’t have been more wrong.
What we found was a well-run country. Clean, Efficient, Proper infrastructure, and most importantly—happy people.
Admittedly our British wages didn’t go far there, so we did sadly go back to the ship a wee bit more sober and with less souvenir tat than we were used to. We did get that part right.
But we got the other bit wrong. Norwegians weren’t struggling… they were thriving.
As we sailed away there was a feeling I just couldn’t shake, It reminded me of the TV Darts Quiz “Bullseye” on the occasions when contestants missed out on the star prize and Jim Bowen would say:
Norwegians had won the Speedboat!
Scots were the ones going home with the Darts, Tankard, a Bendy Bully and a few measly quid!
But what did this teach me?
A nation doesn’t HAVE to choose between fairness and wealth
One of the biggest myths pushed in the UK is that you can either have a fair society, or a wealthy one. Norway proves that’s bullshit.
They didn’t abandon capitalism, they just didn’t let it run amok!
When oil was discovered, Norway created a state-owned company: Statoil and crucially, they didn’t just extract the oil and sell it. They controlled the whole supply chain—from the seabed to the petrol pump.
That meant the profits didn’t disappear into the pockets of shareholders or hedge funds.
They went to the country in the shape of the State Oil Fund!
Tax the Profits, or Give Them Away
Here’s where the gap really opens up.
Norway routinely taxes oil revenues at around 50%+.
Prior to the Energy Profits levy The UK? Roughly 3–5%.
Selling the same resource, on the same global markets, at the same global prices.
This is how it pans out for each nation…
(based on 2018 so as to be pre UK Energy Profits Levy, Covid Pandemic, Ukraine and Iran Wars)
One country made tens of billions, the other made a fraction, and then handed out tax breaks on top.
That’s not bad luck.
That’s bad management.
The Norwegian approach to taxation didn’t stop at Oil, they tax ALL businesses properly, yet companies still operate there, they still invest, and still make money.
Any Norwegian high street or shopping mall will have all the same multinational brands you’ll find anywhere in rest of the world… Apple, Starbucks, MacDonald’s, Samsung.
None of these global brands have boycotted Norway, because here’s the truth:
If there’s profit to be made, businesses will come.
They don’t need a race to the bottom.
They don’t need bargain-basement tax rates.
They just need a reasonable return.
And Norway offers that—without selling out the country’s future to get it.
High Tax, High Trust, High Quality of Life
On paper, Norway sounds like the kind of place British politicians warn you about. Higher taxes… Higher prices… Bigger state… Supposedly a nightmare, Except it isn’t.
Norwegians earn more… They pay more… But they do get something back.
Public services that work.
Infrastructure that functions.
A social safety net that actually catches people.
I worked with Norwegians for years, and I never, not once, heard one complain about paying tax… Why would they? they can see where the money goes.
Compare that to the UK, where people are taxed, corporations get sweetheart deals, and then we’re told there’s no money for anything!
A Country That Backs Itself
You notice something else in Norway… They back themselves.
I now inspect ships for a living, and you can tell when you’re on a Norwegian ship because EVERYTHING is Norwegian! The ship, the machinery and equipment, the furniture and food supplies, even the bloody coffee.
Go on a British Built Ship and try to pin a flag on the same items and it’s like a meeting of the United Nations.
This practice is even reflected in their personal choices and attitudes, I'm a bit of a Coffee Snob… and on one ship I worked on I took my own coffee and machine. I made one for the Norwegian Captain one day a Latte with proper high-end coffee, good stuff, miles better than the ships supply.
He finished it, nodded, and said: “Yes, it’s nice… but not as good as Friele.”
“Friele” is a large foodservice giant in Norway (think Kraft Foods in the US), they make everything from Coffee to Dogfood, And there was just one issue with the Captain's statement about Friele Coffee… as anyone who has ever tasted it will tell you…
Friele Coffee is bowfin'!
But that didn’t matter… because it was Norwegian!
He wouldn’t hear of it, that my gourmet Guatemalan coffee could possibly be superior. That mindset runs deep in Norway, they invest in their own economy, support their own industries, even when something better (but foreign) is available cheaper.
But here’s the key they’re not a closed off people.
They’re outward-looking, cooperative, and welcoming.
They don’t confuse confidence with arrogance.
Independence Doesn’t Mean Isolation
Norway also blows apart another tired argument, that leaving a political union means isolation.
It was part of the Kalmar Union for centuries.
Then a union with Sweden.
It gained independence in 1905.
And what happened? Did it become cut off? Hostile? Isolated? No. It maintained strong relationships with its neighbours, trade continued, cooperation continued.
The borders didn’t slam shut.
The sky didn’t fall in.
It turns out, you can leave a union without burning bridges, as long as you can all be grown ups about it…. (Yes UK we’re looking at you)
The one difference that REALLY matters
There’s nothing magical about Norway, they’re not geniuses, they didn’t discover some secret formula, In many ways, they’re remarkably similar to us Scots.
The difference is simple, but it’s everything:
They make their own decisions.
In their own interests.
With the full powers of Independence.
Norway now has:
One of the highest incomes per head in the world
The largest sovereign wealth fund on Earth (more on this in a future Substack)
The highest ranking on the Human Development Index for over a decade
Scotland has:
Food banks.
Stagnation.
Untapped potential.
That fate is the result of decisions made elsewhere, by people who don’t have to live with the consequences.
Norway didn’t just get it’s flag back when it gained it’s Independence.
Because independence isn’t about symbols. It’s about the power to make choices.
The choice to invest—or to squander.
The choice to build—or to sell off.
The choice to look after people—or leave them behind.
Scotland was denied the same opportunities Norway had, because we didn’t have the powers needed to make those choices.
In Summary
When our opponents say Norway isn’t a fair comparison, when they say Independent Scotland couldn’t do the same, just remember, they’re not making an argument, They’re making an excuse.
Because the evidence is sitting right there.
A country just like ours.
Resources just like ours.
But such a different outcome.
Coming back to the late great Jim Bowen and his catchphrase “Let’s take a look at what you could have won.”
As the world embarks on the Renewables Revolution the question we have to ask ourselves is…
Are us Scots content with the Tankard, the Bendy Bully and a few measly Quid!
Or are we taking the Speedboat home this time!
Final thought, I’m a proud Scot and I wouldn’t want to be anything else… but if I had to choose between being British and being Norwegian then there’s only one choice I could be proud of…
…even if the Coffee is Bowfin’.
David Birkett.