Scots will be relying on a volatile revenue stream to pay for new hospitals and schools if they vote for independence, the UK energy secretary has claimed.
Ed Davey said the fluctuating price of oil and gas would leave an independent Scotland’s economy “vulnerable”.
Mr Davey’s comments, during a visit to Aberdeen, came the day after First Minister Alex Salmond said Scotland’s economy had been held back by the UK as a whole.
The coalition minister, who was attending the opening day of the All- Energy conference, said the energy sector was the clearest example of why Scotland and the UK were stronger together.
“For example,” he said, “I do not think the Scottish renewable industry would be able to expand if it could not have the subsidies from a consumer base of 23million households across the whole UK.”
Mr Salmond launched the paper, Scotland’s Economy: The Case for Independence, on Monday.
It said that with North Sea oil and gas, Scotland had generated more tax per head than the UK over the last 30 years.
The North Sea contributed £26billion to Scotland’s GDP in 2011 and boosted the UK balance of payments by £40billion.
Mr Davey said: “The economic case presented by the Scottish Government does not show how vulnerable Scotland could be, because it would be so reliant on oil and gas for revenues. Oil and gas will not always be there, and we have seen how volatile oil and gas prices can be.
“You would not want to build hospitals and schools on revenue streams that can go up or down in such a volatile way.”
Mr Davey added that the renewable sector proved the two governments could co-operate to boost investment and energy security.
