John Swinney opening remarks at Glasgow Science Centre

Thank you, hannah mary for that introduction.

Your part of the world, shetland, is at the very heart of scotland's energy story, from the first years of oil and gas that we have just heard about, right up to today and the beginnings of our second energy opportunity.

And what a fantastic film.

It tells a story that we all feel in our hearts, a story that will resonate in all corners of our country. Scotland's oil and gas wealth flowed south, to fill the coffers of the uk treasury, leaving scotland with the economic scraps from the westminster table. 

London and the south-east prospering, with scotland, despite being the source of so much of the wealth, treated as little more than an afterthought.

We saw it then and we are seeing it once again today.

The oil and gas industry, which has delivered direct revenues of £450 billion to the uk government, now left high and dry by an energy profits levy that is sucking the economic life out of one of our country's most dynamic and important industries – an industry that deserves better given all that it has contributed in the past; but also, an industry that deserves better because of the essential part it must play in our transition from carbon-heavy to carbon free energy generation.

And let us be clear, the oil and gas industry is not just the rigs; it is the service vessels, the supply chains, the engineers, the geologists, designers, researchers, office workers, the hotels, cafes, restaurants – a whole eco-system of economic activity, a network with roots deep in all parts of scotland, but above all in aberdeen, the north east and the northern isles.

Deep roots in our society, but also in our national psyche. The oil and gas industry has been an important part of scotland's story, a fundamental part of who we are.

That is why, when i met the prime minister on friday, i made clear the existential nature of the current threat.

I left him in no doubt that, unless he changes course, what we face is a second wave of 80s-style deindustrialisation, 80's style economic devastation.

Today sir keir starmer is an even less popular prime minister than liz truss – and that takes some doing - but if he does not change course on the energy profits levy, he will enter our national story as a second thatcher, a second destroyer of industry, a second destroyer of communities, and scotland will not forget.

We use the phrase just transition, but as with many such terms it hides the reality of people whose lives and livelihoods are dependent on us getting the move from oil and gas to renewables right.

Have no doubt, if scotland is to make the most of our renewables wealth, we need the skills of the people working today in the north sea, and so we must not abandon them. 

Fundamentally, that means taking decisions about our energy policy and our energy future, as quickly as possible, out of the hands of politicians at westminster, politicians who, ultimately and this has always been the case and always will be the case, care less about scotland than they do about their own backyard.

But there is a different path, a different future. 

As our film today sets out, just over the north sea a very different story is being told.

Norway, with the full powers of independence, has been able to use its energy resources, its oil and gas wealth, to build an economy and society that is wealthier and fairer than the uk.

Norway has put in place strong financial foundations, an economic underpinning that means each and every norwegian has a more secure future. 

It is a story of wealth and opportunity, achieved because norway's energy was in norway's hands.

But just like oil and renewables-rich norway, scotland has been blessed twice.

We may have missed out on the full benefit of our oil and gas bonanza, but with our vast, low-cost renewable energy resource, scotland has a second chance to get it right.

A second chance to repair the damage being done right now by a westminster approach that serves london and the south-east, while happily sacrificing scotland and our north-east.

You, like me, will have heard people – from the islands and the highlands to galloway and the south-west – asking: why more windfarms, why more pylons, when our bills are sky high, when the energy being generated is doing too little for scotland as it flows, once again, down south. 

We produce energy in surplus, but the folly of uk energy policy even serves to turn the fundamental rules of economics on their head – a surplus of low-cost energy in scotland should mean, and must mean, not ever higher bills but low-cost energy for the people of scotland for good.

Friends, we speak of independence as the fresh start scotland needs.

A fresh start from the chaos of a westminster system that is fundamentally broken and beyond repair.

And a fresh start financially, economically.

A fresh start because with scotland's future in scotland's hands, our nation, our fellow citizens, can finally see the benefit of our vast energy wealth.

No more should scotland's energy – and energy wealth – simply flow south. Because just as it was scotland's oil, today we say loud and clear it's scotland's energy. 

And this time, and let us say this so that westminster can be in no doubt - the full benefit of our energy wealth must be felt by the people of scotland, by the communities who have windfarms in their backyard, by households struggling to pay their bills and by businesses the length and breadth of our land with the potential to prosper and grow.

That is why today we set out the opportunity that exists for scotland if we choose independence.

Independence like norway.

And, like norway, using our energy wealth to deliver a true transformation of our society and our economy.

We know from analysis produced for ofgem that a different policy approach would enable scotland to have the lowest wholesale electricity prices in western europe.

As we set out in the paper published today, by selling that low-cost electricity into other markets at a profit, by increasing storage capacity, including pump hydro storage, to end the folly of generators being paid not to produce electricity, and by removing unnecessary costs like the uk's nuclear levy, we can deliver big benefits here in scotland.

That includes being able to lower household electricity bills by over one-third.

A big saving for families across scotland, offering the real hope that cost-of-living pressures will finally begin to ease.

The opportunity to give communities a real stake – and a share in the profits – from the windfarms being built in their area. And that will become a requirement of onshore developers to do so.

And the opportunity to deliver a crucial competitive advantage for scottish industry, for scottish companies, and deliver savings for our hospitals and schools, with their electricity costs cut by at least one-third too.

Think what that will mean for our nhs.

Less money spent on energy bills means more money to spend on doctors and nurses, on more operations and appointments.

And have no doubt, a policy of low energy costs for scottish businesses can be as transformational for our country and its prospects as the policy of low corporation tax was for ireland.

With a commitment to delivering low energy costs as the bedrock of our national economic strategy we can not only make every scottish business more competitive than it is today – creating new jobs, better paid jobs, opening up new opportunities for investment, innovation and growth – we can attract new business to our shores.

We can become one of the most attractive locations on the planet for the hi-tech, energy intensive industries of the future, enabling us to turbo-charge our nation's economic prospects.

Friends, an energy rich scotland should mean - must mean - energy rich scots.

We know what is possible.

We see it just across the north sea in norway. 

Let's not miss this second opportunity to transform our nation.

Let's not let westminster take the decisions and take the wealth.

Because it is scotland's energy, it is scotland's opportunity.

And, i say to each and every person in this country - it is your energy and your opportunity too.

We will be better off with independence, better off with scotland's future and scotland's energy in scotland's hands.

That is the fresh start that only independence offers. 

It is the fresh start our nation can choose in may next year, only by voting snp.