McCrone report

The McCrone report is a document on the Scottish economy written and researched in 1974 on behalf of the British Government. It was composed by Professor Gavin McCrone employed at the Scottish Office using some information that was publicly available at the time and some that was not. The document gave a favourable projection for the economy of an independent Scotland with a "chronic surplus to a quite embarrassing degree and its currency would become the hardest in Europe". It also noted that the Common Market or EEC meant that Scotland could pivot away from the rest of UK (if required) for trade. The report became public in 2005 when new freedom of information legislation came into effect.

The McCrone report occupies a significant position in the mythology of Scottish nationalism: the memo from UK civil servants to government ministers was confidential, and Scottish nationalists have argued that this was a cover-up to prevent the report's alleged predictions of huge oil revenues from fuelling independence sentiment in Scotland. However, such ministerial briefings are not intended for general publication, and Gavin McCrone himself has criticised the suggestion that there was a cover-up. The report's figures were also publicly debated in Parliament at the time, and had been widely reported in the British and Scottish media.