Owing to this precious natural resource, our region has long been the jewel in the crown of Scotland's successful economy.

The international oil and gas industry employs some 137,000 people directly in Grampian, and supports countless jobs throughout Scotland.

As a result, North-east employees have average earnings of over £540 per week, well above the Scottish average of £468.

Six hundred and 50 people in Banff and Buchan work in the offshore oil industry for Score Ltd, not to mention the huge employment generated by the St. Fergus Gas Terminal which receives and processes around 15% of the UK's daily gas requirements.

The petroleum industry also promotes major investment, enterprise and technology development for Scottish companies.

As the oil capital of Europe, Aberdeen and its surrounding area has become one of the continent's most advanced, competitive and dynamic economies – a real player in the global market.

To add to this, though we all understand that oil is a finite resource and must be conserved. As much as 38.7 billion barrels of oil remain in Scottish waters, so we currently stand only at about the half-way mark.

If we make the right decisions and execute effective planning at this point, the North Sea will be producing oil and gas supplies for the next 40 years.

This paints a positive picture and one about which we can all afford to feel optimistic. We must realise the special position this puts our region and indeed our country in.

However, Gordon Brown and his colleagues in Westminster would have us believe only bad news about Scotland's oil wealth. His recent gaffe in claiming that oil revenues were falling, despite the undeniable fact that they are on a rising trend only serves to demonstrate the UK government's attitude to Scotland's oil wealth – to downplay its significance and squander its future potential.

With the help of the oil industry, we in the North-east can stand on our own two feet and maintain a healthy sustainable economy. In the future our oil will enable Scotland to do the same – to be a self-reliant tiger economy and hold its own on the international stage.

It will allow Scotland to become the type of country it wants and deserves to be – a social democracy underpinned by a successful, dynamic economy from which everybody can profit.

An SNP government will reverse this negative attitude towards our oil wealth and initiate a positive proactive approach. With 90% of North Sea oil falling under Scottish control within Scots law, an SNP government will allow Scotland for the first time to reap the full benefits of our natural resource and use the profits to invest constructively in the future of our nation.

It will create a long-term oil fund, modelled on the Norwegian fund. This will invest revenues for future generations which would result in a Scottish fund worth near £90 billion within 10 years – translating as about £11,000 per head for every person in Scotland.

It's time we took control of our oil assets and realised their full potential – and unleashed our country's true potential.

Promoting local tourism

THIS week, as part of Scottish Tourism Week, I took part in a lively debate on the importance of tourism to Banff and Buchan and the issues facing the industry in our locality.

I wholeheartedly welcomed the opportunity to engage with representatives of this vital enterprise. Tourism in the North-east is essentially comprised of small businesses; which is why SNP proposals to significantly cut taxation on small firms aroused much enthusiasm.

One of their other key concerns was to see the Aberdeen bypass progress as quickly as possible. I firmly supported these and other points raised by these businesses and pledged, given the opportunity in May, to continue in the next term to stand up for their interests and advance Banff and Buchan tourism both inside and outside of Parliament.

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