To understand this underhand scheme you have to see it in the context of time. Previously, the maritime border did not matter as it was taken for granted by Westminster that Scotland and England's waters were one and the same. That all changed with the passing of the referendum on a Scottish parliament in 1997 and the Scotland Act 1998. On April 13th 1999, Westminster stole 6000 sq miles of our ocean before almost one month to the day, the 12th May 1999, our parliament was set up in Holyrood. This action by Westminster meant that 15% of Scotland's natural oil and gas revenue was now attributed to England, which in 2008 equated to £2.2 billion as well as the revenue generated from the fisheries in the area. Over a decade it average just less than £2 billion per annum. A lot could be done with £20 billion in a country with a population of 5 million people.