In Europe’s oil capital, a tale of two cities

ABERDEEN, UK — Statistically, this city is the wealthiest in Britain.

Thanks to a long-term oil boom, this onetime fishing town in northeast Scotland boasts more millionaires per square mile than in anywhere else in the UK. Annual incomes average more than $66,000.

But that’s only part of the story in Europe’s “oil capital.”

At the headquarters of Food Bank Partnership Aberdeen, there’s little sign of the wealth. Plastic shopping bags ready for distribution neatly stacked in rows on the bare concrete floor contain only the most basic of ingredients: pasta, rice, teabags. Posters encouraging healthy eating line the walls of this former fish-filleting warehouse near the city’s docks.

The number of such food banks has mushroomed in the last two years as many ordinary Aberdonians have struggled to afford the rising cost of living.

“The poverty in Aberdeen now is terrible,” says development worker Christine McLean as she replenishes a shelf with tins of tomatoes.

That’s one of the issues facing people here as Scotland prepares to vote on independence from the United Kingdom later this month. Although those now profiting from the oil wealth here tend to support remaining in the UK, some believe leaving would be the best way to address the growing income disparity.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which controls the devolved parliament in Edinburgh, argues that oil and gas reserves off Scotland’s North Sea coast would provide the financial underpinning for a new independent state.

Taxes from North Sea energy ventures currently go straight to the British treasury in London without passing through the Scottish authorities.

If Scots vote for independence, however, the new maritime boundary would leave them with more than 90 percent of Britain’s remaining oil, more than half of its gas and 100 percent of the revenues those resources generate.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said oil money would help underwrite everything from pensions to a Norwegian-style reserve fund.

Some argue that would help those who aren’t currently benefitting from the profits.

“We’re seeing what can only be described as tragic circumstances,” says Dave Simmers, chief executive of Community Food Initiatives North East, which forms part of the Aberdeen Food Bank Partnership. “If you’re poor, you are surrounded by a context of affluence, which effectively reinforces that poverty.”

Cranes dominating Aberdeen’s skyline reflect the scale of the city’s development. An increasing number of state of the art business parks ring the outskirts. For people with education and skills, Aberdeen is teeming with opportunities to earn huge salaries.

But among the semi-circles of low-rise council houses that comprise Kittybrewster, near the city center, just getting by presents a real challenge. Joblessness here stands at around 30 percent, including many long-term unemployed.

“I see this area as a village, a village of poverty in Aberdeen, a no man’s land,” says local pastor Andy Cowie.

Back at the food bank, 27-year-old Craig picks up a pack of macaroni and a block of cheese.

“I only get my benefits once every two weeks so at least I can come here and get a food parcel,” he says.

He sleeps on a sofa-bed in his friend’s studio apartment. Like many, he’s unable to afford housing. Average rents in Aberdeen are north of $1,600 a month. House prices rose by almost 20 percent last year.

A short walk from Aberdeen’s leafy West End, where Victorian houses often sell for seven figures, is the headquarters of the homeless charity the Cyrenians. The number of people without housing in Aberdeen has increased dramatically over the last year, says deputy chief executive Scott Baxter.

“Quite a few people are sleeping on the beach,” he says. “We are aware of one derelict building where there are probably around 20 guys in a bad state of squalor.”

The Cyrenians hand out food parcels as well as evening meals at their drop-in center. Inside, signs are written in a swath of languages including Russian, Polish and Latvian.

Recent job losses in the energy sector have also had an impact. “A lot of guys who come to us would have worked in the oil and gas sector all their life and suddenly have found themselves in need,” Baxter says.

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He’s among many in Aberdeen advocating a “Yes” vote for independence as the best way to reduce inequality here and across Scotland.

But although the SNP is very popular here, that may not translate into a vote for going it alone, says Lynn Bennie of the social science department at Aberdeen University.

Many of those working in the oil and gas industry are wary of constitutional change affecting business, she says. “There will be lots of people who vote SNP but won’t be voting ‘Yes.’”