The SNP’s currency plans for an independent Scotland are already mired in confusion.
After insisting in 2014 that a separate Scotland would join a ‘currency union’ with the rest of the UK, the party now backs a new currency at the earliest opportunity.
That means ditching the pound and putting everyone’s wages, mortgages and pensions at risk. It would be a reckless act that would endanger livelihoods, so it’s no surprise it’s supported by only 12 per cent of voters. See here.
But now the confusion has deepened thanks to SNP MSP Emma Harper. She appeared on the BBC Scotland show Debate Night and made a series of wild claims.
She compared the situation to what happens in Ireland and Northern Ireland which use different currencies; then claimed that Scottish pounds can be exchanged at different rates around the world even though this only happens by error; and made the argument that ‘plastic translates anywhere’.
Watch the clip below:
Emma Harper is right that ‘plastic’ – credit and debit cards – can be used anywhere in the world. But plastic isn’t a currency. The sale is still conducted in one currency and there are usually foreign transaction fees attached as any holidaymaker knows.
This confusion just shows that the SNP doesn’t have a coherent plan for ditching the pound.
The overwhelming majority of people in Scotland want to keep the pound and don’t want a new currency.
By remaining in the UK we can keep our pound, protect mortgages, pensions and salaries, grow our economy without extra red tape for businesses, and use a stable currency backed by the strength of the UK’s central bank and 30 million taxpayers.
The SNP should drop its unwanted plan for a divisive second independence referendum and its hated plan to scrap the pound, and get on with the day job of running our hospitals, schools and trains.
Can you help the campaign to save the pound? You can donate here.
Ps Scotland has been using the pound since the 1200s 500 years before the poxy Union
Blah blah blah 🇬🇧Australia America New Zealand and all the African countries all have there own currency after leaving the uk
The only confusion appears to be with Unionists. Scotland can decide to use whatever currency it wants. The pound sterling is a British currency, not an English one. Scotland does not need permission from the Bank of England or Westminster to keep using the pound, though it would make sense to eventually use a currency which we could administer ourselves. We dont have that benefit under the present Union.
Many countries adopt currencies administered by other countries - The US dollar being one good example, so it would not be unusual. The Unionist reasoning that it wouldn't be possible, appears to be based on misinformation or spite.