Scotland: What Kind of Independence?

The intentions of Alex Salmond, the UK’s sharpest political operator, in his leadership of his country’s bid for independence are becoming less clear than they initially appeared. Many thought the plan was to cut adrift and go it alone, clean and free. First the Monarchy was spared the axe, then the Bank of England and now the pound. His proposal is that Scotland remains part of a Sterling Zone, with the BoE as the Central Bank. Even if the rest of the UK were to agree to these arrangements, the chances of which are just a shade above zero, what kind of independence would this be for Scotland?

Economically it would have to do as it was told by England, in whose Parliament it would have no representation whatsoever. Every fool in Europe now knows that you cannot have a currency without a government and in the absence of a federal system, the most powerful country runs the currency as Germany now runs the Euro. This means that in matters euro Berlin’s word is law. So it would be in London for sterling.

This is not real independence and it is certainly less attractive than the present Union for the Scottish people. The alternative would be to join the Euro and be told how to organise the budget by Brussels officials working under German orders. That does not sound a vote catcher. So go it alone with a Scottish pound? The trouble is the Scottish banking system is, post the Goodwin era, bust and relying on UK, mainly English, taxpayers to stay afloat.

Alex Salmond is clever and it would be unwise to write him or his project off. Nevertheless he will have to come up with something a bit more plausible if he is to win in 2014.