Valued assets

The article by Sir Andrew Large and Sir Martin Jacomb
(Comment, 4 September) highlighted a situation that has been obvious to many for some time.

Alex Salmond’s assertion (as exemplified in the recent BBC debate) that a currency union
involving the pound is a necessary condition for the appropriate division of assets is deeply flawed (particularly as he has an economic background).

As the authors point out, the pound is not really an asset that can be owned – it is merely a unit of currency by which asset value can be measured.

The division of assets is an 
entirely different matter from currency union, as anybody 
with a modicum of knowledge of these issues realises and, in this respect, it is deeply disappointing for the quality of the referendum debate that some appear to 
take the First Minister’s stance
seriously.

So may I ask that the First Minister and the Finance
Secretary clarify their position 
by answering the following 
question?

If, during negotiations between Scotland and rUK on the division of assets and liabilities, the rUK government offered to hand over a proportion of the Bank of England reserves equivalent to an appropriate proportion of its asset value (in terms of
reserves and any property or
intellectual property rights) but did not agree to enter into a
currency union, would you still refuse to accept any responsibility for a proportion of UK
national debt?

D Kane

Napier Road

Edinburgh