‘Catastrophe’ warning over debt burden

SCOTLAND would inherit a national debt of £65 billion after becoming independent, the Treasury has claimed, as UK ministers stepped up their attacks on SNP plans for secession.

In a speech to business chiefs in Glasgow, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander claimed that Scotland would have been faced by a “catastrophic” debt mountain had it gone into the 2008 financial crisis as a separate country.

He added that “heroic assumptions” about North Sea oil revenues would not change the picture.

The SNP last night accused Mr Alexander of turning to “ridiculous” arguments to try to damage the case against independence. The party says Scotland’s national debt after independence would be lower than the European average – and that Scotland would still have as much as £1 trillion worth of oil left in the North Sea to boost its coffers.

Mr Alexander’s comments were made in the keynote speech to last night’s CBI Scotland annual dinner in Glasgow, and come as the UK government ratchets up its rhetoric against independence.

On Wednesday, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore used a speech in Edinburgh to say Unionists should “confront” the case for independence, and accused the SNP of failing to make clear exactly how an independent Scotland would operate.

Mr Moore said that while UK ministers still wanted to pursue a “respect agenda” towards Edinburgh, it would have to be a “mutual respect agenda”.

Mr Alexander was speaking after repeated calls from the SNP government for the Treasury to enact a “Plan B” on the economy. First Minister Alex Salmond has warned that the coalition government’s deficit reduction strategy risks choking off growth, and has called for more cash to be ploughed into infrastructure projects.