Darling: ‘Nationalists unclear, erratic on money’

THE SNP are cornering themselves between handing economic control over an independent Scotland to London or creating a Scottish currency, the leader of the Better Together campaign claimed today.
Alistair Darling made the comments on Sky News this morning. Picture: PAAlistair Darling made the comments on Sky News this morning. Picture: PA
Alistair Darling made the comments on Sky News this morning. Picture: PA

Alistair Darling, a former Labour Chancellor, said the nationalists’ contortions on economic and monetary policy lacked credibility.

He said: “The economy is going to be absolutely central to this debate about independence and central to the economy is the currency we use.

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“In the space of about 12 months, the nationalists have gone from adopting the euro - which is about as popular in Scotland as it is anywhere else in the UK - to simply using the pound like Panama uses the US dollar.

“That would be disastrous... so they are now saying they want a currency union. But they don’t seem to understand if you have a currency union, there are terms and conditions about your taxation, about your borrowing, about your spending.

“Whatever else that is, it is not independence.”

Mr Darling, who was speaking on the Sky News Murnaghan programme, added: “Unless they are prepared to say now they will sign up to whatever constraints, whatever straitjacket this currency union imposes, they cannot guarantee to keep the pound and they are driven back to what a number of them are recently talking about, which is having a separate Scottish currency.”