Independence: Scots would prefer to keep pound

A YouGov poll commissioned by the SNP has shown that the majority of Scots would prefer to keep the pound as the currency of an independent Scotland.

The majority of Scots would prefer to keep the pound post-independence. Picture: PA

The poll, published in today’s Herald newspaper, surveyed 1006 people between May 1 and May 3, and asked the question: ‘Do you think an independent Scotland should or should not keep the pound?’ with 66 per cent of Scots in favour compared to 10 per cent opposing the idea. 15 per cent were undecided.

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The results were mirrored across the main political parties, with 69 per cent of SNP voters in favour of retaining the pound, along with 71 per cent of Labour voters, 62 per cent of Tory voters and 64 per cent of Lib Dem voters.

The SNP’s Westminster Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said that Westminster’s threats on ecomomic policy had ‘backfired.’

He said: “The pound is Scotland’s currency every bit as much as the rest of the UK’s, and Westminster’s threats have clearly backfired.

“An overwhelming majority of people in Scotland – including Labour, Tory and Lib Dem voters – believe that an independent Scotland should keep the pound.

In the event of a Yes vote, keeping the pound would mean that the Scottish government would control revenues and taxation policy.

Mr Hosie added: “Even the chairman of the No campaign, Alistair Darling, said that a currency union after independence is ‘desirable’ and ‘logical’.”

George Osborne last month played down the possibility of a currency union, claiming that the rest of the UK would not benefit from a ‘pound pact’.