Independent Scotland 'may keep pound' to ensure stability
I say 'might be' construed because, although this is certainly a boon for the Yes campaign, it does not extend quite as far as Nicola Sturgeon would like it to. And I cannot stand the idea that she might genuinely think she has scored an actual point.
Let's take a look at that killer quote:
"There would be a highly complex set of negotiations after a yes vote, with many moving pieces. The UK wants to keep Trident nuclear weapons at Faslane and the Scottish government wants a currency union – you can see the outlines of a deal."
This is certainly music to nationalist ears - up til now the various unionist parties have stuck strictly to the hard-line position of totally dismissing the possibility of currency union. Anything that casts doubt on that script will be welcomed. So on the narrow issue at hand, the Yes camp are entitled to feel pleased.
In a wider sense, however, I am not sure this is quite such a massive coup for them. Implicit in the above quote is the idea that the UK does not want currency union - that it would not be in its interests. Of course, an independent Scotland would not be without bargaining chips, and if it wanted or needed to spend them on incentivising the rest of the UK to do a deal on currency union then that is possible. Everything is negotiable, of course.
But would the SNP be willing to pay the price, if it were the one suggested above? Salmond and co have been almost as vehement about getting rid of the nukes as they have about anything else. It is hard to see how they could sell that deal. In much the same way as it is hard to see how rUK ministers could sell any deal to cede sovereignty over the pound, unless there was something significant offered in exchange.
The position that the un-named government minister elaborates then is certainly a retreat from "Alex Salmond is promising you something that is simply impossible". But perhaps only as far as "If Alex Salmond really wants to deliver that thing he has promised you, he might be able to do so, but only if he gives up that other thing he has promised you". An acceptance of political realities, then, but hardly a ringing endorsement of the case for separation.
There are plenty of reasons to think that, if Scotland were to become independent, a currency union with the rest of the UK would be sensible. But no-one claimed that it wouldn't happen because it was a bad idea. They said that it wouldn't happen because of the political realities; because it would require the rUK to to be willing to compromise its own independence in order to facilitate Scotland's newly minted one. Those difficulties remain. The Yes campaign will no doubt feel that they have won a small rhetorical battle today, but the facts of the matter have not changed. An independent Scotland would find it extremely difficult to negotiate a currency union, and telling people to vote for independence on the grounds that it will be straightforward remains extremely disingenuous.
But would the SNP be willing to pay the price, if it were the one suggested above? Salmond and co have been almost as vehement about getting rid of the nukes as they have about anything else. It is hard to see how they could sell that deal. In much the same way as it is hard to see how rUK ministers could sell any deal to cede sovereignty over the pound, unless there was something significant offered in exchange.
The position that the un-named government minister elaborates then is certainly a retreat from "Alex Salmond is promising you something that is simply impossible". But perhaps only as far as "If Alex Salmond really wants to deliver that thing he has promised you, he might be able to do so, but only if he gives up that other thing he has promised you". An acceptance of political realities, then, but hardly a ringing endorsement of the case for separation.
There are plenty of reasons to think that, if Scotland were to become independent, a currency union with the rest of the UK would be sensible. But no-one claimed that it wouldn't happen because it was a bad idea. They said that it wouldn't happen because of the political realities; because it would require the rUK to to be willing to compromise its own independence in order to facilitate Scotland's newly minted one. Those difficulties remain. The Yes campaign will no doubt feel that they have won a small rhetorical battle today, but the facts of the matter have not changed. An independent Scotland would find it extremely difficult to negotiate a currency union, and telling people to vote for independence on the grounds that it will be straightforward remains extremely disingenuous.
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