Scottish independence: Dennis Canavan joins the growing list of people who know that Alex Salmond has botched the independence campaign over what currency is used, how much longer will Salmond go on before the U turn?

Dear All

Much has been made by Blair Jenkins of Yes Scotland that his organisation is not an SNP front.

Run by the SNP, funded by the SNP, for the benefit of the SNP.

Yes Scotland.

The debate regarding Scottish currency has been botched by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon much like NATO and of course the EU debacle.

But it shouldn’t have been, for an independent Scotland, you need an independent currency.

The problem arose because the Scottish National Party which is run as a middle class clique couldn’t be bothered to do the work under Salmond’s leadership.

The Scottish National Party had 80 years to get their act together and failed.

Now, the chairman of the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign has put himself on a collision course with Alex Salmond.

Dennis Canavan is joining the rising chorus calling for a new currency to be created if Scots opt to leave the UK.

Latest polls show 62% against leaving, it’s a matter of trust, and working class Scots people don’t trust Salmond and Sturgeon.

Dennis Canavan much like Blair Jenkins is being used as a front in Yes Scotland to cover up that behind the scenes; it is the SNP who call the shots.

In an interview with the BBC he said his "preferred option" was for a new currency which, he said, offered "more freedom".

The internal dispute is great news for the pro-UK parties who say that the Yes camp is "in chaos" over key economic policies.

Salmond rushed the date of the independence bid, stupidity on his part; two full terms at least were needed to mount a possibly successful bid.

This term of the Scottish Parliament has been a complete farce under the SNP, nothing of note is getting done and work already done is of such poor quality.

Clearly given a majority the SNP where emboldened to be incompetent.

Trying to hold back the rising tide, Salmond hit back in a series of television interviews, the worst being the car crash on Channel Four by Jon Snow!

Defending his bankrupt proposed sterling zone, he confirmed the set-up would put the Bank of England in control of monetary policy.

Independence but controlled by another country, but he insisted tax and spending "would be run in Scotland".

Salmond truly is pathetic.

Currency union is not on the table, George Osborne has made that plain enough; how many times does Salmond need to be told?

Canavan like many thinkers has dismissed the currency union idea, telling BBC Scotland: "If Scotland were to have its own currency then it would have far more freedom to do its own thing and it would have a full range of economic levers to determine its own economic policy."

Canavan added:

"I am finding in the meetings we are doing in the Yes Scotland campaign throughout the length and breadth of the country some people are questioning that advice. I think there is a considerable body of opinion that would favour Scotland having its own currency and keeping open the option that if and when the Eurozone recovers economically, then possibly put it to the people of Scotland by means of a referendum whether we should join the eurozone."

On joining the Euro, he is way off the mark, at present and for the foreseeable future such a move is highly unlikely.

The Euro doesn’t work properly, although the idea seems good on paper, the EU continual enlargement killed it.

On and off people float the idea of splitting the Euro currency into Euro North and Euro South, that is a temporary fix, however, something needs to be done to stablise the entire EU.

So, the list grows calling for a Scottish currency, Dennis Canavan, former SNP leader Gordon Wilson, ex-deputy leader Jim Fairlie and Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox.

And as well as them we have the Scottish Greens, another party in the Yes Scotland group, they urge the SNP to retain the option of a new currency.

Plan McB.

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling, the head of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, said:

"How on earth can they ask people to vote for independence when they can't even agree amongst themselves the most basic and fundamental things like what currency we would use? As their confusion over currency has escalated, their credibility has evaporated."

Scottish Labour finance spokesman Ken Macintosh said:

"Whether or not we keep the pound is a basic question and Dennis Canavan has again exposed the uncertainty which exists at the heart of a campaign which would break up Britain. If the Yes campaign can't even agree what they mean by independence, it is difficult to see how they can expect Scots to vote for it."

Scots LibDem leader Willie Rennie said:

"This shows the increasing amount of dissent within the Yes camp, which far from providing certainty only creates the impression of chaos. This is a direct challenge to Alex Salmond's authority."

The writing is on the wall, it’s a Scottish currency and always was a Scottish currency, sadly the genuine lack of talent in the SNP is now bubbling to the surface; we see the incompetence, the lack of a work ethic and the inability to plan properly.

Last night on Channel Four, Alex Salmond came across as a buffoon; this is the leader of an independent Scotland?

No thanks!

Too small minded, too provincial and too stupid.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University