Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s ‘Sterlingisation’ plan categorically proves he is an economic illiterate; Scotland is not a ‘banana republic’ and the "transition option" means only one thing, the SNP wants the Euro, Salmond and Sturgeon are toxic assets

Dear All

Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond famously said in an interview:

“My problem is that I have too many talented people and not enough of Cabinet positions”!

Looking at the utter shambles of what passes for an independence campaign you can be in no doubt that Alex Salmond has warped judgment.

In more or less every single issue, Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon are on the wrong side of the polls and on the wrong side of destiny.

Yesterday saw Alex Salmond trying an utterly crass stunt to get voters to compare with Robert the Bruce, Braveheart which was abandoned at the start of this independence bid was dusted off.

How Alex Salmond and his advisors thought there was any mileage in this tripe escapes me, this is the 21^st Century and Salmond is stuck in the 14^th Century trying to stir up anti English sentiment.

Scottish independence has nothing whatsoever to do with England.

On the key issue of currency, Alex Salmond decided to play a game of cat and mouse, a guessing game because he is so “smart”, and the rest of us Scots are such Neanderthals.

But like all his petty meaningless stunts and gestures, it has blown up in his face.   

Alex Salmond’s plan for a separate Scotland’s currency now a stop gap; this means he has left voters mired deep confusion. If you a regular reader you will know I have said on currency that there should have been a plan for a Scottish currency, there wasn’t, a key plank of independence was discarded without serious thought.

As well as that inept decision by the Alex Salmond Party within the SNP, I have always said their protestations regarding currency union with the UK are a complete smokescreen.

The SNP in my opinion have always wanted to take Scotland in to the Euro currency despite the fact it is a danger and it is unstable. You only to look at Greece to understand how the Euro has failed to work for them and is in fact a burden! It isn’t enough to be in the Euro while things are all hunky dory, not enough thought was placed in what was needed if a country needed to drop out.

Now, Alex Salmond is talking about a viable "transition option" which is code for living in a ‘banana republic’ like Panama where an independent Scotland would have no lender of last resort which means if a bank goes under you lose everything including your savings.   

There is about a month to go before the September 18 referendum, Salmond is refusing to say which of the two long-term options the euro or a new currency are option.

By going the way of Sterlingisation, this is a clear indication of Salmond wanting to join the Euro. Why start up a Scottish currency and have all the set up costs when you can have others do the work for you?

It’s the Euro!

The Better Together campaign said the SNP leader has “dug an even bigger hole for himself” on the currency.

Salmond has to commit to something, he simply can’t “run and hide” from providing answers from voters before polling day.

If some people of Scotland have believed the lie of Nordic welfare, I can offer a "transition option"; buy a boxset of Borgen because that is as close to it as you are ever going to get to it.

The Euro has torn apart countries in Southern Europe like Greece and to a certain extent Spain and Italy. Scotland has a sizeable public sector in relation to its size, this would have to be severely curtailed and budget cuts right across the board and services diminished. If you think you have seen austerity, you haven’t seen it Euro style. It would also require deep spending cuts to build up reserves of sterling and ensure there is enough money in circulation while ‘sterlingisation’ was in place.

Sometime ago I wrote two articles on ‘white collar flight’, part 1 & 2, now Economists have warned Salmond’s disastrous plan would lead to a “flight” of money from Scotland as it would have no central bank or lender of last resort. It won’t just be money that goes south; some businesses would also up sticks and relocate.

In business, you never invest in a collapsing market that is the same in politics, the Scottish National Party is in meltdown; Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon are toxic assets on the books for Nationalism.

Salmond says that there will be a Sterling Zone pact and the Chancellor, Shadow Chancellor and Chief Secretary to the Treasury are all bluffing about rejecting his plan for a formal currency union between a separate Scotland and the remainder of the UK.

They aren’t, this will be in everyone’s manifesto commitments going into the 2015 election.

There is no deal to be had!

Recently, John Swinney’s former chief of staff has vowed to vote No to independence after claiming the SNP have lost the economic argument. He also says that even among the elected SNP Councillors of his local authority, they are ready to reject the party’s core aim. Stuart Borrowman says he has gone through the ‘white paper’ and couldn’t find an economic argument that stacked up.

The vote against Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon will take place on the 18^th September.

Vote early because traffic is going to be busy, I will be right up the front of the queue to save Scotland and its people from the SNP’s gross stupidity and I suspect so will many SNP activists and politicians.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights a Glasgow University