Alistair Darling, the head of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, urged the First Minister to come clean and reveal his fall-back option if a sterling zone could not be negotiated on acceptable terms. Mr Salmond faced the same call at First Ministers Questions yesterday when Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said to him: It would seem we have a fool here who has no plan B on the currency. At Westminster, meanwhile, the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee also demanded answers, issuing a report which said the Scottish Governments imminent White Paper on independence must explain the implications of any alternative plan for the currency. The calls followed comments by the head of the Scottish Governments strategy unit, Colin McKay, who said the currency union plan could not be guaranteed as it would depend on talks with the UK Government. Discussing the White Paper at an academic seminar in Glasgow on Wednesday he said: We cannot assert as a priori fact that we can achieve a currency union with the UK but we can set out why we think it is the best option. Mr Darling seized on the remarks, saying: Mr Salmonds claim that a currency union is a done deal has been blown out of the water by his own head of strategy. At First Ministers Questions, Ms Lamont said: The First Ministers chief strategist is clear: no cast-iron guarantee can be given. Given this rare moment of candour, can the First Minister now tell us what his plan B is if he is unable to negotiate successfully a currency union with the rest of the United Kingdom. Mr Salmond - and, later, his officials - refused to discuss any possible alternative to the currency union. However, he confirmed the plan was a policy position rather than a cast-iron guarantee. He said: The White Paper will be definitive on the policy positions of the SNP Government. The essence of the argument for independence is that it gives people in Scotland the choice about what they do. I assure Johann Lamont that, when the white paper is published, it will be definitive about the policy choices of the Scottish National Party on the currency and other matters. Under the SNPs plan, an independent Scotland and the UK would share sterling as part currency union. Mr Salmond has argued the arrangement would be in the overwhelming interests of both countries. However Chancellor George Osborne has said the UK would be unlikely to agree. A Scottish Government spokesman confirmed the plan was merely its position. (DL) heraldscotland/politics/referendum-news/darling-piles-on-pressure-over-scots-currency-after-yes-vote.22710526
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:52:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015