Currency [please forgive the slurring, I was playing referendum bingo] Please ram this down Alex Salmonds face. Scotland COULD adopt any currency currently traded across the globe, it COULD invent its own, it COULD ressurrect the original Scottish pound that was swallowed up into the English financial market back in 1707 ... it COULD do any of these things. It could ask Norway to be accepted into the Krone and to further the Scandinavian nations but it would rather stick with the pound; it could ask to be accepted into the Eirish Punt or the Jersey pound and further the independent nations that are still part of the UK, but it would rather stick with the pound; it could approach Japan to use the Yen and increase our trades and tourist magnetism with the land of the rising sun but it would prefer to have the pound; it COULD adopt the Euro, the yuan, the ruble, the rupee, the dong ... or even side with the USA and use the dollar and thereby embrace the 40% of that population who claim Scottish ancestry, BUT WE WOULD PREFER TO USE THE POUND. The whole planet is littered with nations that recognise and respect the people of Scotland; nations who would welcome an alliance that would expand their markets, strengthen their balance of payments and align themselves with a progressive and resourceful nation such as Scotland. But we would rather use the pound ... Sterling (the clue is in the name). We would rather use the currency that we have because we have always used it (and let me emphasise this - there is no law that prevents us, none. The £ is an internationally traded currency - ANYONE can use it. The only limit is WHO WILL ACCEPT IT IN PAYMENT FOR GOODS AND SERVICES?) ... because it always has been our currency. Scotland had its own pound in the 1700s and it was never repealed. The Scottish pound was incorporated into the Bank of England and is currently backed by a sizable (is it £4.6 billion?) deposit with the bank of England to validate Scottish notes issued by the Clydesdale, RBS and BoS to a level beyond that which notes issued by the Bank of England can ever hope to achieve. When Alex states that a currency union is best for both Scotland and England I do agree, but the time to negotiate this matter comes AFTER Independence in the 18 month transition period that follows ... but to stand like a numpty at the hustings and labour the 1st option is to insult the voting public and to harm the Independence movement. Project Fear have quite skillfully manipulated this non-event into a credible source of doubt. This doubt could have been exterminated this evening by stating the above, by actually answering the question. I have no doubt that Alex could have spun these words to successfully waste the bulk of Darlings 12 minutes of questions and made him look an even bigger fool. That said, personally I believe that Scotland should give the BoE the finger and revert to the Scottish £ demanding back from the BoE the deposit and using that as the primary injection of cash towards the oil fund which could then become lender of last resort. Let the markets decide which currency is more valuable. It doesnt matter, provided the people of Scotland can buy and sell their goods and services at home ... and trade with the rest of the world via the stock exchange. I just watched the live debate. I believe First Minister Salmond could have destroyed Patsy Darling. He failed. That does not change that fact that I MUST vote Yes for Independence because it isnt about the personalities, its about the future. And the UK has none. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_circulating_currencies]
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 21:28:17 +0000
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