Which currency would ind Scotland have ?

[RagnarRocks]

Ok I'm confused Alex Salmomd says we will continue to use the £ but George Osbourne says not necessarily unless the Uk agrees which is unlikely. Or the Euro which require us to rejoin Europe again not necessarily acceptable to the other EU countries who have to agree. Or the Groat the only currency which old truly be Scottish but apparently wouldn't necessarily accepted by the rest of the world as a tradeable currency as its value would be unknown.This matter because it directly affects pensions, savings the value of everything you buy, sell or get paid with. I have yet to see a real answer to this question on any news channel or newspaper.It would appear that this one very important subject is being fudged .

[joxville]

I don't see the Groat being any different from when the Euro was introduced, it too had an unknown value.

[RagnarRocks]

Very true but how would that effect pensions and savings ? Has to better than the euro though

[changilass]

The £ is British currency, therefore Scotland has as much right to it as any other part of Britain no matter what George Osbourne says, just the same as everything else.

Its a bit like a divorce, you have to share the whole lot. One side does not get the picking and the other the remaining dregs.

[golach]

The £ is British currency, therefore Scotland has as much right to it as any other part of Britain no matter what George Osbourne says, just the same as everything else.

Its a bit like a divorce, you have to share the whole lot. One side does not get the picking and the other the remaining dregs.

The Bank of England controls the British £, why would they give in to the independantists?

[RagnarRocks]

I don't get how an independent Scotland can force another independent country the Uk ,to link its currency to it against its will, unless Scotland is prepared to allow taxation etc to still come from the Uk and be forced to do what the British government requires for the currency not for Scotland. The last thing the BoE will allow is for Scotland to go on a spending spree and drag the Uk £ down with it.

[weezer 316]

The £ would be used but clearly this is a disaster waiting to happen. Even minus a formal currency union we could use i but a union would probably be acheived. This is the absolute worst option though and the only reason nationalists are arguing for it is from nationalists zeal. Nothing to do with practicialtiy. Unless we launch our own currency then its defo no from me. That's number 1 on the list of items that need to change.

We cant use the Euro as we dont qualify for it frankly. Our finances simply dont meet the criteria, which brussels is rightly enforcing now.

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/.../who_can_join/

[joxville]

We should have our own National Bank of Scotland, or something similar. BRB, I'm off to register some names ;-)

[golach]

We should have our own National Bank of Scotland, or something similar. BRB, I'm off to register some names ;-)

We have the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, TSB and all are broke, and owe money to guess who, ......us Unionists

[charlie]

Surely my pound sterling in my pocket(or your twenty poon note) BEFORE independence is still the same pound in my pocket AFTER independence?
(Though its hardly going to be an instant change as your are suggesting/fearing).

It is still a negotiable currency so you can change it into Euro's/Dollars/Groats/Toytown Money/etc/whenever you wish.
It's currently your personal choice which currency you hold your current pensions, savings,etc.
Why would that change - apart from personal choice?


Therefore, I don't understand the question.
Why should it affect your current pensions, savings (all in Pounds Sterling)?

Have I missed something?

[RagnarRocks]

If your pensions and savings are held in the Uk as it would be not Scotland then it shouldn't be an issue but if you're reliant on anything held in Scotland then there may well be an issue.

[weezer 316]

Surely my pound sterling in my pocket(or your twenty poon note) BEFORE independence is still the same pound in my pocket AFTER independence?
(Though its hardly going to be an instant change as your are suggesting/fearing).

It is still a negotiable currency so you can change it into Euro's/Dollars/Groats/Toytown Money/etc/whenever you wish.
It's currently your personal choice which currency you hold your current pensions, savings,etc.
Why would that change - apart from personal choice?


Therefore, I don't understand the question.
Why should it affect your current pensions, savings (all in Pounds Sterling)?

Have I missed something?

Yes. Greece is what you have missed. Monetary union without a fiscal and politcal one. if England decided to print money (why should they give a damn about hat a foreign country needs) and we would really like a belt tightening, or vice versa, would kill us. its the main reason the greeks are going through all this bother because if they had control of their own currency they could have printered more and they would have devalued accordingly. But instead the only thing they coudl do was cut things left right and centre and ask for a bail out.

Its really not an option. Seriously. The only thing driving it is "its our too so we want to use it" like some pair of squabling children. Unless we launch or own is a defo no from me.

[gerry4]

Australia, canada & Ireland all shared the pound when they became independent, s what is different about Scotland using it. Remember it was a Scot who founded the BOE & as been said it is as much Scottish as it is English.

George Osbourne has never said said that he ruled out a shared currency. many experts believe without the contribution of Oil, Whisky, etc from Scotland rUk would suffer a server balance of payment crisis. That is why Osborne will agree.

[weezer 316]

Yeah and he nearly bankrupted us too with he darien scheme, but what the hell has any of that got to do with us using the pound post independence? Your analogies don bear resemlebance to the position Scotland would, and worst of all could, find itself in. It simply not in our inerests and no amount opf its us as much as theirs nonsense changes that. We need our own currency.

[sids]

Could the punch on the nose be used as a currency?

[Oddquine]

I don't get how an independent Scotland can force another independent country the Uk ,to link its currency to it against its will, unless Scotland is prepared to allow taxation etc to still come from the Uk and be forced to do what the British government requires for the currency not for Scotland. The last thing the BoE will allow is for Scotland to go on a spending spree and drag the Uk £ down with it.

Can't force them to link..but equally they can't stop us using...as has been said umpteen times. However, if they don't link, they don't get the benefits of Scottish input to the rUK Sterling Zone Balance of Trade (which, currently, even with Scotland, is abysmal).

The beauty of being independent is that we can use any currency traded on the international market that benefits us....and have the fiscal tools to compensate for glitches if the currency issuing country has problems they have to combat using monetary policy....and using it in for say 5/10 years to see how it is going to work will let us get plans in place for our own Central Bank and Currency.

If the rUK stops pouting and huffing, I don't see why there can't be negotiations on a formal currency Union...though I won't be holding my breath on that.....(or failing that option, a cash benefit from our share of the BofE which can then be set against our share of the UK debt .)

Out of interest.......what spending spree...seems to me the only Government which has been spending as if money was going out of fashion in the last decades has been the UK one...hence their debt levels.

[Green_not_greed]

The SNP will want a new currency, "the Salmond" of course. As everything else in this complete waste of money in a time or crisis, the SNP (or more specifically, their smug and sad little leader) will try and maximise everything they can with this one chance of history they may have.

I admit that Salmond and his cronies are shrewd and very smart indeed in gaining younger votes. They have had politicians round the schools trying to brainwash the 16-17 year olds for over a year. I was at a graduation ceremony this week where SNP policies were part of the key speeches, and a video message from Mike Russell was mandatory viewing for everyone. I can't decide whether 1984 has come a bit late or whether the blueprint from Germany's National Socialists has come very late. But its much the same. Whatever, the SNP assembly in Hollyrood continue to drive their half-thought and totally nationalistic policies forward while they continue to have a slim majority, backed by the greens. Its like watching national fascism. The greens, incidentally, are also pushing independence, no doubt through back-door deals and promises.

Hopefully all will fail miserably......

[scorrie]

It seems highly unlikely there will be Scottish Independence, at least according to current betting on the Referendum. It is as short as 1/10 that there will be a NO vote and the odds of a YES vote are the highest they have been at the moment, with 11/2 being the general price. Bookmakers have taken individual bets of as much as £200,000 and say that over half a million pounds has been staked on the NO option.