Currency and Fear

What is currency? It’s a system of money in general use in a particular country.

Can anyone use any currency? Scotland can basically use any currency it wants that is a tradable currency. Westminster CANNOT stop an independent Scotland using the pound. Leaving aside the fact that the pound is as much Scotlands as it is England, Wales, and Northern Irelands to use. This is explained very clearly on the Business for Scotland Website which states

‘Sterling is a fully convertible currency; this means that if any country in the world wants to use sterling it can. Examples of a fully convertible currency being used by other nations include Panama and El Salvador using the US dollar. Using the pound for a period, is a well proven route for countries leaving British rule (New Zealand/Ireland/Australia etc). However Scotland’s right to use sterling is stronger than other countries due to the fact that Scotland owns a population percentage share of the Bank of England (BOE), and so we will just be using a currency and services of a bank that we part-own with the other UK countries. So all that is being proposed is that Scotland will maintain the currency union that we joined hundreds of years ago and still works, whilst leaving the political one that doesn’t.

Can the rest of the UK refuse to have a currency union? Yes they can but will they is the more important question. The remainder of the UK has far too much to lose if they decide that they will not negotiate, leaving aside the fact that this involves rUK assuming they are the continuator state, international law may not accept this as we are in a political union, you can’t have it both ways. We are either in a political union or we are not.

The other facts are that the UK is roughly £1.6 trillion pounds in debt and growing every day. International law has nothing written in it that says Scotland has to accept it’s share of this debt (£130 billion pounds) if the remainder of the UK argues that they are the continuator state, the debt would then fall on them, irrespective of the argument that Scotland would walk away from it’s debts, Scotland would be getting forced to walk away from it’s debts and the markets would understand that. Scotland would basically become a debt free country and the rest of the UK would be accepting that principle by refusing a currency union. You would have a new Scotland willing to pay it’s debts and the UK being unwilling to accept that, how would the markets accept that one?

The Edinburgh Agreement also includes a clause which states the following – 30. The United Kingdom and Scottish Governments are committed, through the Memorandum of Understanding 4between them and others, to working together on matters of mutual interest and to the principles of good communication and mutual respect. The two governments have reached this agreement in that spirit. They look forward to a referendum that is legal and fair producing a decisive and respected outcome. The two governments are committed to continue to work together constructively in the light of the outcome, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom.

Are they then going to break their own legally binding agreement? I just don’t think so. Are they going to upset the very markets that they appear to worship? I don’t think so. No, this is all bluster I’m afraid no matter what the NO side say, it is designed to make you afraid to vote in your own personal best interests because a YES vote is not in their best interests. They are not even considering the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They don’t care about them either, they care about their Nuclear Weapons, they care about their seat on the UN Security Council, they care about the G8, they care about their seat at the top table of Europe irrespective of any referendum on Europe. They fear losing their place in the pecking order.

An independent Scotland makes England, Wales and Northern Ireland become Little Britain and they fear that. It will force a conversation to take place where London will really be under the spotlight, they fear the other parts of the UK learning what Scots have learned, London is a separate country and the UK is run to service London and the elite within the three main parties, and their pals. Why do you think FEAR is their main tactic because by convincing you that you will lose your paltry pension (by European standards), your paltry social security benefits (by European standards) your NHS or your jobs they are putting all the things they fear losing (by their standards) on to you. They lose far more than you ever will, in fact you gain by independence in too many areas to mention, the bigger loss is theirs and that is why there will be a currency union and a negotiation that overtime will come to the fore. They have too much to lose if they don’t, they are very very afraid, just don’t let their fear make you make a decision that you will regret and the generations to come will regret for the rest of their lives.

Don’t let PROJECT FEAR make your decision for you, look at the facts and let HOPE WIN OVER FEAR.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/flaw-osbornes-pre-emptive-strike-against-currency-union

Scottish Independence – How Cameron sold England down the river with the Edinburgh Agreement