Opinion

Seeking A Currency for an Independent Scotland

MmH

Greater Glasgow P4Indy invited Andy Anderson to an online meeting to talk about the currency options in an independent Scotland. Andy is well-known in the Yes Movement. He became active in seeking to explain the various currency options after he witnessed the currency bourach that emerged during the 2014 campaign. He has published several books on the subject. He leads small study groups on his ideas and the thinking behind them. And in this Covid pandemic he has moved to digital meetings and digital study groups!

You can listen to the talk and the Q&As afterwards here:

Pensioners for Independence
Pensioners for Independence
Andy Anderson: Currency in an Independent Scotland
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Tim Rideout: the Timeline for Setting Up a Scottish Currency

MmH 2 Comments

Our Greater Glasgow Group are meeting via Zoom every couple of weeks in this lockdown period. This week they invited Dr Tim Rideout to talk to about setting up a Scottish Currency. The video below isn’t from the meeting today but it’s pretty much the same talk. There is a shorter version of the talk at the end of this post.

Tim lays out a timeline for getting ourselves from a successful independence referendum to a Scottish currency operating in Scotland for Scots and Scottish business and in the international foreign exchange markets. Here is his timeline, taken from the Scottish Reserve Bank website The website has been set up by Tim and it has a lot of information on it. Setting up a reserve bank is one of the first steps on the timeline. Well, after the referendum has been won and the UK PM has acknowledged the result.

  • Thursday 9th September, 2021 – Scotland votes Yes in a second Scottish independence referendum. 
  • Saturday 11th September, 2021 – UK Prime Minister concedes that Scotland has voted to leave the Union.
Last time that Royal Coat of Arms for UK will be seen. HM Government England and Her Majesty will have to change it appropriately.
  • Wednesday 15th September, 2021 – Westminster Parliament approves a Statutory Instrument to add Scotland to the Statute of Westminster 1931. This means Scotland joins Canada, Australia, etc., as countries for which Westminster will no longer pass legislation except with the full consent of the relevant Parliament, in Scotland’s case, Holyrood.
  • Monday, 4th October, 2021 – The Scottish Government introduces the Scottish Reserve Bank (Establishment) Bill into Holyrood, Stage 1.
  • 2022 The Scottish Reserve Bank Act receives Royal Assent. The new bank occupies the old Royal High School Building in Edinburgh. The Bank’s President and Directors are appointed.
  • 2023 Aims of the Monetary Policy Committee of Scottish Reserve Bank are agreed: First Priority: Full Employment; Second Priority: +/- 2% inflation
  • Mid 2023 Commercial Banks write to Scottish customers using a Scottish sort code or postal address to invite them to open a Scottish Currency account(s). Any other customers, eg., Scots in London or with English sort codes, may contact their bank to request a Scottish currency account. Companies apply to have sterling and Scottish currency accounts, card payment facilities, etc. Designs for Scottish notes and coins finalised after a national competition. Sent to De La Rue Plc for manufacturing.
  • Thursday 30th November, 2023 – Independence Day Queen Elizabeth I & II attends lowering of the Union Flag for the last time at Edinburgh Castle.
  • December 2023 Banks start to post new Scottish Currency bank cards and cheque books to clients.
  • Mid January 2024 Starter packs of Scottish Currency go on sale.
  • Saturday 27th / Sunday 28th January, 2024 Sterling account balances sold to the Scottish Reserve Bank. Replacement Scottish currency deposited to new accounts. Vending machines converted. Cash machines converted.
  • Monday 29th January, 2024 – Currency DayNew currency on public sale. New debit and credit cards go live.
  • Monday 4th March, 2024 Peg to sterling ends. ForEx trading starts. Bank charges apply to transactions.
  • December 31st, 2024 Scottish currency stands at £1.12, but more or less unchanged against the Dollar and Euro. Pensioner Guarantee in operation. Scottish Reserve Bank has £50 billion Foreign Reserves, now converted in a balance mix of Euros, Dollars, Yen, etc.

Shorter version of Tim’s talk:

Dr Philippa Whitford : Brexit & the NHS

MmH

Philippa Whitford became MP for Central Ayrshire in 2015. She is the SNP spokesperson for Health at Westminster. If you ever watched her quizzing Jeremy Hunt when he was Secretary of State for Health, you’ll have enjoyed her grasp of detail, persistence and dry humour and the obvious discomfiture of Mr Hunt when faced with someone who knew more about the NHS than he did. Before her entry into politics Philippa was a consultant breast cancer surgeon working in Ayrshire.

She has given this talk in many places around the country. This is from 2019. But it’s still well worth watching.

Reaching Out to Older Voters

Alan Logue

How to inform older voters about independence issues has a number of constraints that are not true of other age groups.

Traditionally all voters have been informed by the range of daily and weekly newspapers, and the broadcasters. But with these conduits to the public often being governed by editorial and often political imperatives, the range, scope and even accuracy of the information is today, in these outlets, is being regularly brought into question.

It is well accepted, from whatever side of the argument you fall, that it is a bad situation for democracy that Scottish print media has 95%-97% of published content owned by individuals or organisations that are hostile to any change in the constitution of the UK. With this must come an acceptance, that having no requirement for partiality, their coverage will be consistently biased in reflecting promotion of the status quo, and therefore will project Scottish Independence, along with other non-establishment views, and those who advocate them, in a negatives light.

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It’s a no-brainer!

Alan Logue

Consider these two pieces of information:-

1 – A leaked UK Government report shows that a worst-case hard Brexit (apparently the UK Government’s preferred option) is likely to cost the economy of the UK £2bn a week.

2 – A majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU and keep our membership of the single market and customs union, but Scotland as part of the UK faces being taken out of the EU.

Now, the only way for Scots to avoid the catastrophic results of a hard Brexit is for Scotland to become an independent country and remain a member of the EU.

No brainer or what?