Currency union comments spark denial

29 March 2014 Last updated at 06:10

Downing Street has moved to dismiss a report in the Guardian suggesting the UK government would share the pound with an independent Scotland.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed minister saying: "Of course there would be a currency union."

Scotland's deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the Guardian story.

But both a Number 10 spokesperson and Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael reiterated the government's position - ruling out a currency union.

"There will not be a currency union in the event of independence," a spokesman for the prime minister said.

"The only way to keep the UK pound is to stay in the UK. Walking out of the UK means walking out of the UK pound."

Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said: "An anonymous, off-the-record quote does not change the stark reality on the currency."

Last month, Chancellor George Osborne said a vote for Scottish independence would mean walking away from the pound.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond accused him of "bluff and bluster".

The Scottish government, led by Mr Salmond's SNP, has argued that keeping the pound and the services of the Bank of England as part of a currency union under independence made sense for both Scotland and the rest of the UK.

But Mr Osborne's declaration that there would not be a currency union was followed by Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Labour's Ed Balls insisting that they would not agree to share sterling if Scotland voted for independence in September.

The Guardian quotes a UK government minister who it says would play a central role in the negotiations over the break-up of the UK if there were a yes vote.

It quotes the unnamed minister as saying: "There would be a highly-complex set of negotiations after a yes vote with many moving pieces.

"The UK wants to keep Trident nuclear weapons at Faslane and the Scottish government wants a currency union - you can see the outlines of a deal."

Sharing sterling

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "This was supposed to be the No campaign's trump card, but as the polls show it has backfired badly - the gap between Yes and No has halved since November, and most Scots simply do not believe the bluff and bluster we had from George Osborne, Ed Balls and Danny Alexander."

She added: "The reality is that a currency union is every bit as much in the interests of the rest of the UK as an independent Scotland, and that is why Westminster will agree to one.

"Scotland is the rest of the UK's second biggest trading partner, and not sharing sterling would cost businesses south of the border an extra £500m in transaction costs."

Mr Carmichael said: "The UK government has listened to the views of the governor of the Bank of England and the independent advice of the permanent secretary to the Treasury that a currency would be damaging for all the United Kingdom.

"That's why a currency union simply will not happen."

Voters in Scotland will be asked the yes/no question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" when the independence referendum is held on 18 September.

The Downing Street spokesperson added: "The UK would not put its taxpayers at risk of bailing out a foreign country and its banks.

"Parliament wouldn't pass it, and the people wouldn't accept it. Any suggestion to the contrary is wrong."

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