By Vivienne Russell | 21 July 2014
There is no possibility of a currency union between an independent Scotland the residual UK and the plan is not in the best interests of either party, Westminster MPs said today.
Releasing a strongly worded report, Ian Davidson, chair of the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, said: ‘This parrot is dead’.
The report argues that no present of future UK chancellor could enter into a currency union without ‘totally destroying’ his or her political and economic credibility.
It adds that it is difficult to see any benefit to the UK in accepting the burden of risk posed by any default by Scottish banks.
On the Scottish side, a currency union would mean Scotland’s government handing control over monetary policy, including interest rates, to a foreign power. ‘This is politically infeasible,’ the report said.
Davidson said: ‘There will be no currency union between a separate Scotland and the continuing United Kingdom. No currency union of any kind: no ifs, no buts, no fudges, no deals.
‘The Scottish Government tries to give the impression that a currency union is still a possibility. It is not. This parrot is dead.
‘Now voters urgently need to be told what the Scottish Government has a Plan B.’
