YES supporters want an independent Scotland to refuse to take on any UK debt.

A show of hands among at the Scottish Independence Convention meeting in Glasgow yesterday indicated more than 750 of the 800-strong audience in favour of backing a hardline stance with Westminster negotiators over the Union’s deficit.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies, the UK’s leading tax and spending think tank, warned in November that slower growth and higher inflation as a result of Brexit will lead to a £25 billion hole in the public finances by 2020 and that this was likely to increase further in the years ahead.

The question over an independent Scotland’s approach to UK debt was posed by Robin McAlpine, director of the Common Weal, who asked whether in any future negotiations after a Yes victory, Scottish negotiators should adopt an “hawkish” or “dove” stance to the issue.

“If you look at international precedents and international law, Scotland has zero responsibility for UK debts on assets,” he said. McAlpine added that when states split from one another there are two possibilities: either one leaves the other or both accept they are changed constitutional entities.

“The UK has made it point blank clear that new state would be Scotland,” he said. “We would not have access to the Bank of England or sterling. It also means we have no automatic right to any assets of the UK which are not physically or permanently located in Scotland. Thankfully it also means we have zero legal responsibility for debt.”

He asked: “How aggressive can we be on debt? Should we adopt a hawkish stance refusing to accept taking on any UK debt and allowing Scotland to start from the best possible fiscal position or more of a dove position?”

Most of the audience supported the former, with just a small number the latter.

There was also significant support for an independent Scotland to adopt its own currency, and a considerable majority for remaining in the EU. Only one person in the audience said he was in favour of Scotland being out of the bloc. Earlier in the same policy discussion section Professor Nicola McEwan of Edinburgh University was applauded when she agreed with the former First Minister Alex Salmond that “no nation was more ready for independence than Scotland”.

She said Scotland had a more mature democracy, a higher skilled population, a more advanced economy, a stronger civil society and political institutions than was case in Baltic states or Ireland at point of independence.

But, nevertheless, she warned that Yes campaigners would face a challenge in winning over No voters and the transition to a new state would not be without difficulties.

McEwan said: “Few doubt that Scotland could be independent, or even flourish in long run. But there’s no point pretending that getting there – the transition – would be easy. Whether it is about setting up new institutions, rejoining EU, or closing fiscal gap. It’s all doable, but it would still be hard and there will be some difficult choices. Don’t think you can convince many No voters to switch to Yes if you pretend otherwise.”

In the context of Scotland remaining in the EU as an independent state, she pointed to Ireland which she said became more influential as a EU member than it was before it joined the bloc.

“It’s not just a matter of institutions but a matter of capacity. Small nations can do quite well in the EU and in the international community where they develop niche expertise and learn to pay the game,” she said.

“Europeanisation of Ireland a classic example. Often said that Ireland didn’t really become independent of the UK until it joined the EU and it learned how to engage, how to exert influence, how to secure economic and financial benefits. It became less economically dependent on the UK, and more Europeanised in outlook.”