THE debate promoted by The National on currency is very much to be welcomed! This is a debate, and all points of view need to be aired.

As others have said, the discussion on currency in 2014 made us look unprepared and on the back foot.

We cannot allow this to happen again! It was a humiliation for us to have the Chancellor, George Osborne, declare (with apparent authority) that we would be unable to use sterling.

Those who say we should not discuss this until after we reach independence forget that people on the doorstep who are undecided expect us to have something to say on the issue. When you talk about an independent Scotland having a new industrial revolution with renewable energy and well-paid jobs,the first question will be “How are we going to pay for it?”

The way we present our case should be a vote winner. We should be able to present the case that, after independence, we need a clean Scottish currency. We also need a Government Central Bank which controls the currency, full reserve banking which operates to serve customers, and strict regulatory financial controls. All of this should be enshrined in our constitution to ensure that good practice is built into future governments.

David Simpson (Letters, April 10) suggests it is a “superstition” that governments can provide money to boost the economy and mentions former President Mugabe. Mugabe ran the Zimbabwean economy into the ground with corruption and nepotism, then he printed money and there was rampant inflation! This is not what we are talking about!

We are looking at the huge successes of the post-war Attlee government, which nationalised the Bank of England, developed huge projects as jobs for homecoming soldiers – the NHS, the railways, the Coal Board and much more!

The money created by the bank for wages came back to the government as taxation and the economy was boosted by the buying of necessities for post-war families. The government used the funds from taxation to fund further necessary projects. A fabulous success that has never been bettered by any government since. We can dae it!

Maggie Chetty
Glasgow

TOM Crozier (Letters, April 11) hits the nail right on the head when it comes to the current stushie over which currency an independent Scotland would use.

While there are some who would prefer our own currency, some favour linking to sterling (at least in the short term) and there may even be those in favour of the euro – the simple answer is that as an independent country we get to choose what currency is best for Scotland.

If linking in with Sterling isn’t working then we can ditch it – the main point is that Scotland’s people get the choice (via our parliament and government) to choose the currency that best suits Scotland’s needs at any given time.

Rehashing the currency debate maybe interesting for some, but the Unionists will be laughing up their sleeves as all our energies are wasted fighting with one another over what name we’re going to attach to our coins and notes

instead of using that energy to promote why independence is so crucial to our future.

Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley

IF Tom Crozier cannot agree with myself and others that the currency case in the run-up to the 2014 referendum was a notable weakness in the Yes campaign, I am hopeful that at least he might concede that it was certainly not the strongest part of our case.

Yes, I agree with Mr Crozier that the Vow played its part, but elections and campaigns are not won in weeks but over months, and it was the corrosive effect of the SNP, over months, failing to sanction an independent Scottish currency after George Osborne’s refusal to concede a shared currency, that did lasting damage to the credibility of the independence case.

As I said in my original letter, many Yes activists, myself included, were persuaded of the case for a shared currency due to its pragmatism.

But this pragmatism has to be displayed on the part of Westminster, and as we see in the current dogmatic mindset over Brexit, the British establishment did not do pragmatism in 2014, is not being pragmatic now with the EU, and will not be pragmatic at the next independence referendum.

To raise legitimate questions on our currency strategy in a sympathetic forum such as The National is not “wallowing in our opponents’ comfort area”, but rather reaching out to the wider diversity of the Yes movement to promote respectful debate, and ensure we get our fiscal strategy right next time so we secure the victory that Mr Crozier and I both wish to see.

Cllr Andy Doig (Independent)
Renfrewshire Council