IT is depressing to see the normally astute Ian Blackford endorsing the idea of pegging the new Scottish currency to sterling for some indeterminate time. The SNP leadership seem to be justifying keeping sterling because opinion poll evidence suggests many of the public want to keep the pound. The main reason for this is ignorance of the alternatives, and the SNP should be giving education on why keeping the pound is not sensible. Only four countries in the world use somebody else’s currency, which means they have no control over their monetary policy.
If we stick with sterling it is the Bank of England and the rUK Chancellor who will decide what we can do. We already know they will not allow us to be part of a currency union so we will have no input into policy. Most of us who aspire to independence do so because we believe that is the only way we shall be able to create the sort of Scotland we want to live in. On Thursday Andrew Wilson was deploring the way the UK treats the least fortunate in society, but if we stick to the proposals he made in his report it will be a very long time before we can really do something to reduce those problems.
So please, SNP leadership, educate yourselves and the public on why we need to be in full control of our currency and why we need that to be done sooner rather than later.
Andrew M Fraser
Inverness
IAN Blackford wants to have a currency that “has to be pegged against the pound sterling because we need to make sure that savers, pensioners ... that their interests are protected”.
Our Scottish Government has recently declared a Climate Emergency, the youth of our country is in open rebellion at the recklessness of their elders to managing their inheritance. In our new Scotland we will need new economics be it the Green Deal or something similar to deal with the crisis that faces mankind.The status quo is not an option.
We cannot be in hoc to the parasites of the City of London. Bankers are the last people we need to have control over our currency if we are to protect and promote our values in saving the planet for future generations. Otherwise those that graft to produce the wealth to pay those pensions are entitled to go on strike and remind their elders of biblical tales of fecklessness and the need to be ready for the Day of Judgement.
Iain Bruce
Nairn
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