Currency events

The long-awaited Growth Commission’s report seems to have raised more questions than answers. For instance, the recommendation that an independent Scotland keeps the pound for about ten years, whilst ceding major policy decisions such as interest rates to the Bank of England.

Any application to join the EU within that ten-year period would therefore have to be negotiated between the EU, Bank of England and HM Treasury. Can that be called independence?

The report also says that an independent Scotland could then adopt its own currency… but EU rules dictate that any future member must adopt the euro as its currency. To add to the confusion, Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said that Scotland would NOT be forced into the euro after independence, in spite of these existing EU rules.

The SNP has again refused to set out clearly what the plans are for an independent Scotland’s currency and EU membership. We are four years on from2014’ s economic confusion, but apparently no further forward.

JIM HOUSTON Winton Gardens, Edinburgh