White paper ‘would not necessarily be how independence works’ – SNP

The SNP’S white paper which would lay out the detail of an independent Scotland would not “necessarily” be how it works in practice, the party’s depute leader Keith Brown has admitted.

Mr Brown said the SNP would provide a “detailed white paper” to answer questions such as Border issues and currency if Scotland was independent, but added that the contents of the paper “doesn't necessarily mean that's what will happen in an independent Scotland”.

He said: "I think there's no question, in terms that you talked about, the lender of last resort and some of the big financial decisions, there is no question that the pandemic has changed the fundamentals for every country.

"The UK is now over £2 trillion in debt, it’s got a deficit of £330 billion so far this year. It has changed the financial fundamentals for every country and Scotland has to deal with that same as anybody else.

"What we will do is what we did last time. We will provide a white paper that gives detailed answers as to what we would propose.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that's what will happen in an independent Scotland, because who knows who the government will be, but we’ll put out our stall in a white paper, in a much more considered and detailed way than they did for the Brexit referendum.”

Mr Brown said that an independent Scotland would open its borders to the 27 countries of the European Union but added that the Common Travel Area – with the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland – would also continue to exist.

On BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, he said another independence referendum would only take place “when it is safe to do so” and pointed to Electoral Commission guidance that there should be at least six months from when a referendum is announced to the vote.

He added that the public did not yet feel ready, in terms of the pandemic, to campaign over another referendum.