We need answers to basic questions
With just over three weeks to go until the referendum on separation, people across Rutherglen and Cambuslang are calling for Alex Salmond to answer the most basic questions on his plan to break up our United Kingdom.
The decision to separate is an irreversible decision and it’s important that people go into the polling booths armed with the facts.
The local group of councillors, parliamentarians, and community activists fighting hard to keep Scotland an integral part of the UK have been out in force to keep pressure on Mr Salmond to be truthful with people about what will happen in the event of separation.
The currency is where Mr Salmond has been most evasive.
The SNP leader has repeatedly said a separate Scotland would use the pound, despite everyone who would be involved with the decision saying it would not happen. The Governor of the Bank of England has made it clear that shared tax and spend polices are necessary for a successful currency union.
The time has come for Mr Salmond to come clean and tell us what his plan B is. Alex Salmond has been campaigning for independence his whole career, yet with just four weeks until polling day he still can’t, or won’t, tell us what currency we would use if we left the UK.
In Scotland we can have the best of both worlds within the UK. We can have what the majority of Scots want without taking on all the risks. That means more powers for Scotland guaranteed, backed up by the strength, security and stability of the UK. Only separation puts that at risk, which is why we should say No Thanks on 18 September.
Local Councillor, Labour’s Richard Tullett said: “We’ve had sound bite after sound bite from people like Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon with none of the detail and people are fed up with it.
“We need answers now to these basic questions. Any eight-year-old in Rutherglen and Cambuslang can tell you the flag, capital and currency of a country. Why can’t Alex Salmond tell us what a separate Scotland’s currency would be?
“The people of this area deserve a straightforward answer to a basic question. We deserve to know what Plan B is, and we need to know now. In a two year campaign the First Minister should have by now honestly answered the most basic questions and explained for example how long it would take us to get back into the EU or how independence would impact on shopping bills, energy prices and mortgage and credit card payments. This is too much of a risk to take and its clear to me that we are better staying strong within the United Kingdom.” Rutherglen South Councillor LibDem Robert Brown added: “I am really disappointed with Alex Salmond’s dithering on the currency.
“This is not an academic question. It affects the cost of people’s mortgages in Rutherglen and Cambuslang, the value of pensions, as well as jobs,
I am really disappointed with Alex Salmond’s dithering on the currency
wages and household bills. It is incredibly important.
“The currency we use is absolutely vital but Mr Salmond can only offer suggestions as if it was a school debate.
“The proposal to separate Scotland off from the rest of the UK comes from the SNP and the Yes campaign - it is quite extraordinary that people are having to vote in the referendum without having a clear idea from the Nationalists about such a basic thing. Nobody would buy even a second hand vacuum cleaner - far less set up an separate country - on such a flawed prospectus.”