Why doesn't Cameron want Scottish Independence?

Loughton_Monkey

I would have thought Cameron would be firmly behind the Salmon guy in promoting full independence for Scotland.

1. He would go down in history as the last PM of the UK as we know it now.

2. It would ensure that the elections for the remainder of the UK would always vote in a Conservative government.

3. It would plug the financial gap [drain] that we are told exists in the revenue stream north of the border.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-19942638

I suspect allowing all the 16/17 year olds in will swing the vote in favour of independence - not least so they don't have to pay university fees [until, of course, Scotland works out it can't afford it].

I think, however, Cameron has made one big mistake in not insisting on a seperate currency. Surely, Scotland has the potential to be to the £ what Greece is to the €.

CLAPTON

Cameron can't insist on Scotland having a separate currency; anyone can choose to use pounds; apparently even people in Essex.

A._Badger

Scotland would have to adopt the Euro to do it - a prospect I will relish when it comes to pass!

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2011/11/08/independent-scotland-eu/

ILW

Would mean the end of Labour.

Loughton_Monkey

CLAPTON wrote: »

Cameron can't insist on Scotland having a separate currency; anyone can choose to use pounds; apparently even people in Essex.

Are you sure?

Graunaid said this:

The SNP has said that Scotland would keep sterling if its people voted for independence and only later use a referendum to decide whether to join the euro. Both options require the approval of other nations, so does it go without saying that Scots could continue to spend pounds sterling if the country broke away from the rest of the UK?

In Essex, we tend to use the "quid", not the "pound". It is pure coincidence that both currencies tend to exchange at parity.

kabayiri

The Scottish pound would be fully entitled to shadow the pound as a matter of policy.

The real issue may come down to BoE policy decisions influencing the value of sterling. Presumably this would be independent of Scottish influence?

CLAPTON

kabayiri wrote: »

The Scottish pound would be fully entitled to shadow the pound as a matter of policy.

The real issue may come down to BoE policy decisions influencing the value of sterling. Presumably this would be independent of Scottish influence?

There doesn't need to be a scottish pound, they could simply use the UK pound.

kabayiri

CLAPTON wrote: »

There doesn't need to be a scottish pound, they could simply use the UK pound.

True, but they already have them. I get handed Scottish notes all the time when visiting

Re : the Cameron point, does a Scottish vote for independence imply a weak response from the Westminster establishment, headed by Dave C?

moneyinmypocket

Of Scotland became independent and they went down drain couldn't the people just all move south legally and live here?

Loughton_Monkey

kabayiri wrote: »

The Scottish pound would be fully entitled to shadow the pound as a matter of policy.

The real issue may come down to BoE policy decisions influencing the value of sterling. Presumably this would be independent of Scottish influence?

I'm no expert on this, but I consider 'shadowing' to be a different concept. Were there to be a "Bank of Scotland" [Ha! I don't mean in the HBOS sense, but the equivalent of a BoE] then of course they could issue their own currency called "Scottish Pound" and shadow the UK £. But the key difference [surely?] would be that it is technically a different currency and if/when it went wobbly, the BoE and UK Government could legitimately wave 2 fingers and say "rot in hell...". The BoS would have to print more money and suffer the consequences.

If BoE has to shoulder the burden of Scottish inflation/monetary policy, then it could - as I suggested - be as damaging to £Sterling as the PIIGS are to the €.

Personally, I'd like to see Scotland join the € and cuddle up to Angela for all the extra money it might need.

Sapphire

On a news programme tonight, it was said (by that woman who partners Salmon) that if Scotland became independent it would want to retain the pound and follow Bank of England interest rates. Surely that would be totally wrong – if Scotland was independent it should set its own interest rates and have nothing to do with Britain's economy. (And in that event all benefits to Scottish people should of course be paid for by Scotland, not by Britain's taxpayers.)