SNP savaged over Scottish independence plans with Sturgeon warned of ‘financial collapse’

SNP slammed over independence plans by Murdo Fraser

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Mr Fraser tore apart Nicola Sturgeon’s economic blueprint for an independent Scotland. He told listeners on the BBC’s Any Questions on Friday that there is uncertainty over what currency an independent Scottish government would adopt under the SNP. The Scottish Conservative also pointed to news that the Royal Bank of Scotland would relocate in the event of a Scottish break from the union as a sign that independence would bring about a collapse of the Scottish financial sector.

Mr Fraser told listeners: “We have no idea what the prospects for an independent Scotland is.

“We just this week from the chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of Scotland’s biggest companies.

“That if Scotland becomes independent they will relocate their headquarters south of the border.

“There will not be the only large financial services house that does that.”

 

The Scottish Tory added: “Because there is absolutely no certainty about what currency an independent Scotland would use.

Mr Fraser pressed: “Would there be a central bank?

“You would see a collapse of the financial services sector.

“These jobs would be lost and there would be a hard border between Scotland and the rest of the UK.”

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The SNP’s Ivan McKee dismissed Mr Fraser’s claims as “project fear scares stories.”

He told the programme: “Let’s have the election next week.

“We will get a majority, then let’s have the referendum.

“There will be plenty of time for people to make their points about the currency, banks and everything else.”

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The clash comes amid claims by a chief economist that Scotland would struggle to maintain its current high budget deficit in the event the country went independent. 

Gemma Tetlow from the Institute for Government said: “An independent Scotland couldn’t sustain annual levels of borrowing, year after year, at 8.5 percent of GDP.

“Borrowing at that level would imply debt rising, relative to the size of the Scottish economy, inexorably. At some point, that becomes unsustainable.

“There are definitely difficult questions to be answered. Those questions have to be answered as part of the case for why leaving the union would be overall beneficial to the people of Scotland.

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