THE SNP’s top European election candidate has signalled he is open to an independent Scotland joining the euro.
Alyn Smith said he was "agnostic" on the issue as it was “too important to just be a matter of ideology”.
It comes after SNP members voted to keep the pound immediately after independence before moving to a new currency "as soon as practicable".
Scottish Labour MEP David Martin said the public would be “alarmed to learn the SNP’s top candidate is open to dumping the pound for the euro”.
He said: “That will create a currency barrier between Scotland and the rest of the UK, costing jobs and putting pensions at risk.
“Unlike the SNP, Labour stands to unite our country and bring it back together.”
Mr Smith has been an SNP MEP since 2004, and previously voiced support for joining the euro.
Appearing on STV’s Scotland Tonight programme, he was asked if he still backed this position.
He said: “I’m agnostic on currency stuff. We’ve had, within the SNP, a lively debate about what sort of currency options there will be for an independent Scotland. What we’ve agreed is a way to get to that proper decision.
“Now, we could keep sterling, we could keep sterling in a formal currency union, we could create an independent Scottish currency, or we could join the euro.
“We could negotiate other options as well depending on the circumstances of the time.”
Asked which option he would go for, he said: “I don’t have a preference. My preference is what’s best for the Scottish economy on the facts as they come."
He continued: “I’ve said I’m agnostic on the currency question. It’s about what matters best for the economic stability of our country, for long-term investment, people’s pensions, people’s homes.
“This is too important to just be a matter of ideology. This is about what works best.
“The euro is working well across the European continent. Sterling, also, is our currency too. So Scotland’s a rich country – we’re going to have lots of options in this discussion.”
Scottish Tory constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said: “Alyn Smith has previously supported the euro for Scotland so to say he is now agnostic is unacceptable.
“It is unacceptable that a leading SNP candidate is agnostic about the currency of your pension, your mortgage and your job.
“The fact is that the SNP knows that Scots don’t want the euro.
“This is a dishonest fudge by Mr Smith, but this won’t fool the voters.
“Alyn Smith and his SNP pals must come clean and admit that they would welcome the euro in Scotland.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel