Letters: As a Yes voter, I have to ask: does Sturgeon really want indy?

Four Chancellors in four months and a Prime Minister even more inept than her predecessor mean we should sever all ties with Westminster as soon as possible. However, rather than our own currency, Ms Sturgeon proposes we retain an ever-depreciating pound and leave monetary policy, including interest rates, to the Bank of England.

There is nothing in the paper to enthuse independence supporters and more importantly nothing to persuade those on the fence of a better future.

In 2014 I believed we had released a tiger but instead it would appear we have stranded a whale.
Alan Carmichael, Glasgow

Stop pandering to financial elite

THE SNP leadership doesn’t seem to understand the role of a Scottish currency, which is as a domestic, not foreign exchange currency. As such, no "tests" will be required.

A domestic or home market currency is very different from an international exchange currency such as sterling, the US dollar and euro, all of which play two roles – as a domestic currency for the UK, US and Eurozone nations, and as a foreign exchange currency. The Scottish pound will, like the Danish krone or Swedish kroner, be used solely for the domestic economy which is 80% of economic activity, not for international exchange, and it will be regulated by the Scottish Central Bank.

Scotland will use sterling, dollars and euros for foreign exchange. It will have large sterling reserves when Scots change their accounts from sterling to Scottish pounds and from trade with the rest of the UK which would pay sterling for Scottish exports. It would receive US dollars and euros in the same way. As a net exporter Scotland has a far healthier trade balance than England, so the Scottish Central Bank will have ample foreign exchange reserves and, unlike England, Scotland won’t have any national debt.

Using sterling, the weak currency of a foreign country, post-independence would prevent Scotland from controlling its own economy, keeping England in the driver’s seat. That hasn’t gone too well. It would also preclude Scotland rejoining the EU.

The SNP leadership should stop putting the interests of Edinburgh’s financial elite above those of the Scottish people.
Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh

Currency date can wait

WHILE one government leader searched hesitantly for a "friendly face" and noticeably winced at the few questions she allowed to be asked before essentially regurgitating the same sound-bites and heading for a fast exit (no doubt having received prior advice as to where to find the door) the other government leader competently answered a broad range of questions from all of the assembled journalists in spite of some not only disrespectful but rather rude interruptions. The fact that a number of those journalists felt obliged to focus on precisely when Scotland would adopt its own currency, and following independence and subsequent accession to the EU presumably some years later, on exactly what physical checks might possibly be required between Scotland and England, indicated a dearth of substantial economic arguments to counter those contained in this third “New Scotland” document presented and explained assuredly by the First Minister.

In this rapidly changing world, and with UK economic policy changing by the day, it would seem foolish to declare a fixed date or exact interim period for the optimum timing of Scotland adopting its own currency, but, as with independence, many countries around the world have successfully navigated the process of changing currency while progressing their economies. The border between Sweden (which is in the EU) and Norway (which is not in the EU) is more than 1,000 miles long (with around 80 road and four rail crossings) and the flourishing trade between these countries (with tens of thousands of “commuters” between them) operates efficiently as this is in the considerable economic interest of both countries. Undoubtedly we will be subjected to more "Better Together" scare stories in the coming months, especially from those living in the south of Scotland who perhaps confuse trade in goods (the majority of which are not exported to rUK) with the movement of people, but free movement would sensibly continue as all parties would logically wish to continue the arrangement of the Common Travel Area across our islands.

Of course there will be some hiccups along the way and before Scotland becomes a full member of the EU the Scottish government, whatever its political composition, may well consider, at least on an intermediate basis to smooth the transition, applying for membership of the EEA or EFTA. There is no constitutional choice that guarantees economic stability but independence will enable the people of Scotland to take more democratic control of their own destiny.
Stan Grodynski, Longniddry

An idealised wish list

THE latest Scottish Government paper on independence is not a proper economic plan. Rather, it is an idealised wish list of things that might be possible if the First Minister gets her preferred outcome on everything she wants from the UK, financial markets, the EU, businesses, investors and the people of Scotland.

To convert the document to a real plan would at a minimum require a number of major additions. These would include revealing working assumptions about year-by-year spending, revenues and borrowing, for at least the coming decade. With EU membership so central to the proposition, details would be needed of exactly how and when EU entry requirements would be satisfied. It would also be essential to quantify all the inherent economic risks of independence, not just the opportunities.

Nicola Sturgeon has chosen to omit these inconvenient, if critical, details, and instead expects us to take on faith that all her plans could simply be paid for by economic growth and borrowing, without offering the numbers to back that up. We have just watched the painful consequences of a new UK Prime Minister trying that approach with her proposed plan for “growth, growth, growth".

Does Ms Sturgeon’s track record for the things she has been directly responsible for, such as NHS waiting times, the attainment gap in education, and the continuing ferries saga, suggest she would fare any better if given total control of all our destinies?
Keith Howell, West Linton

Asking some basic questions

AS someone who is open to persuasion about the potential benefits of independence, I would greatly appreciate a few worked examples of how some very important aspects of financial life might operate. Could someone tell me, for example (and I accept that there would be a good bit of estimation in it) how a young family's mortgage expenditures would be affected by making repayments to a foreign lender (which most residential mortgage lenders would become) in a currency (sterling) over whose management we would have no control, at rates of interest and exchange over which we would likewise have little or no influence?

Could they also tell me when we could expect to see our own currency and mortgage lenders based in Scotland who would be able to obtain wholesale funds on international markets for re-lending at reasonable rates? I am, as I say, trying to remain open-minded about independence in general but it would reassure me (on behalf of my children, who do have obligations of this sort) to know that issues such as this were receiving serious consideration.
Brian Chrystal, Edinburgh

Why the fuss about Hunt?

WHY are so many people getting excited about Jeremy Hunt and his performance as Chancellor? He was the worst Health Secretary in my medical career over more than 40 years. He alienated every sector of the NHS. He opened the gates to the NHS being run by private companies. He is the reason so many young doctors emigrated, my daughter included.

His current policies are only copied from those of Rishi Sunak, an articulate and intelligent man whose face, of course, didn’t fit with the douce Tory voters in the Shires.

Give us a break.
John NE Rankin, Bridge of Allan

• SO Liz Truss maintains she is in "lock-step" with her new Chancellor. I recall her stating the same determination about herself and Kwasi Kwarteng. If I were Jeremy Hunt I’d be watching my back.
Celia Judge, Ayr

Read more letters: Sorry, SNP: the UK holds all the border aces

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