People should be very afraid if Scotland votes Yes in September because the SNP’s economic policy is disastrous.
Mind you, the people who run the SNP have never been very good at economics.
In 1999 their manifesto included a rise in income tax. In 2007 they wanted to join the Euro because sterling was a “millstone round Scotland’s neck”. In May 2007 Alex Salmond wrote to RBS boss Fred Goodwin, later described as “the world’s worst banker”, in support of Goodwin’s disastrous takeover of ANB Ambro by RBS. “Dear Fred” he began and ended “Yours for Scotland, Alex.”
Salmond’s economic policy now, if there is a Yes vote, is to keep the pound, even though he has been told this is a non-starter.
What would happen to Scots’ personal finances in the event of such a scenario?
The UK Government and HM Opposition will not go back on their word. Scotland would have to find a new currency from scratch. That cannot be done. Currency preparation takes years. How would the international money markets react, especially if Scotland reneged on its debt?
There would be chaos and a flight of sterling from Scotland. The Scottish regime would immediately impose exchange controls. Anyone with a Scottish bank account would find their savings diminished or even inaccessible. Mortgage rates would soar because interest rates would too. House prices would collapse.
This isn’t a scare story. It is a plausible scenario which has been played out many times in various countries at times of crisis over the decades. But while Greece was bailed out by the European Central Bank, and RBS and HBOS were bailed out by the Bank of England just before they ran out of cash, there will be no one to back up a Scottish currency.
If the Yes vote continues to improve in the polls, it would be wise to ensure before the referendum that your bank account is headquartered in England where UK Government protection is £85,000 per account and not in Edinburgh where protection would be zero.
The reassurance of financial stability in Scotland can only come if a majority of Scots vote No in September. Scotland is a far better country right now than the SNP makes it out to be.
Bill Loneskie
Oxton