Dr. Craig Dalzell recently authored a discussion paper titled ‘Scottish currency options post Brexit’. This paper was written for a Scottish Think Tank called Common Weal .
In the paper Dr. Dalzell discusses the ramifications of a possible Scottish currency after Brexit. There have been calls for another Scottish referendum seeking independence from the United Kingdom, after the UK in its own referendum voted to leave the European Union.
Just after the results of the Brexit referendum were made known, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced her intention of holding a second referendum. Previously on June 24, 2016 she had said that a second referendum was a ‘statement of the obvious’ according to the BBC . Currency is a major issue in any bid for independence
In the previous Scottish referendum the question of a future currency weighed heavily on the votes of the ‘No’ voters. The paper cites a poll conducted by Lord Ashcroft which found that more than half of ‘No’ voters cited currency as one of the top three reasons which influenced their decision.
Dr. Dalzell hopes to examine various scenarios which can arise out of a Scottish independence vote in the future.
He says: “It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the reasonable options which an independent Scotland may take so that a full and objective understanding of issues can be reached.” The options before Scotland In the first referendum, the pro-independence campaigners pushed for and promoted the idea that Scotland would retain the British Pound. According to Dr. Dalzell, the idea being that the country would form an official currency union with what remained of the UK. This would also get Scotland on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. However, now in the event of another referendum taking place, […]
