The Scottish Government has been challenged to be “straight with the people” when ministers set out the case for leaving the UK in the white paper on independence.
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore demanded the paper, due to be published this autumn, makes clear that key areas such as Scotland’s continued ability to use the pound and its membership of the European Union (EU) are subject to negotiation.
He issued the challenge to SNP ministers in a speech at Glasgow University, during which he accused Alex Salmond’s administration of downplaying the “fundamental” change that independence would bring.
The First Minister has already claimed a number of unions between north and south of the border would continue if there was a Yes vote in the independence referendum, saying Scots would retain both sterling and the Queen, and that the “social union” between Scotland and England would be unchanged.
Mr Moore claimed: “When it comes to their rhetoric about an independent Scotland, the SNP has retreated a long way in a short time. They no longer want to talk about how different things would be. They want us to believe instead that so much could stay the same.”
With polls so far failing to show a majority support for independence, the Scottish secretary claimed: “Having looked at the numbers, the SNP leadership has come to fear that independence is a product that too few Scots are willing to buy.
“So, to sell the goods, they are changing the packaging. They are trying to de-risk, deflect and distract from the challenges and realities that would face an independent Scotland.”
He insisted key areas where the position in an independent Scotland would be subject to negotiation, such as EU membership and using the pound in a “sterling zone” with the rest of the UK, should be reflected in the white paper.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Moore added: “People have high expectations of this white paper, because it’s been pointed at for months as the answer to all the questions.
“But it has to be straight with the people of Scotland about what it can be about and what it isn’t. It can be about shaping things like welfare, but it also has to be straight about the uncertainties and the risks attacked to the negotiations, particularly on the international front.
“There’s no hint on how they would square the contradictions about Nato membership or the continuing confusion over the membership of the European Union. This white paper has got to be substantive but it’s also got to be realistic, we’re expecting that when it is published some time this autumn.”
Mr Moore stressed the need for Scots to make an informed choice “on the basis of the evidence as well as emotion, on the basis of fact and not fiction” when they go to ballot box next September.
He said the Nationalists “will not confirm what currency an independent Scotland would ultimately use” and “cannot tell us the terms on which EU membership might be achieved”.
“Of course there are uncertainties that is the nature of splitting up a country and starting anew,” he said. “And where these exist, the Nationalists should have the courage to say so.”
In his speech in Campbeltown, Argyll, where he held a Cabinet meeting with his ministerial team yesterday, Mr Salmond claimed “independence offers the opportunity for Scotland to move away from that outdated and profoundly undemocratic Westminster system”.
“The process of drawing up a constitution in itself will energise and inspire people,” he said.
“It will provide us with a chance to reflect on the democracy and society we want to live in, the values that we most cherish.
“Independence offers the opportunity for Scotland to move away from that outdated and profoundly undemocratic Westminster system one which for two-thirds of my life has delivered Governments with no popular mandate in Scotland.
“We will move instead to a more transparent, democratic and effective system of Government a Government of the people, by the people and for the people of Scotland.”