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The case for Scottish independence post-Brexit is growing by the day. Sir Nicholas Macpherson, permanent secretary to the Treasury during the independence referendum campaign, has argued that an independent Scotland within the EU could “attract skills and investment”.
In an article for The Financial Times, Sir Nicholas said the UK’s decision to leave the EU “changes terms of debate north of the border”.
As reported by Scotland’s STV online, Sir Nicholas, who is now visiting professor at King’s College London, describes Brexit as “a golden opportunity for proponents of Scottish independence to reappraise their economic prospectus”.
He added: “An independent Scotland committed to the EU would have an extraordinary opportunity to attract inward investment as well as highly skilled migrants.
“If it can develop a clear and coherent economic strategy ahead of any future referendum, it not only stands a better chance of winning, it will also increase the probability that an independent Scotland inside the EU can hit the ground running.”
According to Sir Nicholas, EU membership will “enable Scotland to have access to the biggest market in the world without the uncertainties that are likely to face the rest of the UK for many years to come”.
This is why he has called on the Scottish government to abandon its plan for a currency union with the remainder of the UK and commit to creating a Scottish pound supported by its own central bank.
He acknowledged that Scotland would have to eventually commit to joining the euro, but said “that does not mean Scotland would have to adopt the euro – at least not straight away”, citing Sweden’s “vanishingly remote” chances of joining the euro despite its 20-year long obligation to do so.
In a separate report, The Scotsman noted that residents of Rathlin Island, located off the northwest coast of Northern Ireland, want to become linked with the Scottish independence movement.
They are reportedly concerned what the future will bring in light of the Leave vote winning the EU referendum. The island has benefitted greatly from European funding as it helped secure a modern harbour and connections to the National Grid.
A spokesman for the campaign told The Herald: “In the immediate aftermath of the referendum result, people on Rathlin talked, like people all over the UK, of little else.
“And very quickly talk turned, only half jokingly, to new ways of thinking about the island’s relationship with its neighbouring islands. A unilateral declaration of independence worked for some, but others looked east and north to Rathlin’s historic friends in Scotland.”
The post Brexit a ‘golden opportunity’ for an independent Scotland appeared first on New Europe.