The rejection of the euro has left the SNP caught between competing visions over an independent Scotland’s future

The Scottish National Party (SNP) have advocated the creation of a formal currency union between Scotland and the rest of the UK should Scottish voters choose to back independence in the referendum on 18 September. As James Stafford notes, however, the SNP’s support for a currency union is a relatively recent development, with the party previously advocating that Scotland should join the euro. He argues that the Eurozone crisis has transformed the debate over independence by pushing euro membership off the agenda and undermining the SNP’s view of Scotland as a ‘post-sovereign’ state in a confederal Europe.

• Primary Source

ESO: Scottish independence referendum, 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/scottish-independence-referendum-2014/

ESO: Background information: Scottish independence: UK leaders pledge parliament powers / Scottish independence: Salmond and Darling clash in TV debate http://www.europeansources.info/record/scottish-independence-uk-leaders-pledge-parliament-powers-scottish-independence-salmond-and-darling-clash-in-tv-debate/

Social Europe Journal, 13.08.14: Alex Salmond Pound-Foolish On Scottish Independent Currency http://www.social-europe.eu/2014/08/alex-salmond-pound-foolish-scottish-independent-currency/

---