Independence vote: Yes vote 'means no money union' says Osborne
Independence vote: 'Yes' vote 'means no money union'
(35 minutes later)
Westminster's main political parties will warn that an independent Scotland would not be able to join a currency union with the rest of the UK.
UK Chancellor George Osborne has said a vote for Scottish independence would mean walking away from the pound.
Chancellor George Osborne will deliver the message in Edinburgh, which will be swiftly endorsed by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Osborne said he wanted Scotland to keep its economic security.
Mr Osborne will say he wants Scotland to keep its "economic security".
His position is expected to be endorsed by the other two big Westminster parties, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Deputy Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Westminster was trying to "lay down the law to Scotland".
Deputy Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Westminster was trying to "lay down the law to Scotland".
The Scottish government wants to keep the pound in a currency union if there is a Scottish independence "Yes" vote on 18 September.
The Scottish government wants to keep the pound and retain the services of the Bank of England as part of a currency union if there is a "Yes" vote in the independence referendum, on 18 September.
"The pound is one of the oldest and most successful currencies in the world," Mr Osborne will say.
Mr Osborne said: "The pound isn't an asset to be divided up between two countries after a break-up like a CD collection"
"I want Scotland to keep the pound and the economic security that it brings.
"If Scotland walks away from the UK, it walks away from the UK pound."
"The UK works in good times and also in bad."
Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander are expected to take a similar line to that of Mr Osborne.
He said the constituent countries had collectively "faced the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression".
It is understood former Chancellor Alistair Darling, who is leading the Better Together campaign to keep the Union, was instrumental in getting the three Westminster parties to agree a joint currency position.
He will add: "But we avoided the economic collapse other nations around us in Europe faced because, together, we had the strength to confront our problems and overcome them.
Watch George Osborne's speech live.
"Today Scotland is one of the most economically successful parts of the UK with growth per head the same as the smaller independent European states the nationalists would like Scotland to join but with far more stability and less volatility than them, thanks to being part of the wider UK."
Treasury report
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was trying to "pretend" to the country's people there could be an independent sovereign state while holding on to the benefits of the union.
Mr Balls - who, like Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, is expected to release a statement after Mr Osborne's speech - told LBC Radio: "That's just not in the real world.
"I don't think it's right for us to tell Scotland what they must do, but I don't see how you could have a negotiation about a Scottish separate country keeping the pound, which would add up either for Scotland or for the rest of the United Kingdom."
Mr Osborne, Mr Balls and Mr Alexander will set out their views following a Treasury report looking at the future of the pound in the event of Scottish independence.
The Scottish government has said its currency union plan, which would see an independent Scotland retain the pound and the services of the Bank of England, was in everyone's best interests, and accused the Westminster parties of bullying tactics.
Sources have said the Treasury review, written by government officials and not by politicians, will argue that for an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK to continue to use the pound, the Scottish and UK governments would have to agree to:
Ms Sturgeon said the joint move was an "unprecedented and extraordinary bid by the Westminster establishment to lay down the law to Scotland, which will backfire spectacularly."
She added: "The reality is the Tory chancellor and his Labour and Lib Dem helpers are all over the place, with their briefing fast unravelling.
"First we were told George Osborne was going to rule out a currency union, but now it is being reported that he will outline a Treasury paper with a series of tests and conditions which would be their starting point in negotiations to secure a Sterling area.
"That is a very long way from what was initially briefed, and simply underlines the fact that the Treasury themselves know - whatever the bluff and bluster of Westminster politicians - that a shared Sterling area is overwhelmingly in the rest of the UK's economic interests following a Yes vote."
