Scottish independence: Salmond to attack Osborne's currency case
Scottish independence: Salmond attacks Osborne's currency case
(about 1 hour later)
Scotland's first minister has vowed to "deconstruct" the chancellor's case against a currency union, when he makes a speech to business leaders later.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said a UK government attack on the currency of an independent Scotland has "backfired".
Alex Salmond will say George Osborne's position is "ill-thought out and misinformed".
The Scottish government wants to keep the pound as part of a currency union with the rest of the UK in the event of a referendum "Yes" vote.
On Thursday, Mr Osborne said a vote for Scottish independence would mean walking away from the pound.
Last week, Chancellor George Osborne said a vote for independence meant walking away from the pound.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have indicated they are also opposed to a currency union.
The row came ahead of the September 18 independence referendum.
The first minister's speech will also come after European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso cast doubt on Scotland's membership of the European Union in the event of a "Yes" vote in the 18 September referendum.
Speaking in Aberdeen, Mr Salmond said "attempts to dictate from on high" the terms of the debate was damaging the democratic process.
He said it would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to join and that it would have to apply for membership and get the approval of all current member states.
He said the "accumulated negativity" of the campaign to keep the Union, would "differ greatly from the reality of life" after the referendum.
Scottish government ministers dismissed his comments, describing them as "pretty preposterous".
Mr Salmond's speech also came after European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso cast doubt on Scotland's membership of the European Union in the event of a "Yes" vote.
In a speech in Edinburgh last week, the UK chancellor said he would not be prepared to enter a currency union with an independent Scotland.
Mr Barroso said it would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to join and that it would have to apply for membership and get the approval of all current member states.
Alex Salmond said he would use an address to members of the pro-independence Business for Scotland organisation in Aberdeen later to deliver a "point-by-point deconstruction" of Mr Osborne's speech.
But the first minister said the EU had admitted so many countries that a "pragmatic way" would be found in the case of Scotland.
The Scottish government, which wants to keep the pound and retain the services of Bank of England under independence, has said the pound belongs as much to Scotland as the rest of the UK.
Mr Salmond said no member state had suggested it would seek to block an independent Scotland from becoming an EU member.
SNP ministers claimed suggesting otherwise would lead to a backlash by voters who would see such a tactic as an attempt to bully people in Scotland.
Ahead of Mr Salmond's speech, Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "I believe the UK government - or the government of the rest of the UK - should act in the best interests of the population they serve.
"I believe that what would be in the best interests of the population of the rest of the UK would be to continue with a currency union in an independent Scotland."
Former chancellor Alistair Darling, leader of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, said the idea of a currency union did not "stack up" for Scotland or the rest of the UK.
He said "Alex Salmond is a man without a plan on currency and Europe. The wheels are falling off the independence wagon.
"On the two biggest issues for jobs and businesses in Scotland, currency and Europe, the nationalists are all over the place. We are being asked to take a huge leap into the unknown."
