The Spectator

George Osborne’s speech on whether Scotland could keep the pound – full text

In a speech in Edinburgh today, the Chancellor launched an attack on the ‘yes’ campaign’s intention to keep the pound as the currency of an independent Scotland. Here’s what he said:-

In just over 7 months people in Scotland will decide whether or not to walk away from the United Kingdom.

The stakes couldn’t be higher, or the choice clearer. The certainty and security of being part of the UK or the uncertainty and risk of going it alone. At the very heart of this choice is the pound in your pocket. Why? Because the currency we use is about so much more than notes and coins. It’s about the value of our savings. Our power to purchase the everyday things we need and how we make the wheels of trade and commerce turn.

A stable currency is the bedrock of our economy. It underpins our jobs, our mortgages, our pensions, our public services and our taxes, and the opportunities for our children and our grandchildren

I don’t have a vote on 18th September. But I know where I stand. The pound is one of the oldest and most successful currencies in the world. I want Scotland to keep the pound and the economic security that it brings.

And I hope passionately that the people of Scotland – who make such an important contribution to life on these islands – choose to stay within our family of nations here in the United Kingdom.

And why wouldn’t we keep the UK together? The UK works. In good times, and also in bad. Together we have faced the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. Government debt sky-rocketed, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs, banks were bailed out, and as a nation we were made poorer. 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. Reducing

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