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Pledges ‘dependent’ on UK and EU

Pledges ‘dependent’ on UK and EU

The Scottish Government is unable to guarantee more than a quarter of the pledges in the independence white paper, pro-union campaigners have claimed.

Better Together said its analysis of the Q&A section of the documents showed 26% of the answers provided about life in an independent Scotland relied on agreement with third parties such as the rest of the UK and the EU.

The group said that, of the 650 issues addressed in the SNP paper, 167 would need to be negotiated with other countries, meaning they may never happen.

More than 10% could be addressed today by the Scottish Parliament, with 14% based purely on “assertion and speculation”, it was argued.

Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative deputy leader, said while the SNP claimed the Scotland’s Future document would answer all the answers about breaking up the UK, all it contained was a “wish list of uncosted promises”.

“The fact that so many of the SNP’s claims in the white paper would be dependent on agreement with the very country we would have just left shows how little credibility this document has,” he said.

“Whether it’s on currency, pensions or EU membership, Alex Salmond’s claims that it will be all right on the night just aren’t credible.

“He knows that the agreement of foreign governments would be required, some- thing he cannot guarantee.

“It’s time for the first minister to be honest with the people of Scotland.”

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused Better Together of “negative nonsense”.

“Scotland’s Future is the only vision for the future of Scotland that has been published,” she said.

“It is a comprehensive blueprint that sets out why Scotland needs independence and describes what a newly independent Scotland will look like.

“It sets out the commonsense position on a range of matters that will require negotiation in the event of a Yes vote.

“While we are delighted with the interest that the No campaign is showing in it – which reveals just how nervous they are – it would fit them better if they produced their own equivalent document, setting out exactly what a No vote will mean for Scotland.”

Vote plea, Page 35