Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has insisted it was “flatly wrong” to suggest an independent Scotland would keep the pound.
The Liberal Democrat leader claimed the SNP were “clutching at straws” by latching on to a remark supporting the position apparently made by an anonymous UK Government minister.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed Westminster politicians were bluffing and using the issue as a campaign tactic.
But Mr Clegg said an independent Scotland could not “have their cake and eat it” if voters decided to back independence on September 18.
Speaking in London yesterday, the MP said: “I have no idea who the anonymous minister was but they are totally, plainly, utterly and flatly wrong.
“The three main parties in Westminster have said clearly and unambiguously that there is a solid cross-party consensus that if Scotland were to leave the United Kingdom they cannot have their cake and eat it and also remain part of the sterling currency union. It is not going to happen.
“It is not available to Alex Salmond and he shouldn’t clutch at straws.” Ms Sturgeon claimed the latest twist in the long-running argument over currency would have a “long and lasting” impact on the campaign.
“The legacy of Westminster’s unintended outburst of honesty on sharing the pound with an independent Scotland is that no-one will believe a word the No campaign say about anything anymore,” she added.
“We now know that what they say in public is just campaign talk to try to stop the people of Scotland voting Yes.”
Meanwhile, Ian Douglas, chairman of Edinburgh-based property investment firm Caledonian Trust, claimed the costs of independence would be “very high” for businesses.
He said operating a separate currency pegged to the pound may be Scotland’s “only realistic option” if people voted to leave the UK.