Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alexander and Ewing battle it out

Post Thumbnail

Scotland’s position in the wider world was the hot topic when two of the country’s best known politicians went head to head yesterday.

Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, appeared at Moray College in Elgin together with the SNP’s energy and tourism minister Fergus Ewing.

Mr Ewing, the MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said: “In 1945 there were 51 member states in the United Nations. In 2013 there were 193 members. Much of that increase is due to the large number of countries who have gained independence in the intervening years.

“This is the way the world is organised now, with independence the normal status for countries.

“Who better to make decisions than the people who live and work there?

“We don’t pretend we have a magic wand to solve every problem, but an independent Scotland would have the power to choose if we went to war or not, or whether to have nuclear power.”

In reply, Mr Alexander, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, questioned just how much clout an independent Scotland would really have in the wider world.

Talking about the nationalists’ proposals to keep the pound and form a currency union with the rest of the UK, he said: “It really concerns me that people are being sold the idea of independence on a prospectus that is not going to happen.”

He also stated that Scotland could not expect to receive the rebate from the European Union currently enjoyed by the UK.

The two politicians were joined on the podium by two of Scotland’s most successful businessmen.

Sandy Adams, the head of Elgin-based Springfield Properties, is a leading light of the “Yes” campaign.

Alan Savage, the boss of Inverness recruitment specialists the Orion Group, is a stalwart supporter of “Better Together”.

Among the many other hotly contested issues were spending on defence, the oil and gas industry and the European Union’s policy on fishing and farming.