LAST week this newspaper made a plea for high standards in the debate during the long-haul towards the referendum campaign.
The business community could be forgiven for doubting that the First Minister has risen to the challenge.
Alex Salmond asserted in the Scottish Parliament last week that Scotland currently had "no influence" on the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England and that an independent Scotland would "expect" to be able to appoint a committee member to protect and uphold Scotland's interest in a sterling zone.
A few facts:
Reconstituting the Bank of England's key committee as an international body where member countries negotiate their discrete interests would require the reinvention of the Bank of England. That might not be a bad idea, but it can't be imposed unilaterally.
The chief qualification for membership of the MPC at present is economic expertise, not regional affiliation – you don't even have to be a UK citizen (Adam Posen is American).
The Bank of England has an office in West George Street in Glasgow, one of 12 across the UK. It is a base from where its agent in Scotland, Will Dowson and his deputy Iain Duff, travel throughout Scotland during the year, talking to a network of around 800 new and established Scottish businesses, plus their representative organisations.
They feed in their reports to the MPC on a monthly basis, and these "eyes and ears" are supplemented by regular visits by the MPC themselves. This is no more and no less "influence" than any part of the UK.
To seek to give the impression that institutions based in London are by definition unreliable when it comes to upholding the interests of all parts of the UK is not helpful to the Yes campaign's bid to win credibility with business.
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