ALEX Salmond and Alistair Darling are correct when they state that an independent foreign Scotland could continue to keep the pound sterling as its currency.
There is a precedent. Southern Ireland broke away from the UK in 1921 but retained sterling as its currency for decades. But a major problem developed. The Bank of England influenced exchange rates, public borrowing, interest rates, inflation and more and after 1921 did not take into account the different requirements of the Southern Irish economy. Eventually Southern Ireland had to launch its own currency - the punt - which had lesser value than the pound sterling. As a result many people in Southern Ireland lost out. I fear exactly the same loss would eventually apply to Scots if the pound sterling were retained after a decision to become independent. The assurance that sterling would be retained has only a temporary benefit.
Lord Kilclooney,
Mullinure, Armagh.
I READ your independence referendum analysis with great interest ("The big question: Pensions", The Herald, August 27). Being a retired teacher, I simply checked on the small, independent country just next door. The Republic of Ireland Department of Education figures show the average annual pension for an Irish teacher is €30,262 (primary) and €29,865 (secondary). In addition,on retirement, they get a tax-free lump sum of one and a half times their salary.
The Irish Republic's finances are now back on a sound footing. Indeed, the international money markets have more confidence in Ireland than they do in the UK, saddled with a record £1.5 trillion national debt (annual interest a mere £70 billion). The Irish Government currently borrows on the global bond market at lower interest rates than the UK Government.
Tom Johnston,
5 Burn View, Cumbernauld.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article