ALEX SALMOND will today set out his vision for an independent Scotland, insisting the nation is strong enough, wealthy enough and talented enough to go it alone.
Presenting his Government's 670-page White Paper for independence, the First Minister will tell a global audience that at its core will be growing Scotland's economy and creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Scotland's Future - Your Guide to an Independent Scotland is billed as the "most comprehensive blueprint for an independent country that has ever been produced". Running to 170,000 words, it will contain 650 answers to key questions about independence.
But this morning, the Treasury sought to spoil the Nationalists' big day by suggesting that, even on the most optimistic scenario, the fiscal black hole facing an independent Scotland would mean an additional £1000 tax bill for every Scot by the start of the next decade.
In a letter to the First Minister, Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, says his officials have analysed calculations by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which suggested permanent tax rises or spending cuts equivalent to £3 billion a year. A rise of eight percentage points on income tax to fill the fiscal gap would cost £1000 per taxpayer.
"This is a very stark reminder of why it is in the interest of Scotland to pool these risks and not to go it alone," declares the Liberal Democrat Highland MP.
John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Secretary, hit back, with his spokesman saying Mr Alexander's letter was a sign of panic. "His sums are all over the place. Earlier this year, he was claiming independence would cost £1 per person a year. But the reality is the policies of his Tory-led Government have cost many ordinary Scots far more than £1000 each since they came to office."
Alistair Darling, who leads the Better Together campaign, used his strongest language yet on the SNP Government's desire to see a currency union, claiming handing over power on tax, spending and borrowing to a foreign country would enslave an independent Scotland. He told Total Politics magazine: "That is not independence, it's servitude."
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