JOHN Swinney has unveiled plans to match all UK state pensions if Scotland becomes independent.

The Finance Secretary announced an independent Scotland would adopt the new single-tier pension, worth £144 a week for those reaching pension age after April 2016, and maintain the basic state pension, which will continue for existing pensioners.

To further reassure those approaching pensionable age in 2016, he promised stronger safeguards than the rest of the UK for the new single-tier scheme.

He said payments would rise in line with whichever was the higher of earnings, inflation, or 2.5%, known as the "triple lock". The UK Government is committed only to raising the single-tier pension in line with earnings growth.

The basic state pension would also be protected by the triple guarantee if Scots vote Yes next year, as it is across the UK. The surprise announcement came as Mr Swinney spoke to members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland (ICAS) at a conference in Glasgow.

He said: "Scottish and rest-of-UK pensioners may receive different amounts because of decisions we can take in an independent Scotland to protect our pensioners."

In April, the ICAS called for clarity on how pensions would be regulated and the fate of "cross-border" occupational schemes, which risk being split up under EU rules requiring them to be fully funded. A number of big UK-wide schemes, with combined shortfalls of £170 billion, would be affected.

The Scottish Government was unable to say how much it would cost to adopt the full UK pensions system in an independent Scotland, though Mr Swinney insisted it was affordable.

Gregg McClymont, Labour's pensions spokesman and MP for Cumbernauld, said: "If John Swinney is going to make a commitment like this he must explain how he is going to afford it. The silence on that is deafening."

Gavin Brown, the Scottish Conservatives' finance spokesman, said: "This is a desperate move by the Scottish Government to salvage some kind of credibility on a key issue of independence."

The Finance Secretary also declined to clarify whether an independent Scotland would follow UK plans to raise the pension age to 66 for both men and women by 2020 then to 67 by 2028.