Indeed, on the point on which Mr Salmond was made to look so uncomfortable – his insistence that an independent Scotland could continue using the pound – his wishful thinking is even more adrift from reality than Tuesday’s debate exposed. Not only would an independent Scotland have to apply for separate membership of the EU (which, because of the precedent this would set for Spain and a potentially breakaway Catalonia, Brussels would not be keen to accept) but, like any other new applicant to join the EU, it would have to commit to joining the euro.