SNP backs fast-tracking move to scrap pound and launch new Scottish currency Party members backed plans to scrap the pound after an independence vote

An independent Scotland would ditch the pound and launch its own currency “as soon as practicable” under plans approved by SNP members at the party’s annual conference.

After a lengthy debate at the gathering in Edinburgh, delegates largely backed the party leadership’s proposals to keep the pound immediately after independence before moving to a new currency.

“It is our ambition to move to a new currency – this is a significant and important policy choice” The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Keith Brown MSP

However, in a surprise defeat for Nicola Sturgeon and her senior ministers, SNP members backed scrapping sterling quicker than proposed by the party’s Growth Commission.

Under the original plans, a decision on whether to establish a new currency was set to be taken during the first five-year term of the Scottish Parliament following independence.

But after a vote on the conference floor, this paragraph was deleted and replaced by one calling for the new currency to be ready for launch “as soon as practicable after independence day”.

Amendments calling for a new currency to be launched straight after independence or during the first parliament were rejected, as was one calling for a time limit on debt repayments to the UK.

The decision means that the SNP has now formally scrapped its policy of keeping the pound after independence by forming a currency union with the UK, as proposed ahead of 2014’s vote.

The issue was perceived to be a weak point of the Yes campaign after the then Chancellor George Osborne said such a union would not be approved by Westminster, leaving voters confused.

Narrow margin

The amendment was passed by 781 votes to 729 despite SNP depute leader Keith Brown warning delegates that backing a quicker move to a new currency risked making independence a harder sell.

“We have to bring more people with us if we’re going to move beyond 45 per cent,” he said. “Going harder and faster in my view would damage that case and fail to win new support.”

However, SNP sources said that while the amendment could mean Scotland moved to a new currency faster, it did not alter the stringent six financial tests set by the Growth Commission.

These include the creation of a new Scottish central bank, cutting the country’s budget deficit to a sustainable level and building up “sufficient currency reserves”, a process that could take years.

Those in favour of ditching the pound more quickly included former SNP MP George Kerevan, who said using it without a central bank could be a “major time bomb” for Scotland’s economy.

“If you’re going to go to the Scottish electorate and say ‘We want a Scottish currency,’ you’re going to have to tell them when,” he said. “Leaving the door open will lose votes, not gain them.”

Criticism

Speaking after the debate, Mr Brown said: “It is our ambition to move to a new currency – this is a significant and important policy choice.

“Until this can be achieved, safely and securely, our currency will remain the pound sterling.

“Today’s was an informed, valuable and hopeful debate on our country’s future – a more stark contrast to the chaos and despair of Brexit would be hard to imagine.”

Scotland’s pro-Union parties hit out at the plans, claiming the Growth Commission blueprint would force ministers to make big cuts to public services to get the nation’s finances in order.

“Imposing a decade of austerity on the most vulnerable, tax cuts for big business and fewer rights for workers is now official SNP policy,” said Labour leader Richard Leonard.