Why no "Plan B"?

[ggreig]

As a supporter of Scottish independence, even I sometimes get frustrated that the SNP don't explicitly say what their "Plan B" is (implicitly it's always seemed fairly clear - a currency union isn't the only way of keeping the pound).

Whatever you may think of Alex Salmond, he's not daft, so there had to be a reason for him consistently failing to give the clarification that obviously many people want. I would have guessed that it was something to do with maintaining the strength of his negotiation position after a "Yes". That wasn't a million miles off, but it wasn't wholly right. Here's Alex Salmond giving the clearest explanation I've seen of why the SNP are taking the position they are:

Comments

[drplokta]

Oh, and Iceland has never been an EU member, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say they took three years to "negotiate their way out". They were trying to get in for a while, but the process was complicated and time-consuming despite Iceland being a small northern European country that already met most of the requirements. I wonder who that reminds me of?

[ggreig]

I think we'll have to agree to differ on your main point and see how it works out in the event that a "Yes" vote occurs. We see it differently and neither of us can be proved right before then.

As to your supplemental, D'OH! You're quite correct and I should have checked before posting. It's Greenland I was thinking of, which was a member through its relationship with Denmark. Getting a small country (by population if not area) entirely mixed up with another is a pretty bad mistake to make for someone hoping his own country will be recognised, and I am suitably chastened! Greenland held an in-out referendum in 1982, and formally left in 1985.