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

[ggreig]

I agree with you. For me, the most important thing is the fact of independence, with actual policy then being decided by whomever the people living in Scotland have elected (with negotiations of course being part of the resolution initially); and whether you're for or against that, surely that's what it boils down to ultimately?

Unfortunately, an easy way to attack the principle is to get down into practicalities (real or imagined) and give them a kicking. The SNP's policies are being attacked because they're the big, obvious target, and if they weren't part of the proposal, they'd have been attacked even more than they currently are for trying to sell us a pig in a poke.

The other easy way is to mix personalities up in the principle, which is also a card that's being played pretty hard.