‘I hope the sterlingisation zombie now has a stake through the heart,’ tweeted SNP delegate Tim Rideout after getting his resolution on ‘The Scottish Reserve Bank Establishment Bill’ passed at his party’s conference last weekend.
Rideout sits on the SNP’s policy committee and is part of a faction challenging the SNP leadership’s plan for Scotland to informally use the pound for a prolonged period after secession – a policy known as sterlingisation. This faction wants to see Scotland establish a new currency, controlled by a new Scottish central bank, as soon as possible after exit day.
In his conference speech, Rideout was blunt. ‘No advanced economy has ever sought to use the currency of another nation,’ he said, adding: ‘To try to do so would be to start probably the most dangerous experiment in global monetary history.’ To his credit, he made some good points.
The SNP member is right to recognise the dangers of Nicola Sturgeon’s sterlingisation policy.
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