Nigel Farage's saloon bar insurgency
The main parties may need to pour themselves a stiffener: Ukip has gone way beyond being a mere protest-vote partyAfter Ukip's Nigel Farage made a speech at a press gallery lunch in Westminster on Tuesday, a colleague from a Tory newspaper asked me what I'd thought of it. "Smart fellow, fast on his feet, lively company in the pub: nothing we didn't already know," I replied. "Not good enough. He missed an opportunity to show he can be a serious player," said my chum.And, of course, he's right. Farage, a former City metal-market dealer and MEP since 1999, made a shrewd, nostalgic point when Margaret Thatcher died: he said there had never been any need for Ukip while a conviction politician such as her was running the show.An independent country needs to run its own currency and taxes, and control its own borders, he says. A public school boy himself – one who regrets their domination – he adds that a return to grammar schools to provide a ladder of upward mobility would be a good ide |
Scotland's independence debate is giving unionism a shot in the arm | Martin Kettle
Alex Salmond's SNP should be crowing after Osborne's speech. But pro-UK politics is making a confident comebackThis week Alex Salmond was gifted the sort of opportunity he is supposed to dream of. A widely disliked silver spoon English Tory chancellor, who even cried at Margaret Thatcher's funeral, chooses England's national day to tell Scots in his iciest manner that the UK may not allow an independent Scotland to form a currency union with sterling. Oh, and the familiar Scottish banknotes might not survive the split either.As English red rags waved in front of proud Scottish bulls go, George Osborne's Glasgow speech was as provocative as they get. And with David Cameron having made his own trip north this month to celebrate Britain's Trident nuclear weapons – historically unpopular in Scotland – it is hard to imagine two events better calculated to present Salmond with a tailor-made nationalist opportunity.But Salmond's low-key response was telling. It would be untrue to say that |
Scotland's currency row: a critical moment for the 'yes' campaign
The growing dissent over Alex Salmond's desire for a sterling zone with the UK after independence has divided the 'yes' movement, but is it an opportunity for activists?Are we witnessing the maturing of Scotland's independence movement or its first major crisis? The striking divergence over a future Scottish currency between Alex Salmond and his key Yes Scotland ally Dennis Canavan is a significant moment: the first big policy split between the two major players in the pro-independence movement, the SNP and, it seems, their allies in Yes Scotland. That potentially critical tension within the "yes" movement over an independent Scotland's currency options has been growing steadily, and accelerated markedly after last week's Treasury paper on sterling and independence was published. It came to a head on Tuesday, in two competing television interviews. Canavan, a veteran Labour and then independent politician who now chairs Yes Scotland, told the BBC his preference was for a post-independe |
Letters: Currency questions for Scotland
Even if Scotland votes for independence and manages to keep the pound (No currency union with independent Scotland, says Osborne, 24 April), there's another problem facing its choice of currency. There is a risk that the rest of the UK will decide to leave the EU, leaving Scotland using a currency controlled by a non-EU state. It's hard to believe that this will be a practical proposition, and harder still to believe that the EU will stand for it. English and Scottish politicians haven't mentioned this issue so far. They may be trying to consider the Scottish and EU referendums as separate matters. But don't worry, I'm sure the European Central Bank is considering it.John DallmanCambridge• Scotland is a bumpy country and thrives on bumpy rides. The currency issues are not a doddle. But there is substantial evidence pointing to the resilience of Scotland's economy. The real issue is democracy and the traction which the Scottish people have with what happens in their everyday lives. |
