Meeting of the Parliament 08 January 2014
The white paper argues that, with independence, the economy will inevitably flourish and, in fairness, it sets out the platform for that boom. It will build on a currency union with the UK; an open border and free movement of people and goods with the rest of the UK; a single UK-wide energy market, with consumers across the UK subsidising Scottish renewable energy; UK-wide research funding, from which we can win more than our fair share; and a single financial services sector, so that Scottish banks can access a home market of 60 million consumers, and a single central bank that will bail them out if needed. We are also told that the rest of the UK will even break the habit of all history and provide us with defence contracts for planes and ships. That is a great platform on which to build economic growth, fairness and prosperity, and it is the one that we have today in the United Kingdom and on which we have built prosperity under devolution, as the cabinet secretary outlined.