Alex Bell said the Mr Salmond's currency plan
is 'arguably not independence'
He also claimed Trident nuclear weapons will
remain in a separate Scotland
Weapons will be allowed to stay for a 'ticket
into international community'
Scotland will also have to implement deep
spending cuts, Mr Bell said
Alex Salmond’s former policy chief has launched a blistering attack on the SNP’s currency plans as he lifts the lid on the confusion and deceit at the heart of the independence campaign.
Alex Salmond’s former policy chief has launched a blistering attack on the SNP’s currency plans as he lifts the lid on the confusion and deceit at the heart of the independence campaign.
In
an explosive political diary, Alex Bell said the Nationalists’ currency
proposal is ‘arguably not independence’ and has hinted at a power struggle at
the top of the party.
The
top adviser, who stood down from government last summer, also claims:
*
Trident nuclear weapons will remain in a separate Scotland in return for a
‘priority ticket into the international community’ and a favourable deal with
the rest of the UK.
*
A Yes vote does not mean Scotland can avoid deep spending cuts and the state ‘cannot
afford’ to keep paying pensions.
Deputy
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has championed a ‘re-design’ of the state, but
others in the party favour a ‘mini-UK’ form of independence outlined in Mr
Salmond’s White Paper manifesto.
Mr
Bell was invited into government in 2010 and was in control of the process that
led to the ‘Edinburgh Agreement’ – the historic deal signed by Mr Salmond and
David Cameron that enabled a referendum to be staged.
But
as work got underway on the SNP’s White Paper, the head of policy left his post
because the document lacked a ‘big offer’.
In
his new book, The People We Could Be, Mr Bell reveals: ‘SNP strategists think
the mix of aspiration without perspiration allows room for everyone to join the
Yes campaign.
‘As
the referendum approaches, people are filling in the gaps to their own liking.
In that sense, the Yes vote has escaped the control of either the
SNP,
the Scottish Government or the official campaign.’
