Dear Orkney News,
We keep hearing that in the current pandemic Scotland could not have survived without the “Sheer Might” of the union to support us. Putting aside that this is almost certainly a spoonerism, we are being seriously misled. This statement is usually accompanied by saying Scotland wouldn’t have the “borrowing power” to pay the support needed.
Use of the word “borrow” shows us the speaker does not understand how government finances work. The UK government did not have around £400bn they’ve spent so far, nor did they “borrow” it. As an independent country with their own currency the UK government is a currency creator. They simply created the money they needed on a computer in Westminster. It’s’ as simple as that.
And Scotland could do the same. As an independent country with our own currency we could create the money needed to support the people and the economy through any crisis. The difference is the computer would be in Edinburgh instead of Westminster. (Before anybody says it, this doesn’t cause inflation in these circumstances and it hasn’t in the UK, USA and many other countries who have been doing this for years.)
So think about that when you’re trying to decide who to vote for in May. There’s no reason why we should have to beg Westminster for what we need. We are perfectly capable of standing on our feet.
Yours, Mike Robertson, Orkney
