Scotland should pursue a “clean break” with the UK over debt during any independence talks, according to Alex Salmond.
In a major shift, the former first minister said Alba’ s position was for Scotland to pay no share of the UK national debt if independence is achieved.
When Salmond was first minister, the SNP Government explicitly said Scotland would agree a share of the national debt as part of an independence settlement.
In an interview with the Record, Salmond said the previous position had been based on a currency union with the rest of the UK. Given that UK political parties have ruled this out, Salmond is backing a new policy.
He said: “The negotiating position of Scotland, in Alba’s opinion, should be for a clean break settlement. That is no debt and no assets shared, of international assets we are talking about."
He added: “You’d start with effectively a zero borrowing position.”
Salmond also praised Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and appeared to tip her as a future leader.
Asked who in the SNP Cabinet impresses him, Salmond said: “I think overwhelmingly Kate Forbes.”
He said: “One of the difficulties that Nicola’s had as First Minister is there hasn’t been an obvious successor...that people could point to and say, ‘Well, if Nicola stood down for any reason, then that’s the sort of person who could take over’. There just hasn’t been. In fact, Nicola told me herself that once.”
He added that Forbes is a “figure of substance” and praised her “communications skills”.
