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British Government Responsible for all Debt After Scottish Independence – UK Official

© Sputnik / Alexander SmotrovThe legal responsibility for all of the UK’s debt would rest with the British Government in the event Scotland becomes independent
The legal responsibility for all of the UK’s debt would rest with the British Government in the event Scotland becomes independent - Sputnik International
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The legal responsibility for all of the UK’s debt would rest with the British Government in the event Scotland becomes independent, the UK’s most senior civil servant at Her Majesty’s Treasury Sir Nick MacPherson said Tuesday.

LONDON, September 2 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – The legal responsibility for all of the UK’s debt would rest with the British Government in the event Scotland becomes independent, the UK’s most senior civil servant at Her Majesty’s Treasury Sir Nick MacPherson said Tuesday.

“Early this year the government made clear that existing debt, was issued by the United Kingdom and United Kingdom stands behind that debt,” MacPherson said during a Finance Select Committee meeting at the House of Commons when he was challenged on whether the British Government would make a statement on the UK national debt.

The pro-Scottish independence Scottish National Party (SNP) has warned that if the British Government refuse to enter into a currency union with an independent Scotland then the Scottish Government would refuse to pay its share of the UK national debt, currently estimated at $133 billion (£81billion).

The Permanent Secretary to the Treasury added that the UK Treasury did not have contingency plans in place in the event Scots vote Yes to independence on the 18th of September.

“I think it’s fair to say there are plans and plans. We may have made contingency plans about contingency plans by which I mean if Scotland were to vote for independence by the early hours of the morning, assuming we know by the early hours of the morning, we will have a team in place which will be tasked with dealing with this issue,” MacPherson told MPs.

“I think the Governor of the Bank of England is on record as having told this committee that he has some contingency plans that he was not prepared to share them with you,” MacPherson added. “I am confident that we’ll be ready to go.”

The Treasury Secretary went on to add that a Yes vote may lead to “market implications” but stressed there was no point in speculating on the outcome. Last month veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell told RIA Novosti there would be a run on the UK currency, Sterling, following a Yes vote.

“In a sense there are two issues,” he told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee.

“There is not a huge amount of point speculating about this but there will inevitably be short term financial issues which may or may not have market implications. Longer term this will be a long and tortuous negotiation about assets and liabilities but this is all for the future at this stage. We have no plans,” UK official concluded.

Responding to MacPherson’s comments, SNP MP Stewart Hosie stated that “this confirmation from Sir Nick to the Select Committee is important in that once again it confirms the Treasury position, as they outlined in January.”

“That is that the UK has responsibility for the debts built up by the UK,” SNP MP said.

“It is one of the key reasons why a currency union is firmly in the interests of an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK because if Westminster refused to share financial assets with Scotland, it follows that the rest of the UK would be saddled with all the national debt,” Hosie added.

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