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Scotland and the Union

Absolutely not. [Interruption.] I do not care; I have no intention of giving way. The SNP has made pledges in areas that are currently reserved. That is the key. I am referring to a citizen’s pension at a cost of £1.2 billion and a change to corporation tax costing £600 million—a total cost of £1.8 billion. On top of that, we estimate the cost of the trappings of an independent state—new Ministries, new embassies and new commitments—at £1.5 billion. The SNP published tax plan would mean an immediate rise in income tax, yet there are pledges to lower taxes. I am totally confused; I just hope that the shrewd and astute people in Scotland will see through that nonsense. The nationalists, as we have heard, say that they could join the euro, but they do not meet the criteria on either the exchange rate rules of the euro or the fiscal rules—the confusion mounts. To avoid doubt, I should, however, make one thing clear. Although the SNP says that it will make a claim for oil revenues in the first 100 days of power if it is elected, it also intends to retain the benefits of Barnett money. That is an absolute joke. In a global economy in which stability is at a premium and investment can so easily come and go, businesses and individuals need to be certain of the monetary and currency arrangements, or they will question the wisdom of investing when an Administration who want all the trappings of a separate state cannot begin to articulate what they would do with the currency inflation interest rates and the management of the economy.