William Bain
Main Page: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)Department Debates - View all William Bain's debates with the Scotland Office
(10 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Carmichael
In that respect, the Governor of the Bank of England is in very good company—he is with the President of the European Commission, the Prime Minister of Spain and the permanent secretary to the Treasury. The truth of the matter is that, day by day, bad news comes to those who want to remove us from the United Kingdom, and they are just not prepared to listen to it.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
If and when the Secretary of State does speak to the First Minister, will he remind him that any attempt to use sterling informally without a central bank would mean that an independent Scotland would not meet the terms of entry to the European Union? What could be more damaging for jobs and growth in Scotland than that?
Mr Carmichael
The nationalists are always very keen on telling us about their vision. In fact, if we were to use sterling without the central bank in the Bank of England, the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom would be like that between Panama and the United States of America. That is not a vision; it is a nightmare.