Moore: UK Government will 'flush out facts and figures' on independence

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has challenged the SNP to "embrace reality" in the debate on independence.

With two years to go until the referendum, Mr Moore told the Scottish Liberal Democrats' autumn conference in Dunfermline that the UK Government would "flush out the facts and figures and put them up in lights".

Last week the Scottish Government admitted it had not sought specific legal advice on whether an independent Scotland would automatically stay in the European Union or have to apply to rejoin.

Mr Moore also claimed the Liberal Democrats' new home rule policy, which would see Scotland given more devolved powers in a federal structure, was the "first choice" of Scottish voters.

He said: "The SNP has been clear that the Scottish Parliament must be trusted to run this referendum. And that's what we want too. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

"Just this week, the SNP got a taste of what happens when politicians play fast and loose with Scotland's future to meet their own narrow ends. Within the UK, Scotland benefits from membership of the European Union.

"So it's no surprise that Nationalists want us to believe that a separate Scotland would inherit automatic membership on present terms. But there is no firm basis for that claim."

He went on: "We can't have debate conducted on these terms. This referendum will present Scots with the biggest political decision that we will ever take.

"On all the big issues - the future of our economy, the strength of our defences, our role in the world - people in this country have a right to know the facts. They have a right to know what independence really means for them, their family, their community - our nation.

"There is no automatic entry to the EU, or Nato. There is no Sterling zone or national seat on the Monetary Policy Committee. There is no Scottish reserve that could bail out the banks in the way that the Treasury did.

"The Nationalists say that they want a positive campaign. But to get there, first they must set aside the assertions and begin to embrace reality. For our part, that is something that the UK Government is already doing."

Mr Moore added: "But no government has ever gone far enough to explain exactly why. So we need to flush out the facts and figures and put them up in lights. And over the coming months that is exactly what we will do."

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