Unionists 'should withdraw leaflet'

Feb 28 2013

The First Minister has urged the pro-UK Better Together campaign to withdraw a leaflet promoting the UK's now defunct AAA credit rating as a reason to vote No to independence.

Credit rating agency Moody's this week downgraded the UK's creditworthiness from the top AAA to AA1.

Anti-independence campaigners and analysts have warned that Scotland might not qualify for the AAA rating if it splits from the UK, to the detriment of Scotland's economy and ability to borrow.

But Alex Salmond accused unionist parties of double standards at First Minister's Questions.

"A No campaign leaflet says 'the reason we are Better Together is the UK's triple A'," said Mr Salmond. "I'm sure the unified ranks of the Liberal, Conservative and Labour parties will immediately want to withdraw this misrepresentation from circulation."

Conservative finance spokesman Gavin Brown said: "The pound appears to have held up against the euro, the FTSE has held up and yields and bonds have held up. Is the First Minister disappointed with the market reaction to the downgrade?"

Mr Salmond said: "What I'm disappointed with is political spokesmen who say the triple A is the be all and end all for Scotland, and now say it doesn't matter when it comes to the UK.

"Let me quote an enormous sage, a real authority on these matters, someone who I'm sure that the member will treat with the utmost respect: Alistair Darling.

"Alistair, commenting on the mistakes of the Conservative party that he is now leading in the joint (Better Together) campaign, says it was very unwise to stake their reputation on a triple A rating.

"So even if we come to the conclusion that the master of disaster, the author of all these misfortunes, the Chancellor who led this country into the greatest recession since the 1930s, even he believes the Conservative party is incompetent. There is something that the rest of us can say we agree on, on this occasion, with Alistair Darling."