ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: On midnight of March 23^rd 2016, Scotland could cease to become part of the United Kingdom, that’s if voters back independence in the referendum next year. It’s the first time the date has been announced so what would independence mean in practice. In a moment I’ll speak to the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Deputy Leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Nicola Sturgeon. Let’s say a very good morning then to the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Deputy First Minister, let me first of all put to you that point, you know it well, being put to you by the Better Together campaign about currency and Alistair Darling was saying to me an hour ago that you are stating with certainty that an independent Scotland will stay within the sterling zone. He says no such certainty exists, that would have to be subject to negotiations.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well firstly, Alistair Darling would say that because Alistair Darling’s entire campaign is designed to increase uncertainty and to make people frightened of the prospect of voting yes. Let me say first of all that the pound is as much Scotland’s as it is the rest of the UK’s and we are putting forward the proposition of a currency union because it makes sense for an independent Scotland but it would also make overwhelming sense for the rest of the UK as well, firstly because Scotland is the second biggest export market for the rest of the UK after the United States of America, it would make no sense for a rest of UK government to force its own businesses into a separate currency union. Secondly, Scotland’s massive oil and gas and whisky exports make a substantial contribution to the UK’s balance of payments and they desperately need that contribution. Thirdly, if Scotland votes to become an independent country then yes, there will be a sensible negotiation about assets and about liabilities and the no campaign can’t have it both ways. They can’t say that Scotland would have to accept a share of liabilities without also accepting that you would have a share of joint assets as well.

DM: So you’ve got the negotiation about assets and liabilities, at the moment you are nominating sterling but that could be changed and just to rewind, you said you were putting forward the proposition that Scotland remains within the sterling zone. Do you accept that that could be negotiated? The Bank of England, the UK, has not signed up to this.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well of course there will be required to be negotiations if Scotland votes yes but what I’m saying is that the proposition that we are putting forward is the overwhelmingly sensible one and it’s not just sensible from the perspective of an independent Scotland, it’s sensible from the perspective of the remainder of the UK as well. What we’ll be saying when we publish the White Paper this week, the White Paper which is the most detailed and comprehensive prospectus for independence of a country ever published, is we’ll be saying to people read it and make up your own minds. It’s a sensible proposition and it comes against the scaremongering of the no campaign. The whole raison d’etre of the no campaign is to try and frighten and threaten the people of Scotland against voting yes. This is the week Project Fear comes head to head with Project Hope and I think it will change the dynamic of the debate decisively.

DM: I mean it doesn’t sound like scaremongering does it because as you accept there will have to be negotiations about sterling. For people who have got savings, they might have to be redenominated if those negotiations lead with what is left of the UK after a vote for independence to say, no, I’m sorry, we don’t want you in the sterling zone, Scotland, you have to have a Plan B. You either presumably have to join the euro or have a Scottish pound.

NICOLA STURGEON: But the point I’m making is that Scotland will be in a currency union and to accept Alistair Darling’s proposition you would have to accept that post a vote for independence a UK government would insist on a position that wasn’t just against the interests of Scotland but was also against the interests of Scotland but was also against the interests of the rest of the UK, the businesses and citizens of the rest of the UK. Now we are in a debate right now, it’s a very passionate debate, it’s a good debate for Scotland and Alistair Darling and I are on opposite sides of that debate …
DM: But with respect …

NICOLA STURGEON: … let me finish the point. After Scotland … I’m simply saying after Scotland votes yes, if indeed Scotland does vote yes, then Alistair Darling and I would be on the same side of the argument and Alistair Darling, not too long ago, described a currency union as both logical and desirable. So let’s have the debate but if Scotland decides democratically to become an independent country, then the interests of Scotland and the interests of the UK as far as currency is concerned would lead us to that point of a currency union.

DM: Last point on this, it would be prudent would it not to have a Plan B? That’s all Alistair Darling is saying, that you should lay that before the Scottish public, that there an alternative if you don’t stay in the sterling zone.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well we will argue, with the greatest respect we will argue what we consider to be in the best interests of Scotland and indeed the rest of the UK, not what is in the best interests of Alistair Darling who is part of and indeed the leader of the no campaign. This is overwhelmingly a proposition that is the best interests of Scotland and the best interests of the UK. I want Scotland to be an independent country so that we are in charge of our own destiny, so that we can take measures to get our economy growing, tackle the inequality that still scars our nation but I still want us to have a close and constructive relationship with our friends across the rest of the UK and a currency union would be part of that. It is sensible, it’s rational, it’s reasonable and it’s responsible. I have to say these three words will run right through the White Paper that we are launching in this very place in just a couple of days’ time.

DM: It is interesting how you are trying to characterise Alistair Darling and indeed that campaign because isn’t this a reasonable point. Another point he made this morning and has made before I know, that an independent Scotland relying for a large part of its income, about 20% of its income on oil, is a little dangerous because that is of course a very volatile commodity whatever currency it’s denominated in.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well firstly my point about the no campaign is that they themselves describe themselves as Project Fear, that’s not something we coined for them, it’s something they coined themselves so the whole campaign is about trying to make people frightened. But let’s take North Sea oil, you talk about North Sea oil as if it’s some handicap for Scotland, North Sea oil is a massive advantage and benefit for Scotland and for the Scottish economy. We are not dependent on oil, oil is a bonus in our economy and one of the big advantages of being independent is that we can steward that resource for future generations better than Westminster governments have done over the past 40 years. Independent Norway has an oil fund worth around £450 billion. Scotland right now has a share of the trillion pounds UK debt. Independence is about giving us access to our resources so that we can use them properly to grow our economy and make sure that future generations benefit from them.

DM: But have we got a clue into your industrial strategy? You talk about rebalancing the economy, promoting manufacturing, innovation and boosting production, all very high falutin’ but at the same time you buy the lame duck that is Prestwick.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well Prestwick Airport is a significant asset for Scotland, there are also many, many jobs dependent on Prestwick Airport both directly and indirectly.

DM: It’s losing millions, Deputy First Minister, it’s losing millions of pounds, it’s a lame duck.

NICOLA STURGEON: We believe that it is possible to turn Prestwick around, that’s why the Scottish government ….

DM: What do you know about airports?

NICOLA STURGEON: But we believe it can be turned round and put into profit.

DM: By who?

NICOLA STURGEON: Well as you will know if you’ve read the Scottish Government news release from yesterday, it is our intention now to secure a commercial operator to run the airport for us but we believe it is possible to turn Prestwick Airport back into a profitable enterprise and secure the many jobs that depend on it. So acquiring this airport is the right thing to do and that’s why the Scottish government has done it and we look forward now to setting out the business plan that will turn it from where it is now back into a profitable enterprise.

DM: It’s the right thing to do before a referendum isn’t it? You don’t want to see that going bust before the vote.

NICOLA STURGEON: It has got nothing to do with … With the greatest respect it has got nothing to do with the referendum. The Scottish government exists to help the economy, to create jobs and where we can and where it is reasonable for us to do so, to safeguard jobs. This has got nothing to do with the referendum, it has got everything to do with safeguarding an important national asset and the many jobs that depend on it.

DM: Okay, so it would apply then post a referendum. Is there any industry you would rule out intervening in?

NICOLA STURGEON: Look, we take these decisions on a case by case basis. You heard and saw the efforts of the First Minister and the Finance Secretary, John Swinney, around the Grangemouth incident. Every case is different but as a responsible Scottish government we take the action that we consider to be responsible and appropriate. That’s what we’ve done in the case of Prestwick Airport. As a Scottish government we have over the past number of years that we have been in government, have demonstrated what we can do with the powers that we already have in Scotland. The whole point of independence is to complete the powers of the Scottish parliament so that we have a Scottish government able to stand up for and protect Scottish interests in every sense and that is the case at the heart of the independence debate.

DM: Okay, Deputy First Minister, thank you very much indeed. Nicola Sturgeon there, in the Science Centre I believe in Glasgow, hence some of that background noise.