Scotland releases blueprint for independence

An independent Scotland would keep the British pound, the Queen and remain in the European Union but have its own defence force and collect its own taxes, First Minister Alex Salmond said on Tuesday.

In a 670-page blueprint aimed at convincing Scots they should vote on Sept. 18 next year to end a 306-year union with England, Salmond said there would be no need to increase taxes if Scotland broke away.

With separatists lagging in opinion polls, his Scottish National Party is hoping the blueprint will win over the many skeptics, answering questions his Scottish National Party (SNP) has been accused of dodging.

"We know we have the people, the skillsand resources to make Scotland a more successful country," said Salmond, head of a devolved government in Scotland, which for now is still part of the United Kingdom.

He said Scottish taxes would not be spent on nuclear programs, and that the United Kingdom's nuclear missiles would be removed from Scotland for good.

"Independence will put the people of Scotland in charge of our own destiny" he said.

Most comprehensive independence blueprint yet

Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, has described the document as "the most comprehensive and detailed blueprint ever drawn up for a prospective independent country."

Scotland's bid for independence is being watched closely internationally, particularly in Catalonia where 80 per cent of people favour a vote for independence from Spain.

"If it's feasible in the U.K., it should be feasible in Spain," said Albert Royo, secretary general of Diplocat, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia, a public-private body charged with building support for Catalan's independence vote.

With 10 months to the Scottish vote, many of the fivemillion Scots are still undecided.

The latest poll, published in the Sunday Times this week, suggested the gap had narrowed with 47 per cent opposed to quitting the U.K., 38 per cent in favour and 15 percent undecided.

Britain's three main U.K.-wide political parties have argued against independence, saying Scotland would be worse off economically on its own and unable to defend itself or project power on the global stage as well as it can as part of the U.K.

Reports predict financial woes

At stake are British oil reserves in the North Sea while debates over how Britain would split its national debt and the issue of the nuclear weapons are already fraught.

Pro-unionists have been helped in recent weeks by two reports from financial institutions. One warned Scotland would need to raise taxes and cut spending as North Sea oil revenues decline and its population ages, and the second said independence would complicate cross-border pensions.

But Alistair Carmichael, the new Scotland secretary in the U.K. government, is aware of the power of wavering voters who gave the SNP a surprise landslide victory in Scotland two years ago.

New to the role, he has toughened up the rhetoric, saying nationalists cannot make assumptions such as being able to keep the British pound.

A report by the all-party parliamentarygroup on taxationin the U.K.'s parliament in Londonsaid under SNP plans, the U.K. would dictate Scottish fiscal policy even after independence.

Researcher Marius Ostrowski said keeping the pound would make Scotland dependent on the Bank of England as a central bank and lender of last resort, and on the U.K. government's lead for its fiscal responsibility rules.