SCOTLAND should go for a “clean break” over debt with the UK during any independence talks, Alex Salmond has said.
The former first minister said the Alba Party position is for the country to pay no share of national debt after separation from the Union.
It comes in contrast to when he led the SNP government during the 2014 ballot, which said Scotland would agree to pay off some of the debt as part of a settlement.
In a paper to be published on Monday by Alba candidate and economist Dr Jim Walker, the party will set out that it believes the economic negotiating position of Scottish independence is no longer equivalent to 2014.
READ MORE: Channel 4 Scottish election leaders' debate panned for excluding Alba
They will argue this is a result of Tory austerity and the pandemic meaning the bulk of Treasury borrowing has been via the Bank of England.
Salmond said: "Austerity and coronavirus has changed the economic world and changed it utterly. Thus the independence platform must adjust to the new realities. They bring with them many new challenges but also great economic opportunities.
“If the people of Scotland back Alba on Thursday, in the first week we will lay a motion instructing the Scottish Government to commence independence negotiations with the UK Government. Then the Scottish Parliament can get on with the job of delivering independence."
READ MORE: SNP see second Glasgow councillor defect to Alex Salmond's Alba Party
Walker, who authored the party's report, added: “It is now time that the economic benefits of independence were recast for the post-Brexit age. The success of small economies in the modern world - and there are many examples - depends on high human capital and access to global markets. Scotland should have both. Currently, both are in jeopardy.
“Thus the debate on national independence is not a substitute for concentrating on sustained economic recovery. It is a prerequisite.”
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