Scotland’s position in the wider world was the hot topic when two of the country’s best known politicians went head to head yesterday.
Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, appeared at Moray College in Elgin together with the SNP’s energy and tourism minister Fergus Ewing.
Mr Ewing, the MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said: “In 1945 there were 51 member states in the United Nations. In 2013 there were 193 members. Much of that increase is due to the large number of countries who have gained independence in the intervening years.
“This is the way the world is organised now, with independence the normal status for countries.
“Who better to make decisions than the people who live and work there?
“We don’t pretend we have a magic wand to solve every problem, but an independent Scotland would have the power to choose if we went to war or not, or whether to have nuclear power.”
In reply, Mr Alexander, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, questioned just how much clout an independent Scotland would really have in the wider world.
Talking about the nationalists’ proposals to keep the pound and form a currency union with the rest of the UK, he said: “It really concerns me that people are being sold the idea of independence on a prospectus that is not going to happen.”
He also stated that Scotland could not expect to receive the rebate from the European Union currently enjoyed by the UK.
The two politicians were joined on the podium by two of Scotland’s most successful businessmen.
Sandy Adams, the head of Elgin-based Springfield Properties, is a leading light of the “Yes” campaign.
Alan Savage, the boss of Inverness recruitment specialists the Orion Group, is a stalwart supporter of “Better Together”.
Among the many other hotly contested issues were spending on defence, the oil and gas industry and the European Union’s policy on fishing and farming.