Britain warns Scotland: Forget the pound if you walk away

 Britain told Scotland on Thursday it would not be able to keep the pound if it voted to end its 307-year-old union with England, declaring that the currency could not be divided up "as if it were a CD collection".

British PM, Cameron

   British Finance Minister George Osborne, striking an unprecedentedly blunt tone as the September referendum approaches, said a break with the United Kingdom would cost Scots dearly in commerce and finance. Scottish nationalists accused him of bullying and said his words would backfire.
   "If Scotland walks away from the UK, it walks away from the UK pound," he told a group of about 200 business leaders in a hotel penthouse with a panoramic view over the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.
   Refusing to be drawn on whether his toughened stance would antagonise some Scots, he said the Scottish people needed to be clear on the facts before making their biggest decision in over three centuries.
   "The pound isn't an asset to be divided up between two countries after a break up as if it were a CD collection," Osborne, Prime Minister David Cameron's closest ally, said.
   Scotland votes in a yes/no referendum on independence on Sept. 18. The vote is open to about 4 million of Scotland's 5.3 million residents aged over 16 with opinion polls showing the nationalists trailing but the gap starting to narrow.
   With more uncertainty over the outcome in September the debate has accelerated and Osborne's speech came after Cameron last week made the patriotic case for unity which was described as a "love-bombing" by commentators.
   But the 42-year-old architect of Britain's drive to reduce spending delivered a much harsher message to Scots: If you leave the UK, you will lose the pound and pay higher rates of interest.
   "There is no legal reason why the rest of the UK would need to share its currency with Scotland," Osborne said, having coordinated his hardened line with Britain's two other main political parties.
   His message will be reiterated in future days by Labour's finance chief Ed Balls and the Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander.
   Osborne stressed that this unified approach by Westminster meant that a currency union was off the table, whoever held power after Britain's 2015 general election.
   
   CURRENCY WAR?
   By honing in on Scottish nationalist hopes of keeping the pound, London politicians hope to undermine their economic case for independence. Pro-independence campaigners portrayed his remarks as an act of panic.
   "We've gone in under a week from David Cameron's 'love-bombing' to attempted bullying and intimidation - from a charm offensive to just plain offensive," Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
   "This is a panic move which will backfire spectacularly. People won't take kindly to the Westminster establishment ganging up to try and bully Scotland in the decision that we are being asked to take on the referendum," she said.
   Whether the move would sway some of the 20 percent or so of voters still undecided in opinion polls was to be seen.
   "For some people this stance on the currency gives clarity but for others it could be seen as antagonistic," said Alex Sanderson, who works in a professional services company in Edinburgh and intends to vote against independence.