Proving Scotland’s ability to fund itself from its own people’s savings, rather than from savings made elsewhere, is not a side issue. It is close to the whole point.
A citizen with money in a Scottish Savings Bond has a direct stake in whether the country succeeds, and by saving in this way provides evidence that Scotland does not need outside capital to get going. That is a different relationship from being a taxpayer or a voter. It is being a stakeholder in the country’s future, with a personal reason to want the venture to work.
And that builds the pathway to independence, which is precisely why those bonds would succeed.
That participation could be further sharpened by linking the bonds to national priorities from which savers might choose. There could be housing bonds, renewable energy bonds, care bonds, NHS bonds, education bonds.
If the first invitation goes to its own people, the message is that Scotland’s confidence, and its economic capacity, begins at home, funded by the country itself rather than borrowed from outside it.
Scotland could issue a conventional wholesale bond. It would succeed. Institutional investors would buy it, rating agencies would approve of it, and Scotland would have shown it can behave like every other country.
I want it to aspire to something more. It should prove that it can provide for itself, working with the people who live in Scotland. This first Scottish bond is the opportunity to demonstrate exactly that. The SNP are making a big mistake by not embracing this idea.