“YOU’RE now in the independent Scottish republic, so we don’t accept British pounds here,” Dr Tim Rideout, convener of the Scottish Currency Group (SCG), tells the room.
I’m at the SCG’s first in-person conference, which is all about exploring currency in an independent Scotland.
If I want a tea or coffee, I have to convert my money into “Scottish pounds”, which are emblazoned with images of iconic animals found in Scotland - the wildcat, the stag, and the unicorn (what do you mean they’re not real?).
It’s a fun idea and feels almost like a game, but there’s more to it than being just a gimmick.
If there’s one thing I’ve taken away from this conference – and this is coming from someone who knows almost nothing about currency or banking – it’s that it’s actually much easier to set up a nation’s currency than you might think.
There’s a lot of technical language being flung around here in Dunfermline, but at the same time, I’ve found it to be incredibly accessible. As one attendee put it to me after the first session: “It’s really that simple?”
The weekend is packed with a whole host of speakers, ranging from the folks over at CommonWeal to international experts such as Malan Johansen, chief executive of the Faeorese bank.
We also heard from Douglas Chapman (below), ex-SNP MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, who opened the conference by welcoming delegates to the city.
He joked that the weather in Dunfermline was so grey and dreary because it now had a Labour MP, adding: “It’s even worse for pensioners.”
Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the first independence referendum, Chapman invited people to imagine the “big thing” we could have done this week to celebrate independence had Scotland voted Yes in 2014.
“It would have been great to close the last food bank in Scotland, 10 years after we gained independence,” he added.
Independence is at the heart of this conference; It’s all about showing the world how Scotland can survive on its own, by demonstrating just how easy it is to set up our own currency and central bank.
The problem lies in communicating this to the electorate and convincing them that the Yes movement has the answers to the seemingly millions of questions that arise. It’s a complicated issue, but it doesn’t necessarily need to have complicated solutions.
As Robin McAlpine (below) – founder of pro-indy think tank Common Weal – told me, we need to convince people that we know what we’re talking about, and the only way to do that is to actually sit down and figure out a “competent and credible” plan for currency in an independent Scotland.
This is just one of many ways the independence movement is taking the ownership of independence back from politics and into the hands of the people.
There is a huge sense of hope here, and most people I’ve spoken to have a genuine conviction that independence can and will be achieved, and soon.
The question seems to be: When will political parties stop and take notice?
