Osborne Shuts Door to Independent Scotland Keeping Pound

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said Scotland must relinquish the pound if voters back independence in a referendum this year, raising the stakes for nationalists as they gain in the polls.

In a speech in Edinburgh today, Osborne made a substantive change to previous rhetoric of a currency union between Scotland and the rest of the U.K. being “unlikely” to an outright “no.” The Scottish National Party has said trade and productivity make it common sense to share the pound.