Salmond sets out vision for Scotland

The Scottish independence debate has reached a historic milestone with the publishing of the Yes campaign's manifesto. Matthew Partridge reports.

Scottish first minister and Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has launched his manifesto for an independent Scotland, in the form of a 670-page White Paper. "Short of Braveheart-like passages", says the Financial Times, this is "a highly detailed technocratic treatise designed to reassure the fearful".

The main message is that "whatever the result of next September's referendum, much will remain the same north of the border". Scotland will keep both the monarchy and the pound, while there are a few "fiscal goodies" on top, in the form of post-independence business tax cuts and increased spending.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri