Farage: Scots Being Sold 'a Pig in a Poke' on Scottish Independence

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage weighed the pros and cons of a potential Scotland independence from the United Kingdom.

According to Farage, the Scottish people should be allowed to determine their own destiny, however he argued the case for independence wasn’t necessarily in the best interest of the Scots, particularly regarding Scottish entrance into the European Union as an independent nation.

“I believe in natural self-determination,” Farage said. “If Scotland wants to be independent, that’s fine. But, I think they’re being sold a pig in a poke. They’re being told they can be independent and be members of the European Union. If you’re members of the EU, their courts – supreme over yours. It’s a false proposition.”

Farage said should Scotland choose independence, then it could face some tough economic challenges down the road.

“I personally think that the economic sums that Salmond is putting wouldn’t add up. They would lose the English subsidy. They wouldn’t get any subsidy from Europe because now we’ve let very poor countries in like Romania and Bulgaria. And I think on a day-to-day basis immediately, very little change at all. Actually they have a fair degree of autonomy already. But I think down the road, I see it as a country that would face very serious economic problems. It’s all well and good to talk about oil, oil is diminishing … The welfare cuts in Scotland are huge, well over 50 percent of the people on Scotland are living on benefit some kind, and I don’t see a very left-wing leader — Salmond is a very left-wing leader, basically a former communist as a youngster. He’s not pro-business, he is not pro-deregulation.”

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