BB FANS

Aug 24 2005
dailyrecord
By Magnus Gardham

MSP wants to outlaw notes from south of the Border

AN MSP is urging Scots to boycott Englishbanknotes - because they are not legal tender north of the Border. The SNP's Stewart Maxwell said banning Bankof Englandnoteswould highlight the problem of Scottish cash being refused down south.

And he says it could pressure the Treasury into dropping plans which critics say could kill off Scottish notes altogether. The West of Scotland MSP admitted his tongue-in-cheek call was unlikely to be taken up.

But he spoke out after learning that Scots are within their rights to turn down English notes.

He said: "We have been told for years that Scottish notes are not legal tender and that only English notes are legal tender in Scotland.

"However, while looking into a complaint from a constituent about their Scottish notes being refused in England, I unearthed the fact that not only are Scottish notes not legal tender in England, but Bank of England notes are not legal tender in Scotland.

"This puts a whole new light on the problems Scots have trying to use Scottish notes in England and means that Scots and Scottish businesses have the solution to this problem in their own hands."

The Bank of England's website confirms the claim. It says Scottish and Irish notes are not legal tender in the UK and adds: "Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales."

But it also says "legal tender" is a technical term relating to debt rather than a deciding factor in whether notes are acceptable.

Maxwell hopes talk of a boycott will pressure the Treasury into dropping plans to make Scottish banks pay £80million a year to issue notes and to impose restrictions on their design

I think if Scotland bans english bank notes, then i think England should do the same with their notes coming into this country. I'm not angry with Scotland if they do this, just think that we shouldn't accept their notes either. Just like when you go abroad, you have to get your money changed into the destination's money. Why not make the same thing happen over here. It would mean a lot less hassle when you take the foreign note to a shop that won't accept it, or a pub. Ah right, i didn't realise that they weren't accepting Scottish notes over here, i thought they still were. Well, that's something else i have learnt then

Quite often when I come back from visiting my parents, I have Scottish notes either because I have been to a cash machine while there or Dad has been generous ... I know that very frequently if I try to pay in England with them, I get funny looks like they are not real money - it really irritates me.

well, technically not even Bank of England notes are legal tender in England and Wales - certainly not legal tender as defined in Law. The only currency that is true legal tender (ie. that which must be accepted as payment) is £1 and £2 coins. What the Bank of England claims is an interpretation of legal tender: payment that you'd have a pretty good legal case if you offered it and it wasn't accepted. So that Scottish chap is talkin out of his arse.