Independent Scotland would not keep pound, EU membership: British official

A senior British government official on Tuesday said Scotland, if independent, would not be part of a currency union with the remaining Britain, and would have to negotiate its entry into the European Union (EU).

Alistair Carmichael, Scottish Secretary in Prime Minister David Cameron's national government Cabinet, said that a key problem for an independent Scotland would be currency.

He said the Governor of the Bank of England (BOE), or the British central bank, had pointed out the pitfalls of currency union in a speech in Scotland earlier this year. Carmichael made the remarks while speaking to a specially-convened press conference for foreign journalists in London. The continued membership of Scotland in the EU if it became independent was also in doubt, said Carmichael.

"If you walk away from the United Kingdom, then you walk away from the European Union," he said.

Voters in Scotland will take part in a referendum on Sept. 18this year on continuing their country's membership of the United Kingdom.