The Scotsman cartoon: Salmond prepares for Carney ALEX Salmond is to hold talks with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in the new year as pressure grows on the Scottish Government to come up with a currency alternative to its sterlingzone proposal for an independent Scotland. The SNP First Minister confirmed that he has accepted Mr Carney's invitation, issued three weeks ago, to hold talks on the Scottish Government's plan to continue to use the pound in a formal sterlingzone, with the Bank of England as the lender of last resort.