Scottish independence: "SNP deflecting reality" The SNP is attempting to "de-risk, deflect and distract" from the challenges that would face an independent Scotland, the Scottish Secretary will say today. Michael Moore will accuse the SNP of seeking to "re-cast hard realities in a more forgiving light" in their attempts to redefine independence. The nationalists are prepared to "pretty well say anything and do anything" to win the independence referendum, he will say during a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research at Glasgow University. "When it comes to their rhetoric about an independent Scotland, the SNP has retreated a long way in a short time," Mr Moore will say. They no longer want to talk about how different things would be. They want to us to believe instead that so much could stay the same. Having looked at the numbers, the SNP leadership has come to fear that independence is a product that too few Scots are willing to buy. So to sell the goods, they are changing the packaging. In the rush to de-risk independence, the nationalists are now stretching words beyond meaning and seeking to recast hard realities in a more forgiving light. "The team who once argued that we should be "Free by 93" now campaign for "an interdependent United Kingdom of five unions."" The fear that people in Scotland do not want independence has led to retreats in policy areas including currency, Nato, welfare and the EU, Mr Moore will say. Despite the surface rhetoric, the submerged realities of the nationalist position are these: They will not confirm what currency an independent Scotland would ultimately use; they cannot tell us the terms on which EU membership might be achieved; they are unwilling to acknowledge the compromises required to join Nato; and they have no plans for a separate welfare state. Of course there are uncertainties - that is the nature of splitting up a country and starting anew. And where these exist, the nationalists should have the courage to say so. Instead they are trying to de-risk, deflect and distract from the challenges and realities that would face an independent Scotland. That strategy will not hold. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "At the heart of this campaign is the reality that the people of Scotland benefit most when decisions about Scotland are taken in Scotland. Whatever the No campaign say, the evidence is crystal clear. The actions of Michael Moore and his colleagues who walked away from the key commitments they made in Scotland to take power at Westminster simply highlight the risk we take by sticking with a Westminster system. The No campaign simply cannot explain why the people of Scotland should not be able to take decisions over the issues that matter to them and instead continue to face policies put in place by a government they didn't vote for. Scotland is more than wealthy enough to be a fairer and more prosperous society. It is only with full responsibility in Scotland following a Yes vote and independence that we will truly be able to protect the people of Scotland by taking decisions for Scotland, in Scotland.