Nevertheless, Salmond warned that Scotland would "stand still" if it remained part of the United Kingdom, and forecast his new state would create "a revolution in employment and social policy" and deliver an economy with Scotland rather than Westminster at its centre.
Without deviance, hesitation, though with much repetition, he offered serial assurances that Scotland would become part of a new Sterling Zone with Westminster's full backing, and would enjoy guaranteed "continuing" membership of the EU.
The white paper was headlined "Scotland's Future" and claimed to "comprehensively" answer 650 key questions on independence. After an hour of interrogation by journalists, the document's merits felt thinner and thinner.
Salmond and his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, both claimed an independent Scotland would be unquestioningly welcomed and given what it wanted by a range of institutions including Westminster, the Bank of England, the EU and Nato.
Regardless of the fact-limited white paper, Salmond remained confident that Scotland after the referendum next September would regain "its place as an equal member of the family of nations".
He urged Scotland's four million voters to seize a "once-in-a-generation" chance to create a fairer, more prosperous country by voting to leave the UK and taking control of their own destiny.
He promised to cut corporation tax - initially by 3 per cent, to honour current pensions with a triple-lock, extend free childcare and to increase the minimum wage.
Scotland and the remainder of the UK would, he said, still have close economic ties with each other, and both would still be using the same pound. Buckingham Palace would still be home to Scotland's head of state.
A free Scotland would take 90 per cent of North Sea oil revenue; within the first term of a fully independent Holyrood, nuclear weapons would vanish from Scottish territory; the assets and staff of the BBC would go to a new state broadcaster, the Scottish Broadcasting Service.
The scale of Scotland's share of the UK national debt was straightforward. The document simply stated this "will be negotiated and agreed" within 18 months before Scotland becomes officially independent in March 2016.
The bedroom tax "rejected at the ballot box in Scotland" would go. The Royal Mail would be renationalised. The minimum wage would rise; air passenger duty would be reduced.
On defence, the new independent state would create a Scottish military force of 15,000 regulars, with a security and intelligence agency directed to work closely with Police Scotland.
Scotland's diplomatic representation overseas would see the creation of 70 to 90 embassies estimated to cost 120 million ($238 million) to run.
But the Scottish Secretary, Alistair Carmichael, said it was "highly unlikely"the Scottish Government's plan to keep the pound and retain the services of the Bank of England as part of a "currency union"with the rest of the UK would work, while the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, in charge of pro-union "Better Together" campaign, insisted that Scotland could not leave the UK and simultaneously keep all the benefits of UK membership.
- Independent
