‘First Minister lacks support from business Salmond had’
● Sturgeon must do more to woo SMES if SNP is to win indyref2, says Yes supporter
A leading independencesupporting businessman has claimed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon does not have the support of the business community in the way her predecessor, Alex Salmond, did.
Gordon Mcintyre-kemp of the Business for Scotland group has criticised the Scottish Government’s approach to business, and said more must be done to bring small and medium-sized businesses on side if the SNP is to win a second independence referendum.
Writing in a Scottish newspaper, Mr Mcintyre-kemp said Ms Sturgeon’s post-brexit announcement of another referendum should have been accompanied with an economic plan on how to make the most of European Union withdrawal.
He said: “Months later, the SNP still seem miles away from getting the message on business and the economy right with the powers they have, never mind the powers they crave.
“Even the most ardent of Sturgeon fans will have to admit that she doesn’t carry the business community with her in the way Alex Salmond did.
“It might be unfair to suggest she could, her natural
0 Alex Salmond is said to have had better relations with the business sector while first minister strengths being on the social policy side and especially on youth, fairness and gender equality – but no-one is talking about ‘Sturgeonomics’. There is, as of yet, no such thing. If she is to win an independence referendum, the FM needs to increase her government’s approval ratings on day-today performance. She needs to also bring the business community more on side.”
Mr Mcintyre-kemp added: “The opportunity the Scottish Government has to act now and to be the only party with a winning vision, a solid and credible route to prosperity in the Brexit era, is akin to a striker staring at an open goal and refusing to shoot.”
One Scottish business insider said: “Salmond appeared to invest much more time and effort into charming the business community and he spoke their language. When you meet, Nicola Sturgeon is engaging and well-informed but she is seen as being more aligned with the public sector.”
Stuart Mackinnon of the Federation of Small Business Scotland said: “As an organisation we have to work with whoever is in charge, so we would not offer views on the personalities of various leaders.
“But certainly recent announcements, whether it is the stuff today on obesity that will have an impact on retailers or proposals for a bottle deposit return scheme, – these are the sort of things that cause firms headaches.”
Ms Sturgeon’s spokesman refuted the idea that the First Minister did not carry the support of business. He said: “There is barely a week goes by that she doesn’t have substantial and significant business engagements.”