RBS will leave Scotland if the SNP tears the UK to pieces
BANKING giant RBS has warned Nicola Sturgeon it will quit Scotland if she succeeds in her bid to break up Britain.
Chief executive officer Ross McEwan said the bank would be forced to move its headquarters out of Edinburgh in the event of independence.
The warning is a repeat of the threat which played a part in derailing Alex Salmond’s independence campaign in 2014.
Miss Sturgeon has said a second independence referendum is ‘highly likely’ following the Brexit vote, despite previously promising the 2014 poll was a ‘once in a generation’ vote. But Mr McEwan warned RBS would be ‘too big for the economy’ of an independent Scotland and would have to register elsewhere.
That would probably be London, although the Brexit vote has led to specuabout
‘Uncertainty slows markets down’
lation some financial giants will move operations to Frankfurt, to maintain access to the EU single market.
During the 2014 campaign, the phrase ‘big banks don’t base themselves in small countries’ did considerable damage to the SNP’s economic case for independence.
New Zealander Mr McEwan told the BBC yesterday: ‘We’d have to make the moves I suspect because Royal Bank of Scotland, being domiciled in Scotland, would just be too big for the economy, even in the shape that we’re building.’
However, he insisted such a move would not affect the 12,000 people employed by RBS north of the Border. He said: ‘It’s not where our people are, because we have a very big business here in Scotland. I’ve got 12,000 people who serve the Scottish people and we also run our retail business from up here, along with a lot of our technology.
‘Two years ago when we had the Scottish referendum, I made it very clear we’d have the people in the right place, that moving the plaque didn’t make any difference to them. I think that would be the same. I think for any country, they just need to remain very competitive so businesses like ourselves want to operate in those countries.’
Despite this reassurance, there are inevitably fears that in the long term, the move of RBS would mean jobs would be created elsewhere.
Asked what he would say to Miss Sturgeon on the economic impact of a second independence vote, Mr McEwan said: ‘Just take account of uncertainty – that’s what you’re seeing after Brexit.
‘It’s uncertainty that slows markets down. Make sure the long game’s worth it. But that’s going to be up to the people of Scotland.’
Following the collapse of the North Sea oil industry, Edinburgh’s financial district is Scotland’s most important sector and the biggest contributor to tax revenues.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: ‘We have seen the warnings about Brexit were no exaggeration, which is why we must take this warning seriously from one of our biggest banks.
‘The SNP’s top priority should be growing the economy, driving up education standards and transforming mental health services.’
Scottish Labour business manager James Kelly said: ‘This intervention once again makes clear that being part of the UK is good for jobs, business and the economy in Scotland. We don’t need to risk all that with another referendum on independence.’
However, the Scottish Government insisted it was not concerned by the prospect of one of Scotland’s biggest employers moving its headquarters elsewhere.
A spokesman said: ‘As RBS has made clear, the location of their “brass plaque” will make no difference to jobs in Scotland.
‘The uncertainty our economy faces is from Brexit. That’s why our immediate priority is to secure our continued place in the single market and maintain and strengthen our links with European markets.’
Mr McEwan’s comments sparked fury from Nationalist supporters on social media, with one cybernat telling him to ‘ **** off with your threats, we just ain’t listening’.
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘Let @RBS move to England. Threats like this will not fly any more.’