Nats must bury the ‘indy pipe dream’, insist business chiefs
BUSINESS chiefs have demanded that Nicola Sturgeon must ‘bury the pipe dream’ of independence.
They say a vote to break up the Union would lead to ‘complex and chaotic’ negotiations to rival tough Brexit talks.
Struan Stevenson, head of Scottish Business UK, said it would lead to years of debate over fishing rights, land and sea borders, oil ownership and currency.
His intervention came as the First Minister was urged to use 2019 to rule out another vote on independence.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell warned she should focus on key devolved areas such as health, education and transport.
Writing in The Times yesterday, Mr Stevenson said: ‘Abundant evidence over the past 30 months should have taught us just how complex and chaotic breaking a binding union can be.
‘And if leaving the EU after just 45 years of membership has been difficult, imagine what it would be like severing Scotland’s 312-year membership of Great Britain.’
Mr Stevenson added that ‘2019 must therefore be the year to bury the pipe dream of a second independence referendum’.
As well as a long period of negotiations, Mr Stevenson claimed an independent Scotland could face a massive bill for leaving the UK, which would make the £39billion divorce bill facing the UK as it leaves the EU look like a ‘bargain’.
Miss Sturgeon took to Twitter to refute his claims. She said: ‘It takes pretty skewed logic to look at Brexit and the general direction of the UK just now and reach this conclusion. On the contrary, independence offers Scotland the opportunity to aim higher and do better.’