TARTAN EXODUS
Over a third of big businesses warn: We will leave Scotland if Salmond wins independence vote
MORE than a third of Scottish businesses would consider moving out of the country if there were a Yes vote in the independence referendum, according to a shock new poll carried out for The Mail on Sunday.
The survey shows that Alex Salmond’s campaign to persuade Scottish voters that jobs and economic livelihoods would be secure in a newly independent nation has failed to convince the business community North of the border. The bombshell results reveal: An astonishing 38.6 per cent of major firms would consider quitting the country and relocating outside Scotland in the event of a Yes vote in September.
More than a third of smaller firms, with sales below £25million a year – the grassroots of the economy – would also consider quitting Scotland if it voted to go.
More than 75 per cent of businesses said it was ‘essential or important’ to keep the pound.
And 44 per cent of firms of all sizes said independence would harm their prospects.
The poll carried out by Survation gave 100 leading Scottish
‘A hammer blow to SNP’s credibility’
businesses with combined sales of more than £15billion the chance to voice their concerns over possible independence with a guarantee of anonymity.
Alistair Darling, the former Chancellor who leads the Better Together pro-union campaign, attacked Mr Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, for his refusal to outline an alternative to keeping the pound.
He added: ‘Alex Salmond has turned the referendum ballot paper into a betting slip. Without the most basic economic fact – what money we would use – voters will have to decide whether they are prepared to take a leap in the dark.’
Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘These results are another hammer blow to the credibility of the SNP.
‘They clearly show that job numbers and prosperity in Scotland will suffer in the event of a Yes vote. A vote for Yes will see large num- bers of businesses planning to leave Scotland.’
The poll took place after Scotland’s giant Standard Life pensions provider said it was looking at relocating funds, people and operations to England in the event of Scottish independence.
Alliance Trust, another major Scottish financial services group, has said it has begun to set up businesses registered in England, while Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds may have to move their official legal homes South of the border, in line with EU directives. The bosses of Shell and BP have made it clear that they would prefer Scotland to remain part of the union. Although the poll appears to back Mr Salmond’s aim of keeping the pound in an independent Scotland while staying in a currency union with the rest of the UK, that plan has been rebuffed by the three main UK political parties.
Mr Darling added: ‘Of course, the SNP response to this is to claim that it is all a bluff – and it is revealing that the nationalists use a gambling metaphor in responding to this.
‘But for the people of Scotland this isn’t a game. We are talking about the livelihoods of millions of Scottish families here.
‘Leaving the UK and losing the pound means more cost, higher prices and bigger risks for Scotland. Leaving the UK means losing jobs.’
Kenneth Gibson, an SNP convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee, took a different view.
‘Business in Scotland clearly wants a currency union with the rest of the UK if there is a yes vote, and that is exactly what the Scottish Government is proposing,’ he said.
The poll showed a small minority of Scottish businesses saw any benefit to independence, while the majority reckoned there would be no benefits at all.