Effect of Scottish Independence Vote

black_taxi_2

planteria

I was the only Englishman and UK resident at dinner last night. 1 Frenchman, 1 Madridista, 1 Catalan, 2 Basques, and myself. all were very well informed of developments in & around Scotland. and all were very clear that Spain is not going to support Kosovo or Scotland joining the EU


So come dine with me,decides scotlands future:D

black_taxi_2

LONDON (Reuters) - The Labour party is preparing to change its policy on the European Union by pledging to hold a referendum on the country's membership of the bloc at some point if it is elected in 2015, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed source close to the Labour party, it said Labour leader Ed Miliband would seek to reform Britain's EU ties and back holding a membership referendum, but not by 2017 as Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged.

ColdIron

Labour offered a referendum in their 2005 manifesto. When it came to it Brown reneged citing that the Lisbon Treaty was a different document to the Constitution (they took out the European National Anthem) and whipped his MPs to vote against it. He duly signed it in secret

Ed Miliband stated quite unequivocally 6 months back that he would never offer the people of Britain a referendum on Europe

Now he's changed his mind? If you believe that you'll ever get one out of Ed you need your bumps feeling

Heedtheadvice

So, a major heavyweight in the finance sector, Standard Life, has come out with the statement that it would probably move out of Scotland in the case of independence. Some other biggish companies were also of a similar opinion.

Some have sat on the fence and not really commented, some have said they would have no problems with an independent Scotland, like Clyde Blowers, with a few telling us their costs would increase and would lead to higher prices in Scotland for consumers.

Whilst ignoring all the unknowns that have been raised in the thread (even where posters have expressed strong opinions that they 'know' the truth) it seems that, economically, there are several reasons to cause concern for Independence.

Have there been any businesses commenting that there is any great positive reason to believe that they would be better off with independence or even that they would move to Scotland?

Heedtheadvice

just though of a positive all by myself!

RBS might leave Edinburgh! The way it's performing anybody would be welcome to it! Not sure how the Board and senior managers etc. could have the gall to award themselves any bonus, they must have known that they were soon to declare a big loss. Time they paid back any cash bonus and gave up any other performance bonus.

We (the taxpayer and shareholders) cannot afford to reward under performance ............let me put it stronger: heads should roll (perhaps not literally though)!

eskbanker

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

So, a major heavyweight in the finance sector, Standard Life, has come out with the statement that it would probably move out of Scotland in the case of independence.

Except that's not what they said at all, there's nothing in their comments about 'probably':

We have been based in Scotland for 189 years and we are very proud of our heritage. Scotland has been a good place from which to run our business and to compete around the world. We very much hope that this can continue. But if anything were to threaten this, we will take whatever action we consider necessary – including transferring parts of our operations from Scotland – in order to ensure continuity and to protect the interests of our stakeholders. We will continue to seek further clarity from politicians on both sides of the debate, so that we can reach an informed view on what constitutional change may mean for our customers, our business and our shareholders.

and

At the time of publishing this report (February 2014), we believe a number of material issues remain uncertain. These include:
• The currency that an independent Scotland would use
• Whether agreement and ratification of an independent Scotland’s membership to the European Union would be achieved by the target date (currently 24 March 2016)
• The shape and role of the monetary system
• The arrangements for financial services regulation and consumer protection in an independent Scotland
• The approach to individual taxation, especially around savings and pensions, as a consequence of any constitutional change.
We will continue to seek clarity on these matters, but uncertainty is likely to remain. In view of this, there are steps we will take based on our analysis of the risks. For example, we have started work to establish additional registered companies to operate outside Scotland, into which we could transfer parts of our operations if it was necessary to do so. This is a precautionary measure to ensure continuity of our businesses’ competitive position and to protect the interests of our stakeholders. As Chief Executive, my commitment is whatever happens, we will continue to serve the needs of our customers and maintain our competitive position.

Heedtheadvice

OK Eskbanker, I paraphrased poorly and read in between the lines (if not happy with the situation they will move parts of the business affected - paraphrased again and that's not just my interpretation) but do you imply: there is no probability i.e. it is a certainty or
that putting contingency plans in place is all they are doing or
it will never happen?

General point still remains. How many companies are saying they will or are putting contingency plans in place to move to Scotland resulting from any potential independence?

planteria

black_taxi wrote: »

planteria

I was the only Englishman and UK resident at dinner last night. 1 Frenchman, 1 Madridista, 1 Catalan, 2 Basques, and myself. all were very well informed of developments in & around Scotland. and all were very clear that Spain is not going to support Kosovo or Scotland joining the EU


So come dine with me,decides scotlands future:D

no problem, if you can drive your blacktaxi to Birmingham i am available all week next week.:D

planteria

ColdIron wrote: »

Labour offered a referendum in their 2007 manifesto. When it came to it Brown reneged citing that the Lisbon Treaty was a different document to the Constitution (they took out the European National Anthem) and whipped his MPs to vote against it. He duly signed it in secret

disgusting.

eskbanker

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

OK Eskbanker, I paraphrased poorly and read in between the lines (if not happy with the situation they will move parts of the business affected - paraphrased again and that's not just my interpretation) but do you imply: there is no probability i.e. it is a certainty or
that putting contingency plans in place is all they are doing or
it will never happen?

General point still remains. How many companies are saying they will or are putting contingency plans in place to move to Scotland resulting from any potential independence?

I wasn't implying anything, just clarifying what Standard Life actually did and didn't say! The underlying issue, that uncertainty is unsettling, is undeniable, but I'm not aware of companies coming out and saying they'll definitely bale out, just making contingency plans in case the trading environment and market aren't to their liking - not in case of independence per se but how it would actually pan out, which is obviously where all the uncertainty is. The SL statement doesn't just talk of currency and EU but a range of other currently unknown factors too....