Warnings from business leaders and the Bank of England about the uncertainties facing an independent Scotland are not a “myth,” British Prime Minister David Cameron was to warn Scots on Friday.
The premier is to use a speech at the Scottish Conservatives conference in Edinburgh to attempt to dispel accusations that his Government has been trying to frighten Scots into remaining British when they vote in an independence referendum in September.
“This referendum is a major life decision — and you don’t make one of those without getting all the information you can,” he was to say.
BP boss Bob Dudley last month warned that “all businesses have a concern” about the referendum, pointing to uncertainties about the tax regime and what currency an independent Scotland would use.
Chancellor George Osborne has ruled out a currency union with Scotland — the preferred option of the Scottish government — saying that analysis from the Bank of England made the idea unworkable.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has also added to the troubles of Scottish nationalists by saying that it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” for Scotland to rejoin the European Union if it left Britain.
“Look at who’s laying out those consequences: the Governor of the Bank of England, the President of the European Commission, business chiefs from companies such as BP and Shell; Alliance Trust and RBS; Lloyds, Barclays — the list goes on,” Cameron was to say.
“These are not political puppets, they are serious, non-partisan figures,” he was to add. “So, the idea that these are empty warnings and political scaremongering is a myth, and we owe it to the people of Scotland to take that myth apart.”
The latest opinion poll, by Survation, suggested that support for independence is at its highest for six months, with 39 per cent of Scots saying they would vote in favour, compared to 48 per cent who said they vote no.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, Scottish referendum in September to decide on staying with Britain or going independent, Bank of England, European Commission, BP, Shell, opinion poll Survation,