CBI president warning over Scottish referendum

THE SCOTTISH REFERENDUM is the foremost issue for businesses in the UK and has become a critical factor in investment decisions, CBI president Sir Mike Rake warned last night.

In a speech at the CBI’s annual dinner, Sir Mike claimed the case has not been made that an independent Scotland would be better for the British economy.

“Ultimately, because of the range of unknown and unforeseen consequences of independence, it is difficult to see how independence would be better for investment and for jobs,” he told an audience of business leaders and senior politicians.

Sir Mike also suggested that drawing an international border between Scotland and the rest of the UK would create costs for businesses and households on both sides of the border and claimed the “majority of businesses” across the country want Scotland to stay in the UK.

On the issue of retaining the pound, Sir Mike said a sterling union “would lack many of the conditions that are required for a stable currency to function” and drew parallels with the collapse of Czechoslovakian monetary union following the separation into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

“The precise details are, of course, different, but the moral of the story remains the same,” he said.