YES to an Independent Scotland Somebody needs to tell John Cridland that there is already a line between Gretna and Berwick, Scotland. The border between Scotland and England is one of the oldest international borders in the world. It marks the boundary of two quite distinct legal jurisdictions. And yet, like pretty much every national border in Europe, it represents no serious barrier to trade. So what the hell is John Cridland talking about? Can we put this down to Home Counties parochialism and the ignorance associated with it? Or should we give Mr Cridland the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is fully aware of both the border between Scotland and England and the nature of the single market? But if we do that, how might his remarks be explained? What we are hearing from the CBI, which speaks for hardly any Scottish businesses, is an echoing of the UK Governments barely veiled threats of punitive economic sanctions should the people of Scotland vote Yes in September. There is no other explanation. Because the only way these barriers to trade could arise is if they were deliberately contrived by either the government of Scotland or the government of rUK. And we know that the Scottish Government has no such plans. How credible are these threats? Not very. Even if there were some way in which the rUK Government could impose trade sanctions without breaching EU regulations, the businesses whose interests the CBI is supposed to represent would be up in arms at any attempt to restrict normal trade. The CBI is not offering a sound analysis from a business perspective. It is propagandising on behalf of the campaign to preserve the structures of power and privilege which define the British state.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 23:16:23 +0000
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