I HOSTED a breakfast briefing for businesses in my Perthshire South and Kinross-shire constituency earlier this month, alongside Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart, who was on hand to discuss the Westminster perspective.
The aim of this meeting at Perth’s Salutation Hotel was to ask businesses to imagine that Scotland was now an independent country and ask the questions: what does that look and feel like; what are the opportunities and challenges; and how can a Scottish government create the environment that will allow their business to thrive?
The idea was to create a preparedness for independence that was simply non-existent with Brexit and all the harms that has brought to Scottish businesses, from the lack of staff to the loss of trading relations. Businesses attending were not asked for their view or to declare a position on independence but rather to prepare for the eventuality now that a referendum date has been set.
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The keynote speaker at the event was the Scottish Government Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee, who has had a successful career managing businesses in Scotland and England, with current interests in Europe.
He was intrigued by the idea of an independent Scotland when the 2014 referendum was announced so investigated the business case for it, becoming convinced that it was the right thing for our country.
On that basis, he campaigned with the group Business for Scotland and entered party politics after that. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016 and was made a minister in 2018.
Ivan discussed in detail the abundant natural resources and infrastructure existing in Scotland, which compares favourably with nations of a similar size such as Norway, Ireland, Finland and Denmark – suggesting Scotland could be equally – if not more– successful and asking the question posed by the first independence white paper released by the Scottish Government: Why Not Scotland?
He outlined six key areas of interest that would be discussed over the campaign, including currency and gave various potential scenarios that are used by other countries, making the point that whoever forms the government of Scotland at the time of independence will decide the best route and timings suited to the needs of Scotland at that time.
Following the presentation, Pete, Ivan and I took part in a question-and-answer session with the attendees. I was delighted that so many businesses of all and no persuasion came along to the event. What we are trying to do is to prepare the ground for the eventuality of an independence vote.
I completely understand that not everyone shares our view that Scotland should be independent, but I am absolutely convinced that however this debate goes, everyone is going to want to play their part in making Scotland as successful as it can be for all of us who live here.
Therefore it is vitally important that we explore what an independent Scotland looks and feels like for the businesses that will be the lifeblood of our economy.
There’s no doubt that the questions were pretty searching, but one in particular I was keen to address was that the Scottish Government did not have the business skills to make Scotland a successful country.
I am happy to dispute that point – I have run my own business with great success – but the question allowed me to remind the audience that it is the multitude of small, medium and global companies that will be the innovators and wealth creators that drive the economy.
The job of government is to make the conditions for those businesses to thrive.
We intend to continue this type of engagement, and I look forward to hosting more events for communities and businesses alike over the coming months, particularly in the context of the cost of living – and cost of business – crisis facing the entire country.
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