Between the Lines: Squaring the Circle of Scotland's Budget Is an Exercise in Imagination

Summary

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THE Chancellor recently took time off from his bid for the 2018 World Cup to wine and dine Scottish business leaders in the offices of Clydesdale Bank. Brown is anxious to enlist the local business community in publicly backing the Union, thereby isolating the SNP in the run-up to the Holyrood elections.

My advice to the Scottish business world is: run for the hills. After all the trouble we have had in Britain getting the politicians to keep their noses out of running business, I think it would be suicidal for the business community (as a group) to start getting involved in politics. Individuals will doubtless have their say on both sides of the question, but the business of business is to satisfy their customers and make money for their shareholders - not interfere in the democratic process.

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Extract

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Between the Lines: Squaring the Circle of Scotland's Budget Is an Exercise in Imagination

That said, Scottish business does have a proper interest in examining the likely impact on the economy if independence (or any radical transfer of fiscal powers to Holyrood) ever took place. Alas, in this discussion, there is more smoke and mirrors than ...

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