According to U.K. lawmaker Mark Garnier, there can be a silver lining for Scotland despite all the uncertainty that Scotland faces with the cloud of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described a second independence referendum north of the border as “very much on the table” even as the Brexit vote showed a clear split between English seeking to leave and Scots preferring to remain. A so-called Brexit might make it worthwhile for Scots to go it alone to usurp London’s position, says Garnier, a Conservative member of the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee.
"If I was Nicola Sturgeon trying to find an alternative purpose and role for Scotland, you could do an awful lot by trying to snaffle that financial services hub from London,” Garnier, a former banker, said in an interview.
“That’s exactly what I would be trying to do in terms of trying to build a financial services hub that would be the natural successor to London by leaving the union of the United Kingdom and staying within the European Union," Garnier said.
In less than two years after Scots voted with a 55 percent majority to stay part of the U.K., an online poll in the Sunday Post newspaper published this weekend showed 59 percent of Scots now favor independence. There was a setback suffered due to a slump in the price of crude in the Scottish National Party’s economic case for a viable fiscal setup based on North Sea oil revenues since the polls.
"Scotland has clearly not got the natural resources revenue that it thought it had two years ago. But what it has got is a lot of that stuff which makes London attractive as a base of financial services, including quite a lot of money already run up there out of Edinburgh. So it already has the beginnings of a financial services hub,” Garnier said.
Compared to more than 53 percent in England who wanted to leave, 62 percent of Scots voted to remain the EU in the referendum last week. The prospect of losing the so-called passporting rights that allows people access to region’s single market is enhanced for the British bank, insurers and others by quitting the 28 country economic bloc.
“It was pretty clear how Scotland wanted to stay. If Britain comes out of the single market and we don’t have passporting rights then the attractiveness of London as a financial hub reduces, because a lot of it is to do with it being an access point to Europe," Garnier said.
Garnier said that even with some drawbacks, Scotland can claim many of the benefits of the rest of the U.K.
“It’s got broadly speaking the same rule of law, the regulatory regime is the same so they could pick that up and carry on with it if they’re clever, and they speak English. It’s not a bad place, perhaps a bit damp, but you can live with that,” he said.
(Source:www.bloomberg.com)
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described a second independence referendum north of the border as “very much on the table” even as the Brexit vote showed a clear split between English seeking to leave and Scots preferring to remain. A so-called Brexit might make it worthwhile for Scots to go it alone to usurp London’s position, says Garnier, a Conservative member of the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee.
"If I was Nicola Sturgeon trying to find an alternative purpose and role for Scotland, you could do an awful lot by trying to snaffle that financial services hub from London,” Garnier, a former banker, said in an interview.
“That’s exactly what I would be trying to do in terms of trying to build a financial services hub that would be the natural successor to London by leaving the union of the United Kingdom and staying within the European Union," Garnier said.
In less than two years after Scots voted with a 55 percent majority to stay part of the U.K., an online poll in the Sunday Post newspaper published this weekend showed 59 percent of Scots now favor independence. There was a setback suffered due to a slump in the price of crude in the Scottish National Party’s economic case for a viable fiscal setup based on North Sea oil revenues since the polls.
"Scotland has clearly not got the natural resources revenue that it thought it had two years ago. But what it has got is a lot of that stuff which makes London attractive as a base of financial services, including quite a lot of money already run up there out of Edinburgh. So it already has the beginnings of a financial services hub,” Garnier said.
Compared to more than 53 percent in England who wanted to leave, 62 percent of Scots voted to remain the EU in the referendum last week. The prospect of losing the so-called passporting rights that allows people access to region’s single market is enhanced for the British bank, insurers and others by quitting the 28 country economic bloc.
“It was pretty clear how Scotland wanted to stay. If Britain comes out of the single market and we don’t have passporting rights then the attractiveness of London as a financial hub reduces, because a lot of it is to do with it being an access point to Europe," Garnier said.
Garnier said that even with some drawbacks, Scotland can claim many of the benefits of the rest of the U.K.
“It’s got broadly speaking the same rule of law, the regulatory regime is the same so they could pick that up and carry on with it if they’re clever, and they speak English. It’s not a bad place, perhaps a bit damp, but you can live with that,” he said.
(Source:www.bloomberg.com)
