‘Scottish independence would trigger painful economic decline’ warns EEF

Urging Scots to vote 'no', Glaswegian Scuoler said young people would be especially hard hit by a diminished economy in Scotland with the loss of highly-skilled jobs and no guarantee of them being replaced. He also warned of a 'long term and painful' economic decline in Scotland, with the nation potentially reduced to accepting bailouts from the EU. And he said pensioners would see the value of their investments underpinning their pensions decline, with a weak rate of exchange in a future Scottish currency undermining their spending power. He added: "Independence would be a disaster for Scotland, economically and politically. And it would greatly diminish the UK as a whole. People need to wake up to the enormity of the decision they are facing and the potential nightmare scenario were the yes campaign to succeed. "The yes campaign has sold a vision of a prosperous future. But it is an illusion, and a dangerous one at that. The reality is there would be deeply damaging implications for the economy and the living standards of ordinary Scots for decades to come. "There is still time for people to do some hard-headed thinking and realise that what makes Scotland a great nation is being part of a wider Union from which we derive greater united strength. The truly courageous and patriotic route is to vote 'No' and preserve the United Kingdom." Scuoler concluded: "The vast majority of Scotland's trade is with the rest of the UK and it is simply fanciful to think there will be no consequences from disconnecting ourselves from our biggest market. "Let us also not be fooled into thinking and misled that an independent Scotland could have rescued the Scottish banking sector or, that the highly skilled jobs in the defence sector we would inevitably lose would be replaced."