PLEASE SHARE: If you know anyone who is concerned by this week’s announcements regarding the banks, supermarkets or Standard Life, please share this status with them so that they have a more balanced view than what has been predictably misrepresented in the mainstream media. Banks: - Mainstream media yesterday reported that several of Scotland’s largest banks had announced they would be relocating their registered offices to London in the event of a Yes vote - While Clydesdale, etc, were also involved, the two early big names were RBS and Lloyds - Firstly, Lloyds is already registered in London so that’s bad journalism - Secondly, the CEO of RBS was very quick to state that this was a technicality only as neither employment nor operations in Scotland would be affected - This is important as immediately we know that jobs will not be lost - As for operations, this is significant. Corporation Tax is paid in the country of activity not the country where a business is registered, therefore any tax generated through Scottish operations will belong to Scotland. As for PAYE or any VAT-related products, there is a bit more wiggle room and Scotland may receive a bit less. - However, for employees, it makes no difference to pensions and national security as contributions are always returned via the establishment to which they are paid (either Scotland, the UK or private companies) - While the relocation of the registration is claimed by RBS’ CEO to be a technicality, it’s actually not. For three main reasons: - Firstly, it is a statement of intent by the bank that they value their business outside of Scotland more than inside. From a business perspective, that makes total sense as there is far more people to make money off outside than inside. No complaints there. - Secondly, RBS is 80% publically owned by the UK. If Scotland leaves, one of the largest UK-owned banks will then not be registered in the UK. Simple geography - Thirdly, AND THIS IS THE BIG ONE, in the event of a post-Yes currency union (be it either formal or informal), a Scottish government would have to implement much stricter banking regulations to avoid unnecessary risk and remain as independent as possible from the Bank of England (the bank of last resort). Who suffers most from these stricter regulations? The bankers of course. If Westminster allows these bankers to run amok but Scotland wouldn’t, it makes perfect sense for them to register in London if jobs and operations remain unaffected - What I’ve mentioned above doesn’t even touch on the BBC’s marketing of sensitive Treasury information which is potentially highly illegal never mind coming in the final days of a national referendum Supermarkets: - We heard last week that Better Together had issued leaflets with claims that Tesco WOULD increase prices in the event of Independence - These were immediately dismissed by Tesco as utter garbage - Yesterday, we learned that the bosses of Asda and Waitrose had stated their prices COULD go up in the event of Independence, despite Asda’s claim to the contrary this time last year - It was also claimed that these bosses had met with the Prime Minister to discuss this in advance and encouraged them to get involved, rewarding tax breaks. However, let’s assume this is a conspiracy theory and that the PM would never do anything to unethically sway voters in Westminster’s interests - Firstly, how detached from everyday Scottish life do you have to be to think Waitrose’s opinion is relevant? It’s been said plenty already that there are 7x as many food banks in Scotland than there are Waitrose outlets - Secondly, Asda makes a valid point that in the event of Independence, costs to their business could go up as there could be different governments policies to act upon and less area to spread the costs. No complaints with that observation - However, that is just one aspect of the overall operation, which I imagine most business- or marketing-minded folk would have noticed straight away - Consider it from Asda’s point of view: - Your largest competitor (Tesco) has claimed no intention to raise prices. That means they have a logistics plan in place to save on distribution, packaging, etc that you don’t. You should probably look into that - Your business philosophy (and I know this from personal experience) is to get customers for life by waiving small costs to you in exchange for their subsequent long-term loyalty. Therefore to claim that your prices may then not be competitive is a direct contradiction - Asda is owned by Walmart who are a corporation. A separate Scottish subsidiary would qualify for lower CoTax contributions under Yes proposals which would go a long way towards offsetting any additional costs or reduction of their profit margin - Even if the prices do increase (as they have with inflation every single year since Asda first arrived in Scotland), an Independent Scottish government will have the power to raise the minimum wage so it’s possible that it won’t hit your pocket as hard as the No campaign might have you believe, if at all in real terms Standard Life: - This one is pretty farcical but I’ll include it anyway so that you might understand how one-sided mainstream journalism has been on the topic - Standard Life recently reported that they have made contingency plans to move their Scottish offices south in the event of a Yes vote, meaning that 2,000+ jobs will be lost - I say “recently” because the announcement wasn’t made 2 days ago as the media have suggested, it was made 3 months ago. I wonder why they waited until a week before the election to share it with everyone - Such an announcement isn’t new either, it’s the THIRD time Standard Life have threatened this. Prior to the establishment of the devolved Scottish government and then again prior to further devolution, a remarkably similar promise was made, yet Standard Life are still with us - The business has also in recent times invested heavily in new offices in Scotland, despite knowing about the referendum for two years now. That’s just bad planning if you reckon you might have to move - Job losses suck big time, especially for those who don’t relocate with the business or find new roles in the same sector. There’s no argument there. In the extremely unlikely worst case scenario that Standard Life hold true to their word and 2,000+ jobs are taken from Scotland and every person was left unemployed, is that still a good enough reason to abandon Independence and the future of the other 5.5 million of us? - Every vote must be about what you believe is best for you, your family and your country. Unless you are a Standard Life employee or dependent on a Standard Life employee, should this alter your decision? Only you know your answer to that. I hope this has been of use to you and perhaps opened your eyes to the utter nonsense being thrown about by corporate-owned media whose fatcats will lose money if you vote Yes.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:04:15 +0000
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