Independence; the Small Business Question

Local party and day job business has crossed paths with more than a few leading SNP representatives and supporters in recent weeks.

Always very civilised (socially and economically, Labour and the SNP agree about much more than we think)  One thing we do agree on is that its good we are now engaged in debate about what independence will mean rather than all the arguments about process.

Having been working "down south" on business most of this week and last I'd like to talk about how small businesses might be affected by Independence.

After all, we know that small businesses drive 70% of the economy.  That's especially true in Scotland and in the Highlands in particular.

I run a small business out of Inverness and Edinburgh.  Most of my clients are SMEs. Well more than half of them are in England and Wales. As well as the small number of people I employ directly, I’ve a network of  professional colleagues who make a decent living from my company.  Between us we spend locally on the services we buy in as well as the taxes we pay (I don't have access to Amazons or Starbucks accountants)   A lot of the small Scottish companies I work and compete for business with have similar profiles.  

So how would independence affect my company and the many businesses like mine who between us employ so many people in Scotland, directly or indirectly?

I rely on easy travel links (train and plane), sterling billing, a common tax system and all the other things that make doing business in Cardiff (where I've been today) just as easy as in Dingwall (where I'll be on Friday)  

When we are working with clients in Dublin, there is just a lot more to sort out - for me and the client - even though we are all in the EU. If Scotland and England are separate EU states, then how many times will it just be easier to employ a "local" firm?  Procurement law gives big firms an even playing field, but its a lot more challenging for small ones.

I'm assuming here (ignoring some would say) that there is no risk that an independent Scotland would not be an EU state automatically, from Day 1.  The idea of trying to work across an EU border is a nightmare scenario.  It would destroy my business. 

We hear a lot from the SNP about how independence would be good for the Scottish economy.  Maybe it would for the big firms who have the financial muscle to work through the downsides.  Though Aggreko boss Rupert Soanes doesn't think so

But how will the promised land make business easier for the small businesses on which the economy actually depends?

New Ideas for a Devolved Scotland

I’ve made a resolution to myself that I will not just post arguments against independence, but will put up some ideas for what more we can do in a devolved Scotland.  Not so much Devo Max as Devo Mike. So here we go…..

Schemes to encourage firms to take on young workers through financial incentives often produce short term results with contracts not being renewed after the initial period when the subsidy runs out.  Nor does that encourage proper investment in training and development.  So how about making it n the interest of an employer to not only take on a young person but keep them for a second year?  A Scottish Government with more fiscal powers could offer SMEs a 50% NIC discount on each under 25 employed on a Living Wage or higher for the first 12 months but rising to 100% for a second period of 12 months with a taper off for Year 3. That sort of scheme incentivises worker development and retention not just short term recruitment.  Discuss?

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On Remembrance Day

Wearing a red poppy in November sometimes feels as much a statement of conformance than a meaningful symbol.  Media and public figures can't be seen on TV, the web or print photos without the obligatory poppy on their lapel.  For many on the left of politics, the red poppy has often been seen as a symbol of the military and imperial establishment with all its connections to Iraq and other contentious conflicts. And Celtic supporters like me are only too aware of how the republican leaning members of the Celtic family see the poppy as a symbol of British army oppression in Ireland over the last 100 years.

I don’t regard myself as a pacifist.  I can't see how someone like Hitler, or Franco, could have been stopped without fighting (although the roots of the 2nd world war go back to political and economic decisions made years earlier and that could have been made differently).  I opposed our involvement in Iraq and have been a member of CND for 30 years.  I don’t believe we should be replacing Trident.

 

My own feelings about wearing a poppy began to change 20 years ago when I first started to learn from my Gran in Perth about my great-grandfather's story in the First World War.  An ordinary working man pitched into a hellish experience after leaving the UK to try and find work to support his family (he died from his wounds in Australia after being invalided back after what sounds like from my Gran's description being wounded at Gallipoli).  That started me thinking about seeing the poppy much more as a symbol of the ordinary people who fight and die in wars - whether as volunteers, conscripts or just civilians in the wrong place and time - where they are pretty much the pawns of much more powerful political interests.

That feeling has been reinforced this year where I spent a fair amount of time with my day job working at the Royal British Legion on a big IT project.  I've heard and seen first-hand the day to day work of the Legion helping ex- service people deal with the problems they encounter back in "civilian" life.  Not just dealing with the social effects of wounds and disability, but all of the issues that so concern many of us in the Labour Party; lack of jobs, debt, payday loans, poverty in old age, squalid housing, access to benefits and family support.   They do a brilliant job.  And bluntly, income from red poppy sales is a big factor is allowing them to operate.

So I'll be wearing my poppy today. As a simple symbol of solidarity with all those who have found themselves fighting, dying and surviving conflicts that were not of their making and that we need to work ever harder to prevent happening again.

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