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- Welcome To My World
- PENSIONS - THE LIE
- THE VOW
- JOBS
- THE BORDER LIE
- WHO OWNS THE STORY?
- How we got here
- The Party Landscape:
- "The Doors They've Shut"
- WHY WESTMINSTER SAYS NO
- Referendum V Democracy
- WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAID
- THE OTHER ROUTE
- THE HISTORY BEHIND GERS
- EU - THE LIE
- SCOTLAND MAKES MORE
- CROWN ESTATE
- THE £ - CURRENCY
- DECLARATION OF ARBROATH
- ARbroath v SCOTLAND ACT
- SCOTLAND'S FUTURE
- MY VIEW , THE NEXT STAGE
JOBS - THE LIE
WHAT THEY TOLD YOU IN 2014, FACTORY GATE
Jim Murphy (Labour) outside Grangemouth with leaflet
"If you vote Yes, BAE will close, RBS will leave Edinburgh, Tesco will leave, jobs will go to England. 100,000 jobs lost. No company will invest in Scotland. You'll be unemployed. Your mortgage won't get paid. Vote No to save your job." In Livingston, West Lothian, 20,000 work in distribution (Tesco Livingston, Mitsubishi, Amazon). They were terrified.
THE TRUTH IN ONE SENTENCE: COMPANIES GO WHERE CUSTOMERS ARE, NOT WHERE FLAG IS - TESCO CAN'T LEAVE SCOTLAND BECAUSE SCOTS ARE THE CUSTOMERS.
THE RBS LIE - ALREADY HAPPENED, BECAUSE OF WESTMINSTER, NOT INDEPENDENCE
2014-2023: RBS (now NatWest) kept HQ in Edinburgh. Why? Customers are in Scotland, staff are in Scotland, can't move mortgage department to London - where would customers go? • 2023: RBS DID move part of HQ - to Amsterdam, not London - because of BREXIT. Brexit means UK banks lost EU passporting. RBS needed EU HQ. So it left because of No vote, not Yes. • Jobs in Edinburgh? Still 10,000 RBS/NatWest jobs in Edinburgh. HQ brass plate in Amsterdam, jobs still here. Same as Coca-Cola - HQ in Atlanta, but still has factory in East Kilbride because Scots drink Coke.
Rule
Brass plate moves, jobs don't. Companies register where tax suits, but employ where customers are.
TESCO, ASDA, MORRISONS - CAN THEY LEAVE?
Tesco Livingston distribution centre - 1,500 jobs. Can Tesco leave Scotland after independence?
• Tesco sells £7bn food to Scots per year. If Tesco "leaves", where do Scots buy food? Asda? Asda also £5bn. If all supermarkets "leave", Scots starve? No. • Supermarkets go where shoppers are. Scotland has 5.5m shoppers spending £30bn/year on groceries. No supermarket leaves £30bn market. Ever. • What they DID do after Brexit: Tesco, Asda prices UP 25% because of import checks from EU. Not because of independence, because of Westminster Brexit. • Ireland: Tesco Ireland, Lidl Ireland, Aldi Ireland - all still there after independence 1922. Why? Irish eat food. So do Scots.
BAE, GRANGEMOUTH, MOSSEND, BATHGATE - INDUSTRIAL JOBS
BAE Scotstoun / Govan (ships): 4,000 jobs building Type 26 frigates. UK Govt says if Scotland independent, no Royal Navy orders. Truth: UK Govt ALREADY gave Type 31 to Rosyth AND to England. And France builds ships in France, but also buys from Italy. Independent Scotland would build its own 2-3 frigates for Scottish Navy + patrol vessels for EU/NATO + ferries (Scotland needs 30 new ferries). And rUK would STILL buy from Scotland because Clyde is best yard - they bought from BAE when BAE was Swedish-owned. Ownership doesn't matter
Ineos Grangemouth: 1,300 jobs. Owner Jim Ratcliffe is Brexit supporter, lives in Monaco, threatened to close 2013. Still there because oil is there. Oil won't move to England after independence - geology doesn't vote No.
Bathgate / Livingston logistics: Amazon, Mitsubishi, Tesco distribution - 8,000 jobs in West Lothian. Why are they in Bathgate? M8 corridor, cheap land, central Scotland. That doesn't change with independence. If anything, being back in EU + UK market = better location. Ireland got 1,000 US companies for this reason - access to EU market + English speaking. Scotland = same.
THE IRELAND PROOF - JOBS COME AFTER INDEPENDENCE, NOT LEAVE
This kills argument
Ireland 1922: Independent, poor, no jobs. Said "companies will leave". • 1973: Joined EU. Still poor. • 1990-2024: Low corporation tax 12.5%, EU single market 450m people, English speaking. Result: Google, Apple, Pfizer, Intel, Dell, Microsoft, 1,200 US companies moved TO Ireland. Population went from 3.5m to 5.1m. Wages double UK. GDP per person £85k vs UK £40k.
Why did they come? Because Ireland in EU + English speaking + educated workforce. Scotland = same, but with better assets: 25% of EU's wind power, 90% of UK's oil, 60% of UK's fish, whisky, tourism, universities (Edinburgh Uni top 20 world).
West Lothian after independence: Back in EU = EU companies will locate in Bathgate/Livingston to get EU access AND UK access (via trade deal). Freeport at Rosyth + Grangemouth. Green hydrogen at Grangemouth. Wind turbine factories at Nigg. Jobs UP, not down.
WHAT ACTUALLY KILLS JOBS - BREXIT, NOT INDY
Since Brexit 2020: • Scottish salmon exports down 30% - paperwork • Scottish seed potato exports banned to EU - 0 jobs • Scottish fishing exports need vet certificate £200 per lorry • EU workers left - hotels, hospitality in Edinburgh can't get staff • 2,000 EU academics left Scottish universities • OECD 2023: Brexit cost UK 4% GDP = £1,600 per household. That's job killer. • Independence fixes it: Back in EU single market = salmon, whisky, potatoes free trade again. EU workers can come back. No visa for Bathgate kids to work in Berlin.
DOORSTEP QUESTIONS
Q: I work at Tesco Livingston - will I lose job?
A: No. Tesco Livingston serves Scottish customers. Customers don't move. If Tesco moved warehouse to Carlisle, lorry costs extra £2m/year fuel to drive to Bathgate shops. Bosses won't pay that. Job stays.
Q: RBS said they'd leave?
A: They said they'd move brass plate, not jobs. They DID move brass plate to Amsterdam because of Brexit - because you voted No. Jobs still in Edinburgh. Same after independence.
Q: Will companies invest after Yes?
A: Ireland got 1,200 companies AFTER independence because EU market. Scotland gets same + wind, oil, whisky. Companies invest where profit is. Scotland profit is high - educated, English-speaking, resource rich.
Q: My mortgage with RBS - what happens?
A: Nothing. Mortgage contract is law. RBS still has to service it, wherever brass plate is. Same as when Santander (Spanish bank) bought Abbey National - your mortgage didn't disappear.
Q: BAE jobs at Clyde?
A: UK orders some, Scottish Govt orders 3 frigates + 10 patrol boats + 30 ferries, plus EU export. More jobs, not less. Norway (5m people) has 20 warships built in Norway, not bought from UK.
BOTTOM LINE
COMPANIES GO WHERE CUSTOMERS ARE. SCOTS ARE CUSTOMERS FOR TESCO, RBS, BAE. THEY CAN'T LEAVE. BRASS PLATE MOVES, JOBS DON'T. RBS ALREADY LEFT FOR AMSTERDAM BECAUSE OF BREXIT - BECAUSE YOU VOTED NO. IRELAND GOT 1,200 COMPANIES AFTER INDEPENDENCE BECAUSE EU MARKET + ENGLISH. SCOTLAND SAME, PLUS WIND, OIL, WHISKY. BREXIT KILLED JOBS, INDEPENDENCE BRINGS THEM BACK.
WHO TOLD THE FIRMS TO BACK THE HARD LINE?
In Scotlands in 2014, every man at the factory gate said: "I want to vote Yes but RBS says it'll leave, Shell says jobs will go."
But who told RBS and Shell to say that, on the same day?
For 10 years nobody answered. Now the record is clear.
7 SEPTEMBER 2014 - SUNDAY - THE PANIC YouGov poll for Sunday Times: YES 51% - NO 49% - first time Yes ahead. Financial Times headline: "Ruling elite aghast as union wobbles" Markets panicked. Pound fell. David Cameron cancelled PMQs and flew to Scotland. 10 SEPTEMBER 2014 - WEDNESDAY - DOWNING STREET David Cameron called Scottish business leaders to No.10 Cabinet Room. Shell, BP, RBS, Lloyds, Weir Group, banks, oil. One CEO who was there told Financial Times afterwards: "He left us in no doubt we should speak out" That night, Cameron, Clegg and Miliband agreed to fly to Scotland together next day. SAME NIGHT - THE PHONE CALLS After reception, campaign leaders for Better Together and the three Unionist parties started phoning CEOs who hadn't spoken. Quote from person familiar with operation: "Those phone calls can be very persuasive"
11 SEPTEMBER 2014 - THURSDAY - THE FLOOD
By Thursday morning:
• Shell & BP first: "Jobs at risk in Aberdeen and Shetland, investment on hold" • Then banks: RBS, Lloyds, Standard Life, Clydesdale, TSB, Tesco Bank all announced within hours they would move HQ to England if Yes.
All same day. All same message. All after Downing Street meeting.
Who organised it?
Reuters report 22 August: Keith Cochrane, CEO of Glasgow engineer Weir Group, was behind move urging business leaders to sign joint letter imploring voters to reject independence. Over 100 business leaders approached including Royal Mail, Cairn Energy, Shell.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE THREATS?
• RBS didn't leave for London - jobs stayed 10,000 in Edinburgh. • In 2023 RBS DID move brass plate - to Amsterdam because of Brexit - because No vote took us out of EU. • Shell & BP still in Aberdeen, still investing. • Standard Life still in Edinburgh.