The continual cry of the business community in recent months has been for more information on what independence could mean for Scotland.
The publication of the White Paper on independence really more of a White Novel given its 600-plus pages has now filled that knowledge gap.
The document argues that Scotland already has strong foundations, but the powers of independence which would finally give Salmond, Swinney et al the opportunity to pull those economic levers we have heard so much about in recent years will allow those foundations to grow stronger still.
But a quick glance at the White Paper suggests Scotland’s future economic landscape may be less radically removed from the status quo than you might initially think. The pound will stay, the Bank of England will remain lender of last resort and the UK-wide energy market will continue to operate.
However, where things differ is the SNP say they will reduce corporation tax by up to 3% in order to stimulate economic activity north of the border, while also moving to simplify the wider tax system.
The paper also set out plans to reduce and later abolish air passenger duty in Scotland, certainly a potential vote winner within the Scottish business world, and the establishment of a Scottish Energy Fund.
There is much more besides contained in the document and it will take several days, if not weeks, for the full facts to emerge and be analysed point by point.
The blueprint for Scotland’s future was never going to be easy to digest, and the initial reaction to the White Paper from Scotland’s leading business bodies came with a fair smattering of caution.
Rather than clarifying the issue in the minds of Scotland’s business leaders, I suspect the White Paper has simply given rise to more questions than answers.
But the starter’s gun on the debate has now well and truly been fired, and the business community no longer has an excuse for failing to engage in the democratic process.
The future of the country where they live and conduct their business is at stake nothing could be more important.
FESTIVE CHEER
Christmas shopping is not my forte.
Saturday was a case in point. I traipsed the streets of Glasgow for hours in search of the perfect gifts and came home with the sum total of nothing for my efforts.
Now before you think this is some ‘Bah Humbug’ type anti-Christmas rant, then let me tell you that I found my west coast trek an uplifting experience despite the lack of pressies.
Because if anything gave myth to the oft-repeated lie of the death of UK’s high streets, it was the tens of thousands of shoppers tripping over one another in Sauchiehall and Buchanan streets.
In some shops there was hardly space to breathe, let alone move, as the legions descended and the tills were besieged.
Couple this with the unstoppable rise in internet shopping next week will see the annual splurgefest known as Mega Monday in which millions of items will be ordered online in one 24-hour period in which hundreds of millions of transactions will be completed and you’d be forgiven for thinking that all in the retail garden must be rosy.
But it has been a miserable few years for the retail sector, during which many well-loved high street stalwarts have disappeared and thousands of people have lost their jobs.
The Christmas period really is make-or-break time for shops, especially the small independents, who have to make their money while the going is good or suffer the consequences thereafter.
The sector supports more than 235,000 Scottish jobs around 8.5% of the total workforce north of the border and total sales last year topped £28 billion. So the health of retail is no small beer.
That is why I hope the scenes in Glasgow last weekend are a taste of what is to come for the sector as a whole during the crucial festive period.
Scotland needs a strong and successful retail sector to drive forward the economic fightback.