A vote for independence would lead to “protracted and complex negotiations” with the remainder of the UK, a Dundee business breakfast has been told.
CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan told an audience at Abertay University’s Dundee Business School that the lengthy discussions likely to follow a yes vote in next September’s referendum would create “an awful lot of uncertainty” for business.
He cited the dissolution of the former Czechoslovakia as an example, and warned that the UK could “drive a hard bargain” during any secession process.
But he called on both sides of the debate to provide more detail over the decision to be made by the Scottish people in the months ahead.
“A yes vote will lead to negotiations between a Scotland which has voted to secede and the rest of United Kingdom,” Mr McMillan said in response to a question from the audience.
“The negotiations will be protracted, will be incredibly complex and there will have to be negotiations with other bodies outside the UK.
“If we vote for independence then there’s going to be an awful lot of uncertainty going forward about Scotland’s role in the world.
“There’s a risk that the UK will drive a real hard bargain. They will look after their own interests and not ours, and we will need to negotiate over all sorts of things.”
Trade bodies and associations would have to remain watchful on behalf of their members, he added.
“The dissolution of Czechoslovakia took several treaties and thousands and thousands of pages of detail,” added Mr McMillan, who studied at the then Dundee College of Commerce in the early 1980s.
“If we do vote for independence that is the sort of environment that business is going to have to work in.
“Organisations like the CBI, the Chambers of Commerce and trade associations are going to have to keep a very close eye on these negotiations and try to influence them.”