Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander MP has warned that report Lloyds TSB, Clydesdale and RBS banks will relocate their HQs in the event of a vote for independence is of the utmost seriousness for Scotland.
Speaking at a Scottish Liberal Democrat rally this evening, Danny Alexander will set out the impact that such a relocation would have on Scotland's long established financial services sector.
Danny Alexander MP will say: "The news today that all of Scotland's major banks are putting in place contingency plans to relocate their HQ functions is of the utmost seriousness for Scotland. In the short term, jobs and tax revenues would be lost. But in the longer term, the centre of gravity and decision-making of Scotland's financial sector would have shifted to a foreign country. This would have the much more profound consequence of the steady erosion of the jobs and prosperity that this sector has brought to Scotland for two centuries.
"The only brass plate around today is the one that's been nailed to the coffin of the economic case for separation by Scotland's largest employers in the last 48 hours. Alex Salmond's bombastic attempt to dismiss these announcements are extraordinary from a responsible politician. Instead he should reflect on the damage that his cause of separation would do to jobs, prosperity, and living standards in Scotland. Unlike Mr Salmond, most people in Scotland will understand that this matters and vote 'no' next Thursday."
