Dunfermline MSP Positive About Investment in Scotland

Bill Walker, SNP MSP for Dunfermline, has joined senior voices in the business community in rebuffing claims that Scotland is attracting less investment in the run-up to the Independence Referendum.

He said: “We’re hearing vague noises from the UK Government aimed at talking down Scotland’s attractiveness for business investment. Again and again, anti-independence politicians such as George Osborne, David Cameron and Douglas Alexander have been asked to name just one company that has decided against investing in Scotland, but they simply cannot answer. 

“Meanwhile, Dunfermline has recently attracted Amazon, bringing a huge jobs boost with their massive new facility. So, too, FMC Technologies have brought more jobs here and elsewhere in Scotland. Shepherd Offshore is another investor in Dunfermline.

“That’s not even to mention the long list of companies who have recently invested in Scotland, such as Taqa, Avaloq, Aker, Ineos and PetroChina, Dell, Gamesa, BNY Mellon, State Street, Mitsubishi Powers Systems and Hewlett-Packard.

“What we’re hearing from the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Labour is blatant scaremongering and negativity in the face of such positive developments for Scotland.”

Business leaders have similarly rejected such claims. David Watt, Executive Director for the Institute of Directors in Scotland, which has 1,600 members, said:

“I have seen no evidence, apart from the Citibank report published four months ago—which was also slightly bizarre because that report was focused on renewables and one place people are investing is renewables…. and certainly no one has come to me presenting a company expressing concerns about investing in Scotland in relation to an independence referendum.”