Why the Snp Mean Business Analysis Analysis Crawford Beveridge, Tom Farmer and Now George Mathewson and Brian Souter . . . How Did the Nationalists Win Such Powerful Friends? By Scottish Political Editor Paul Hutcheon

Sunday Herald › March 20, 2007

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Summary

NOT for the first time in his career, Tony Blair flew into Scotland on Friday as a row was brewing about the constitution. Sir George Mathewson, the former chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, had that morning declared his support for independence, and the press wanted to know the prime minister's reaction.

The Labour leader responded by accusing the businessman of "pure self-indulgence", before adding that the banker's opinions were "absurd". Mathewson, who at the time of Blair's comments was fishing in Perthshire, is said to have borne the remarks bravely.

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Why the Snp Mean Business Analysis Analysis Crawford Beveridge, Tom Farmer and Now George Mathewson and Brian Souter . . . How Did the Nationalists Win Such Powerful Friends? By Scottish Political Editor Paul Hutcheon

Mathewson is not the first high-profile business figure to back the SNP. Last year, Ben Thomson, the chief executive of investment bank Noble Group, said he was "not at all afraid" of independence. Crawford Beveridge, the executive vice-president of Sun Microsystems, claimed in the Sunday Herald earlier this year that a separate Scottish state could "focus the minds" of politicians to implement pro-business policies. And Sandy Orr, the City Inn hotel chain tycoon, said independence was a "quite exciting" prospect.

Cash has accompanied the declarations: Sir Tom Farmer, the founder of Kwik-Fit, poured GBP100,000...

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