SCOTLAND'S leading business organisation, the CBI, remains defiant after two high-profile members quit following its formal registration as an anti-independence campaigner.
Within hours of the body signing up as a No supporter, Tony Banks, the chairman of the Balhousie Care Group and leader of the pro-independence group Business for Scotland, announced his company would leave.
Martin McAdam, chief executive of wave energy company Aquamarine Power, also said that, as a consequence of the CBI's actions, "we can no longer remain members".
The electrical contractors union Select, which has almost 15,000 members, urged the CBI to change its mind or face further action.
But the business body, which has long been critical of what it says are unanswered questions over independence, said it would not be swayed.
A spokesman said: "While any member deciding to leave is a cause for regret, the CBI is confident we have a mandate from the vast majority of our membership on the question of Scottish independence."
A Better Together spokesman also accused nationalists of attacking "the messenger rather than debate the issues".
The row erupted after the organisation registered with the Electoral Commission, as backing a No vote in September's referendum.
It is a requirement for organisations planning to spend more than £10,000 on campaigning and also gives the CBI access to the voters roll and the right for its representatives to attend polling stations and vote counts.
Business for Scotland said it had succeeded in its drive to force the CBI to formally sign up as a No campaigner.
Mr Banks added that the registration had now put the CBI "in an untenable position" and was a "major blow" for independence opponents.
He added: "(The CBI) has attempted to hijack its members without proper consultation on their views and many must now feel they are in an impossible position."
Business for Scotland said that it too now intended to also register, as a supporter of the Yes campaign.
The organisation's chief executive Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: "This is a major victory for Business for Scotland.
"We have been calling in public and requesting in private that the Electoral Commission (Scotland) ask the CBI to register as a No campaigner.
"That they did so on Thursday is a major victory for us and a blow to the No campaign."
A CBI spokesman said: "The CBI has clearly stated its position in the Scottish referendum debate."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article