THE CBI faces the prospect of further resignations from businesses and public bodies as the row over its decision to formally register as a No supporter in the independence referendum continues to escalate.
Glasgow Caledonian University's executive board is due to consider the CBI's position when it meets tomorrow. In a statement issued yesterday the university said it remained committed to its neutral stance ahead of September's vote.
Two Scottish Government agencies, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland, as well as broadcaster STV, the Balhousie Care Group and energy company Aquamarine Power have all quit the CBI in recent days.
The Scottish Government said it was now inappropriate for public agencies to remain part of the leading business organisation and called on them to resign with immediate effect.
On Friday it emerged CBI Scotland had registered with the Electoral Commission as a No supporter. The move is necessary for those planning to spend more than £10,000 on campaigns during the referendum period, but also allows access to the electoral register and for representatives to attend polling stations and vote counts.
Critics say the CBI's stance does not represent the views of many of its members and it failed to consult them before it made the decision. However, a CBI spokesman said Scotland and the rest of the UK were "stronger together as part of the Union" and its decision did reflect the "vast majority" of members.
In a statement, Glasgow Caledonian University said it would continue to maintain its neutral stance, adding: "GCU notes the CBI's position which will be considered by the university's executive board on Tuesday."
Tony Banks, chairman of the Balhousie Care Group and leader of the pro-independence group Business for Scotland, wrote to the CBI yesterday giving his firm's formal resignation. In the letter he said: "This is not the action of an organisation in touch with the interests of its membership."
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