By Scott Wright
MARTIN Gilbert, the outgoing vice chairman of investment heavyweight Standard Life Aberdeen, has called on Boris Johnson to “focus more on Scotland”.
The comment from the fund management veteran came in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when he expressed the view that the Prime Minister is the right man to lead UK as it prepares to leave the European Union(EU).
Mr Gilbert, who will step down at Standard Life Aberdeen in September, said Johnson would give the country “confidence”.
Asked by business news service CNBC how the government is going, the Scot replied: “Yeah, I think, good. I mean, I think Boris has got a workable majority now. I think he is the right man for the time, at the moment. I think he will give the country confidence, and just keep saying how well we’re doing, and, to a certain extent, that’s what we need at the moment.”
Pressed by financial journalist Steve Sedgwick on whether this view was based on Johnson not being a socialist, or because he is giving clarity to the financial services sector on what happens after Brexit, Mr Gilbert said: “I don’t think it’s just the financial service industry; I think it’s the economy as a whole, and I’m very pleased to see that he’s focusing on the north – he should focus more on Scotland. I must tell him that, actually.”
Asked why Johnson has not assuaged the financial services sector by taking no-deal off the table in negotiations with the EU, he said: “Well, I’ve always thought you shouldn’t believe what you’re told by politicians. I think it’s a good negotiating, good negotiation tactic. Where we’ve now got certainty, no one speaks about Brexit any longer.”
Mr Gilbert reiterated that the split-capital investment crisis, which brought Aberdeen Asset Management to its knees in the early part of the century, was the biggest mistake of his career. The scandal is estimated to have cost up to 50,000 private investors hundreds of millions of pounds.
He told The Herald in October that he was “lucky to survive” the crisis.
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