David Cameron has warned that there is just three weeks left to stop Scottish independence from derailing the economic recovery and plunging the nation into the “great unknown”.
The prime minister name-checked Ellon-based renewables firm Aubin and the whisky industry as he issued a fresh plea to save “the greatest merger in history”.
Mr Cameron, the Conservative leader, was speaking to business chiefs at a CBI dinner in Glasgow amid heightened tensions as the historic referendum approaches.
Controversy surrounded the dinner before it had even begun, after the Electoral Commission asked the CBI for details about the costs because of strict spending rules governing the campaigning period.
With the event being held just hours after the shock defection of Tory MP Douglas Carswell to UKIP, there was fresh embarrassment for the prime minister as CBI president Sir Mike Rake used his speech to warn that the proposed referendum on Britain’s EU membership was “already causing real concern for businesses”.
Sir Mike also launched an attack on Scottish independence, warning of “enormous” risks.
In his speech, Mr Cameron said: “Together, we’ve got just three weeks left to make this economic case – to talk about some of the great advantages of our union – opportunity, certainty, solidarity and scale – and about how these would be put at risk if Scotland follows Alex Salmond into the great unknown.”
He added: “Ours really is an economy of opportunity. Just look at some of the start-up businesses that are making waves around the world.
“Take the renewables firm Aubin. It’s based in Aberdeen, but its investors are from Birmingham.
“Take video games company Outplay. It’s based in Dundee, but it is funded by investors in Oxford.
“The point is, they may be located in Silicon Glen, but they’re backed by the rest of the UK – and today they’re both selling across the world.”
Highlighting the clout of the UK overseas, he said: “I’ve been to every G20 country with a business delegation apart from Argentina.
“Pretty much every time I have raised the importance of Scottish whisky, and so many more Scottish products besides.”
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon seized on the controversy surrounding Mr Cameron’s visit.
“For David Cameron to be lectured by one of the UK’s most senior business figures about the dangers of his in-out referendum on EU membership shows just how worried companies are about the prospect of the UK being taken out of Europe,” she said.