Sturgeon: London is not an ‘economic threat’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of how Scotland must move away from the idea that London is a threat to the nation’s economy.

Speaking to the Scottish Council for Development & Industry (SCDI), Ms Sturgeon eschewed the line taken by successive SNP governments and pledged to engage more closely with the city to find business opportunities for Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon’s predecessor Alex Salmond described London as “the dark star of the economy, inexorably sucking in resources, people and energy” during the independence referendum campaign.

But in an apparent about face, the first minister said the Scottish government had “for too long seen London as a threat”.

The commitment came as Ms Sturgeon announced a £78m innovation fund to encourage businesses.

The money is for the businesses to come up with 1,000 new commercial products.

It is hoped the products will improve the wellbeing of the people of Scotland and around the world.

The announcement came on the back of plans unveiled earlier this month for the Scottish government to establish three new innovation and investment hubs in London, Brussels and Dublin.

SCDI chief executive Ross Martin said there had been a noticeable shift in the Scottish government’s attitude to business from “dour” to “do-er” since Ms Sturgeon took over as first minister.

Ms Sturgeon said: “This is probably a self-criticism of the government as opposed to trying to suggest it has been a feature of businesses, but I think for too long we have seen London as a threat.

“We’ve seen London almost, in economic terms, as a rival. Of course we will want to compete and be competitive, but actually I think there is more in it for us to see London as an opportunity.

“It’s a major international centre. Businesses and companies will seek to locate and to invest in London, but as they expand they might see Scotland as good value place to expand into.

“So, particularly with London, it is about seeing it as an opportunity and not just as a rival in terms of economic investment.”

The innovation fund comes as a report suggested the economy was continuing to recover from the slowdown at the start of the year.

The latest Bank of Scotland business monitor said new business levels picked up strongly over the summer.

And expectations for the coming months continue to point towards moderate growth for the remainder of the year.

In the three months to August, 36 per cent of firms surveyed increased turnover, while 36 per cent experienced static turnover.

The remaining 28 per cent experienced a decrease, giving a net balance of +8 per cent, marginally up from the +7 per ent during the previous quarter but down from the +30 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.