Economy: Growth Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Economy: Growth

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts
Tuesday 11th February 2014

(10 years, 10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Newby Portrait Lord Newby
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My Lords, I am not sure I can, but that demonstrates how difficult it will be to manage the independence process. There are so many parts of what we take for granted in the way that we do things in the UK that would have to be severed; for example, one has only to think about the value of having an integrated BBC to see that if it were severed, how much of a loss that would be to everybody, whether they were in Scotland or the rest of the UK.

Lord West of Spithead Portrait Lord West of Spithead (Lab)
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My Lords, it is quite clear that the defence of our islands will be considerably weakened if the Scots vote for separation. Does the Minister also agree that there will be a huge economic impact from defence firms inevitably moving south of the border because there will be almost no orders for defence equipment in Scotland?