Scotland must shape up or face mediocrity, warns Hunter

Published on Sunday 7 January 2007 00:54

SCOTLAND'S richest man has issued a stark warning to the country's political elite ahead of this year's Holyrood elections, saying they risk creating a "mediocre Scotland" unless they shake up their act.

Sir Tom Hunter, whose personal fortune is estimated to be around 750m and who has risen to become one of Britain's leading philanthropists, said Scotland had the chance to become a world leader in the coming years if only it had the "courage" and "ambition" to do so.

He is now calling on Scotland's politicians to focus on five key areas - education, biotechnology, tourism, financial services and alternative energy - where he says the country can become a world leader, if only politicians take a lead.

Failure to act radically in these areas, he is warning, will put Scotland in the slow lane at a time of increasing international competition from emerging nations across the globe.

Hunter will make his intervention into the pre-election debate over the future of the country when he hosts a conference in Glasgow this month, at which five will give their views on his key policy areas. He set up the Hunter Foundation in 1998, funding education and health projects for youngsters in Scotland and the developing world.

Hunter told Scotland on Sunday: "Scotland led the world in the old enlightenment. What is to stop us leading the new enlightenment? Particularly in an election year, this is about both raising our game and the bar.

"We cannot simply aspire to mediocrity. If we always do what we always have done, that is precisely what we will end up with - a mediocre Scotland, and that is not good enough for this generation of Scotland, and more importantly for future generations of Scots.

"When Kennedy set the ambition to reach the moon, he didn't know how to get there but he raised a nation's spirit and ambition. We might not be aiming for the moon, but we believe there are five key areas that we will debate - education, biotechnology, tourism, financial services and alternative energy. Scotland can once again lead the world in these areas. What we need is courage, ambition, and we need to take huge big bets in these sectors."

Ewan Hunter, chief executive of the Hunter Foundation, said: "Scotland has got leadership on biotechnology in its grasp but, to be frank, we have been messing about on the fringes with small amounts of investment when we need to take a big bet on it instead.

"If we pushed in half a million pounds of investment the return we would get would be phenomenal. We need to start putting our money where our mouth is."

The Hunter Foundation has already made a major impact in Scotland and across the world and has invested or committed to invest 35m in various projects with pledges of a further 100m in the pipeline.

Alex Salmond, leader of the SNP said: "We can argue about the sectors, but more important is the ambition which lies behind this, to move Scotland out of the mediocrity which we are currently in."

A spokesman for the Scottish Labour party said: "We welcome all positive contributions as to how Scotland can move forward as a modern country."