Michelle Mone would quit independent Scotland

SCOTTISH entrepreneur Michelle Mone has said she will leave Scotland if it votes for independence.

Mone, the creator of the Ultimo lingerie brand, said she would move to London with her business if the referendum in 20141 sees Scotland back leaving the union.

The Glaswegian, who is co-owner of MJM International, told the Sunday Times: “I will move my business and I will move personally,” she told the Sunday Times.

“I don’t think we can survive on our own and I think it would be really bad for business.

“Everything would go up and I really don’t think we need it at the moment.”

Her comments follow concerns raised by other Scottish business figures, including Boyd Tunnock, managing director of Tunnock’s, that delay in posing the referendum question will harm the economy.

Constitutional change has been supported by figures such as Dan Macdonald, the chief executive of property developer and investment company Macdonald Estates, and the industrialist Jim McColl.

A spokesman for Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “The reality is that major international companies are voting with their feet by bringing major investments to Scotland - including Amazon, Avaloq, Gamesa, Mitsubishi, Ceridian, Bank of New York Mellon and Atos - and with the powers to deliver lower corporation tax, which only independence offers, we can achieve even more.

“Scotland is attracting more inward investment jobs than anywhere else in the UK, including London, and independence will see Scotland become the sixth wealthiest country per head in the OECD. Scotland will have a £1 trillion asset base in the form of Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas reserves - at the same time as the UK is now £1 trillion in debt.”