Letter: Politics of CBI

David Lonsdale, assistant director of CBI Scotland, rather surprisingly comes out against the ability to vary corporation tax in Scotland to provide the much-needed boost to the economy (your report, 17 August).

Rather, he says "our members continue to favour business taxes applying uniformly across the UK in order to maintain the single market and a level playing field so valued by firms".

Unfortunately, his assertion of a "level playing field" is vacuous as fuel and transport costs vary greatly across the UK, as do wages. Therefore, does he advocate a "London weighting" allowance for all Scottish employees so that it provides a level playing field for the South-east?

The Scotsman perpetuates the misconception that CBI Scotland represents Scottish businesses, when it only represents its members and sometimes is seen to act as a political lever.

Michael N Crosby

Muiravonside

By Linlithgow