Safer option

I love Scotland. I am bringing up my family here. I run my business from here. My best friends are here. It is home.

I also love working for Virgin for its excitement, creativity and the way it challenges the status quo. But that energy and innovation doesn’t go unchecked. Virgin businesses are tried and tested to ensure they are safe and reliable. Day in. Day out.

For six years I was with RBS. It seemed safe and reliable. But it took too much risk and bought ABN Amro. People lost jobs and pensions and it nearly brought down the country.

I know what I prefer. Excitement and opportunity supported by proven safety and security.

That’s why I think Scotland should stay in the UK. That way we can continue, with increased powers, to build an exciting country with opportunities for the future. Our health service, our schools, our liberties are, in my opinion, already better than in the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government has done a great job and is well led. But we can have all of that safe and certain in the knowledge that we also have the security –economic, financial and physical – of being in the UK.

We might be safe on our own but if that’s not tested, how will we know?

I don’t know if mortgage and credit card rates will go up because I don’t know what will happen to our currency.

I don’t know if jobs will be 
secure because I don’t know if big companies will go south.

I don’t know if schools and hospitals will be as good because I don’t know if we will have enough money to support them.

And I don’t know if we will be safe in an uncertain world because I don’t know who will protect us.

So, let’s have the best of both worlds. Full devolution to an excellent Scottish Government but the safety of being part of the UK. Excitement and opportunity for Scotland. Safety and certainty for the Scottish people.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia

Chief executive

Virgin Money

Edinburgh