Business for Scotland: Where are They Now?

Followers of chokkablog will be aware that Business for Scotland is an SNP front designed to give the nationalist cause a veneer of business respectability. As this blog detailed back in June 2014, their membership was fleshed out with non-business people alongside (often well-meaning and decent) small businesses who had no interest in trade with the rest of the UK.  In August 2014 this blog went on to highlight the closeness of their ties with the SNP.

Following the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections I thought it might be worthwhile to do a "where are they now" update on some of the key players.

Let's start with the founding Directors of Business for Scotland (BfS) who were in position as of 11/2013;

• Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp: a failed SNP councillor candidate, although he resigned as a director in March 2015 the BfS website still lists Gordon as chief executive. He appears to continue to spend his time churning out pseudo-economic, ersatz-intellectual waffle for both the BfS website and the not-so-discerning readers of his regular column in SNP fanzine "The National"
• Jim Mather: the former SNP Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism, Jim resigned as a Director three months after the independence referendum. Maybe he felt he no longer had anything to add?
• Michelle Thomson: Yes that Michelle Thomson. After leaving her role as Managing Director of BfS (three months after the referendum) Michelle was elected as an SNP MP in 2015 before being suspended from the party as police investigate her property dealings
• Ivan McKee: Ivan also resigned from BfS three months after the referendum. After providing support for the SNP at Westminster (which Michelle Thomson described as "invaluable") Ivan has now been elected SNP MSP for Glasgow Provan
• Ian McDougall; You know what's coming don't you? Ian resigned from BfS three months after the referendum. He was selected as an SNP list candidate for West Scotland in the 2016 election (but failed to gain a seat).
• Tony Banks: Tony founded Balhousie Care Goup which is "one of the leading providers of care for the elderly in Scotland" and as a result (as explained in its most recent accounts) has "a significant level of income generated through local government and across of range of local authorities". Tony also resigned as a director of BfS three months after the referendum. He went on to back Stewart Hosie's bid to become deputy leader of the SNP before presumably focusing his attention on such matters as digesting the findings of the Scottish Government's Care Standards Review which was published in April 2015.
• Les Meikle: Les is MD and owner of Wise Property Care, a company with "branches throughout Scotland". Les also resigned from BfS three months after the referendum.

So of the seven Directors who were in place in November 2013 all but one resigned in December 2014. Since then one was elected as an SNP MP, one as an SNP MSP and one was a failed SNP list candidate.

But wait, there's more ...

• Richard Arkless: Richard was an active member of BfS during the referendum (he spoke against me at a Business Insider debate) and was elected as an SNP MP in 2015
• Michelle Rodger: was also an active member of BfS during the independence referendum and became a director of BfS in January 2015. Michelle was selected as an SNP list candidate for West Scotland in the 2016 election (but failed to gain a seat).
• Sarah-Jane Walls: although her profile seems to have been removed from the BfS site, Sara was listed as a member in 2014 and appeared on TV as a "Leisure Industry Businesswoman" (although she might more appropriately have been described as a Yes Scotland Board Member). According to the Herald she became an SNP member "who has set her sights on Westminster and is one of a number of candidates in the running to be the party nominee in Stirling". This did not work out well.

Finally - for those thinking this apparent party affiliation may be just a series of concidences - the Herald revealed after the referendum that SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell was personally providing guidance on the structure of the board and how they focused their activities.

All of which means you might be surprised to learn that the description appearing on Business for Scotland's About Us page still¹ reads

"Business for Scotland is an agenda setting, independent and political party neutral business network and business policy think tank."

I guess you just have to laugh and hope nobody reading the biased misinformation they produce is fooled anymore.

1. 13/05/2016