Is the CBI Being Honest?
New revelations in CBI crisis
Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp (21 April 2014)
The CBI led the anti-devolution business campaign. History shows they were wrong then, and it will show they are wrong now. When the Electoral Commission contacted Business for Scotland in 2013 to say that they had identified Business for Scotland as a possible campaigning body that may need to be registered, we agreed that we would register. However, we added the instant caveat that we would only register if the CBI also did so, and asked the Electoral Commission to look into CBI activity... On Friday April 18th the CBI UK (not CBI Scotland) registered with the Electoral Commission as a formal participant, with the ability to spend up to £150,000 campaigning against Scottish self-determination...The CBI has not simply taken a view on the issues; it has taken a policy decision against independence and actively campaigned for months now. It has spent money doing so. Likewise, it will spend money doing so during the regulated period. CBI officials obviously decided on this course without thinking through the legal dimension. The CBI then found itself in a position where it had to register with the Electoral Commission as a No Campaign participant. It now faces substantial problems related not least to the difficult position it has placed its membership in, more of which will become clearer in the days and weeks ahead.
Full article HERE
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