Who would you choose to follow?

A couple of days ago we were treated to the sight of the leaders of the three main parties in the UK, with the shadow of Gordon Brown behind them, all coming on a day trip to Scotland, a bit like American tourists do.  They proclaimed a new way ahead.   Which is ever so slightly awkward when the Leader of the House, William Hague, was generously reminding  the House of Commons that the words they were using in Edinburgh were not, and never has been, Government policy.

Here’s a question for you.   Can someone tell me how many jobs in the real productive world the three leaders and the shadow of Gordon Brown have actually had?   Or how much of their own personal money have they had to risk to invest in their own private business? Or how many real jobs have they created and sustained in a private business?  I fear you will have come to the same conclusion as me.

So who would you rather follow? These four.  Or Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management.  He has backed the economy of an independent Scotland to be a success.  The entrepreneur, who co-founded the company in 1983, said last night to the BBC that “An independent Scotland would be a great success.”  Gilbert’s company is one of the largest business organisations in Scotland with substantial holdings of over £350 billion. It’s success is built on both its intellectual capital and Scotland’s advantages in the financial services sector.

Gilbert’s vote of confidence in Scotland’s strengths was matched by Sir Angus Grossart, Chair of Edinburgh bank Nobel Grossart, who said that the referendum’s impact on market instability has been “severely overstated”. He continued “To hear some of the comments you almost expect people to be predicting a plague of locusts or mice next.”

So, on our march to the polls on the 18th, whose ideas and thinking would you rather trust? Those who create wealth and jobs and provide the money that actually pays for running our public services.  Or those who have never run a business in their life.  It's your choice.