Updates

It is the original trillion pound industry. Yet for all its huge value, the oil and gas sector remains one of the most enigmatic aspects of Scottish life.

For as long as I can remember, the industry has always been associated with enormous wealth – millions, billions and now even trillions. The impression has always been that huge sums of money flow out to sea in investment, while even greater wealth returns with the tide. At the same time, however, London-based political parties like to remind us that the flow of black gold won’t last much longer. Thinking anything else is a high risk strategy.

Curiously, the oil and gas industry was not mentioned once as a possible career at any point during my High School education or during my four years studying maths and physics at Glasgow University.

And so the story goes for thousands of Scots, particularly in the Central Belt, home to one of the world’s most technologically advanced industries, and yet largely oblivious to the opportunities that the sector offers.

Businessman Dr Imtiaz Majid explains the benefits of taking control of your own affairs and making your own decisions.

He describes how you reap the benefits of deciding the best course of action for you depending on your understanding of your circumstances.

And he adds that if you do that it is up to you how you spend the rewards of your efforts.

Independence will give Scotland the powers it needs to ensure that the political and economic decisions affecting the people of Scotland are made by the people of Scotland.

Carole Inglis overcame her self-doubt and started Isle of Skye Fudge Company.

By taking control of her own affairs she can more easily react to shifting market conditions in a way which benefits her business.

Independence will give Scotland the powers to take control of its own affairs; powers the Scottish people want Holyrood to have.

Businessman Glen Bennet is the founder and managing director of EAE Leaflet Marketing. He took control of his own affairs in 1987 and has never looked back.

Further evidence that the Westminster Government's austerity programme is widening the gulf between rich and poor emerges today in an authoritative report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The internationally-respected think tank says UK Government policies are feeding  rising levels of inequality. 

In a report examining the developed world's response to the global slowdown, the OECD says the 'financial crisis is squeezing income and putting pressure on inequality and poverty' across the board. 

Business for Scotland will campaign for a Yes vote in referendum

More than 350 business figures from across Scotland have pooled their resources to campaign for a Yes vote in next year's independence referendum.

Business for Scotland, a co-operative of individuals from mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will be officially inaugurated at a meeting in Glasgow tonight.   

The group aims to dramatically increase membership and support between now and September 18, 2014, in a vigorous campaign to show why independence is the key to a more prosperous and fairer country.   

In my view, there is a vote for independence in the hearts of most Scots. But emotion apart, it’s vital we use our heads to understand the rationale for putting Scotland's future in Scotland's hands.

I recognise that within the UK our futures are intertwined. I am both Scottish and British. I care not only about my fellow Scots, but about everyone across these isles. So let me explain why I am convinced a Yes vote in next year’s referendum will be good for Scotland – and the rest of Britain and Northern Ireland.

First, we have to tackle the blight of inequality. The UK is currently the fourth most unequal country in the developed world. The Fiscal Commission Working Group, whose number includes Nobel Laureate economist Professor Joe Stiglitz, says that since 1975 the UK income gap has grown faster than in any other developed country.  And inequality, he says, is one of the biggest inhibitors of economic growth.

The majority of Scottish people want Holyrood to have the full powers required to make the most important decisions affecting the lives of people in Scotland.

With DevoMax ruled out as an option in 2014 and no guarantee of more powers for Holyrood in the event of a No vote, only a Yes vote in the independence referendum can deliver these powers.

Westminster isn't working for Scotland.

In 70 weeks' time, each of us will give our own answer to the question - "Should Scotland be an independent country?" and the nation, collectively, will decide.

Over the next 70 weeks, people the length and breadth of the country will make up their minds on what is, undoubtedly, the greatest opportunity of our lifetimes. Many will change their minds – perhaps several times – before a final decision puts them in the Yes or the No camp.

Each side will argue its case vigorously and with a determination to win. The campaign will be passionate, noisy and, at times, heated. That is exactly as it should be.

But the division of opinion that is inevitable in a referendum - inevitable in any election - shouldn’t blind us to the fact that, Yes or No, Scotland is one country.

The chief executive of Yes Scotland, Blair Jenkins, has welcomed as "visionary, eminently sensible and realistically achievable" the address by the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to supporters in Glasgow.

Ms Sturgeon, a member of Yes Scotland’s Advisory Board, told of "a natural majority in Scotland for independence" and talked of the priority of the campaign to ensure fairness and prosperity in an independent country.