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Abta’s Travel Convention may meet “in the shadow of the UK breaking up”, a leading political commentator warned this week.
Matthew d’Ancona, political columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, told Travel Weekly: “We’re staring down the barrel of enormous change and it’s of huge consequence to business.”
D’Ancona will address the convention four days after the independence referendum on September 18, with polls this week suggesting the Yes and No campaigns are neck and neck.
A Yes vote would see a move to separate Scotland from the UK by March 2016. D’Ancona warned: “The business of government will become snarled up by the process of disentangling the two countries. It will be extremely tricky.”
He said: “The ramifications have suddenly dawned on people in England after months of indifference.”
D’Ancona dismissed the notion that Scotland would retain the pound, saying: “It is 100% clear Scotland will not be able to keep sterling.” Referring to chancellor George Osborne’s insistence that an independent Scotland could not keep the pound, d’Ancona said: “Osborne is not bluffing.”
He said: “If Scotland leaves, both main party leaders will be weakened. The Conservative party will shrivel with shame. Britain will be diminished in the eyes of a lot of countries.”
D’Ancona added: “Politics is going through more change than I can remember in 20 years as a commentator.”
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer pledged the association would “continue providing services” to members in Scotland. He told Travel Weekly last month: “We’ll be there to provide whatever services Scottish members need.”
D’Ancona will address the convention on September 22.
The Travel Convention takes place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on September 21-23.