Scottish Independence Would Tighten Tories' Grip On Rest of Britain, says Schroders

Scottish independence would strengthen the Conservative party's stronghold over the rest of the UK as a bulk of Labour and Liberal Democrats would stand to lose up to 20% of seats in Westminster.

According to one of the economists at one of the world's largest asset management firms, Schroders, Scotland could in fact boost the Tories dominance in Whitehall.

"Scotland's departure from the union would likely see the Labour and Liberal Democratic parties respectively lose 16% and 20% of the seats they currently hold in the Westminster parliament," said Azad Zangana, European Economist at Schroders.

"The Conservatives would lose less than 1%, suggesting a swing towards the right for the rest of the UK."

Scottish people will vote in an independence referendum on 18 September, 2014, and will be asked the straight "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

However, since the referendum period started on 30 May, the government, consultancies, agencies, and financials have voiced serious concerns over the prospect of an independent Scotland.

"The 300-year marriage between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom could be heading for a messy divorce with serious political and economic consequences for both parties," said Zangana.

"We analysed the political and economic implications for both an independent Scotland and the remaining UK. The results of our analysis are a concern: Scotland is likely to struggle to reign in a huge fiscal deficit, which is likely to be made worse by dwindling revenues from North Sea oil and gas production.

"A new central bank and currency are likely, but Scotland may struggle to gain the confidence of markets. Bottom line: an independent Scotland is highly likely to face severe economic challenges and pressures from financial markets."