Warnings from nation's shopkeepers could prove decisive for the No vote

Napoleon Bonaparte famously described the United Kingdom as a "nation of shopkeepers". It was assumed to be an insult. But really the diminutive French despot was just stating a fact: as a relatively small collection of islands, Britain has always derived a goodly proportion of its wealth from commerce rather than from the scope of its lands or the size of a population.

Now the nation's shopkeepers are speaking out to try and ensure the kingdom remains united.

This morning Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said Scottish shoppers would face higher prices if their country abandons the United Kingdom.

He argued that retailers would put up prices in Scotland since the higher costs of transporting goods to Scotland would no longer be shared across the whole of the UK. Last year, executives from Tesco, Asda, Morrison and Sainsbury’s said they subsidise the extra costs of trading in Scotland with their operations in the rest of the UK and have privately discussed ending the practice in the event of a Yes vote.

These are likely to be far more influential business intercessions in the Scottish independence referendum than those made by the banks. Financial services may be Scotland's most important sector but its history is clearly chequered and it is, at best, view ambiguously by the general population.

Perhaps Napoleon had read Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations published in 1776. "To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers," wrote Scotland's foremost philosopher and the pioneer of political economics. "It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers."

Like it or not, the UK is a nation of customers, and shoppers are voters too. There are many staunch Scottish nationalists who will remain unswayed by the opinions of shopkeepers. But those who are wavering are now being unequivocally told that independence will increase the cost of their weekly shop.

That could be decisive.

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