Edinburgh has what it takes to be Europe's new financial capital

WRITING in the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine 25 years ago after a visit to Edinburgh, I described the Scottish capital as a "Camelot of a city" in reference to its stately charm and air of being a citadel of probity and propriety, divorced somehow from the melee of other big cities.

Romantic an image as Edinburgh presents, however, with its mediaeval old town and Georgian new town, the Scots are famously down to earth when it comes to finance. Should Scotland choose to devolve from a post-Brexit Britain, Edinburgh would seem a natural successor to the City of London.

It may be taking a little licence to link Camelot with Scotland (surely the Welsh would think so) but as no-one really knows where the legendary Arthurian kingdom was located, maybe that can be forgiven.