PRO-independence business leaders yesterday threw down the gauntlet to those who have reacted against the SNP surge in the polls, inviting them to join in a constructive debate about Scotland's future, writes Robbie Dinwoodie, Scottish Political Correspondent.

Members of the new organisation Business for Scotland were launching their first serious foray into public life - an eight-page supplement inserted every two months into the established magazine Scottish Business Insider.

BfS chairman, the mining magnate Dennis MacLeod, responded to the fears expressed by Scottish Widows chief executive Mike Ross in reaction to the SNP taking a five-point lead over Labour in The Herald/System Three poll this week.

He said: ''I will be writing to Mr Ross because I welcome this type of questions as something that should be debated. We are offering him the chance to write for the magazine and have invited him to meet SNP politicians.

''I see absolutely no reason why an independent Scotland should not put in place a set of conditions that makes it more attractive to do business here.''