Scots fail to see funny side of bank chief's jibe

Comedy, like good wine, rarely travels well so when Frank Cicutto, the Australian boss of the Clydesdale Bank, told a gathering of financial analysts in Sydney that they should invest in Yorkshire rather than Scotland he should not have been surprised when nobody laughed.

Instead the chief executive of National Australia Bank, which owns the Clydesdale, was forced yesterday to issue an apology after his comments that Scotland had been in a 200-year recession caused widespread anger.

Mr Cicutto tried to downplay the remarks as being "light-hearted" and "reported out of their original context".

Unfortunately for Mr Cicutto, his address to an audience of banking analysts was recorded on the internet and critics from Scotland who viewed the film said he did not appear to have been joking,

Mr Cicutto, who lived in Glasgow for six years when he was chief executive of Clydesdale, made his remarks when asked why the bank was not pursuing growth opportunities in Scotland. Union officials labelled him arrogant and called for his resignation.