The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Indyref2 question must be tested, MSPs are told
Electoral Commission urged to put voters at centre of independence process
The Electoral Commission must be asked to test the question for any future Scottish independence referendum, MSPs have been told.
Holyrood’s Finance and Constitution Committee said allowing them to test what Scots may be asked would give voters greater confidence.
It comes on the fifth anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, in which voters backed No over Yes by 55 to 45%.
Dame Sue Bruce, Electoral Commissioner for Scotland, said: “We strongly believe that the commission should be asked to test the question.
“Putting the voter at the centre of the process, we think a formal testing of the question helps to provide confidence and assurance to the voter and to the Parliament posing the question in terms of the integrity of the process to establish that it is clear and transparent and neutral in its setting.”
The standard testing procedure involves a process that takes up to 12 weeks, with the bulk of that time taken up on research with the public – including focus groups and in-depth interviews.
The commission also takes advice from experts and undertakes a consultation exercise when considering the question, before a report is published and supplied to ministers.
Chief executive Bob Posner said the commission would not begin the process with a view on what the question should be. “I think it’s really important to say that we don’t start with a preposition at all,” he said.
“The fact that there was in 2014 a referendum in Scotland, if we had a repeat of that referendum, it would be a very material consideration that there was a question that was in the public’s minds back then and there’s a familiarity, and polling since.
“So all that would be picked up as part of the assessment process, but we wouldn’t start with any position at all.”
Meanwhile, Ian Blackford said it is time for Scotland to complete the journey to independence that began when devolution was delivered in 1999.
Speaking in Glasgow yesterday, the SNP’s Westminster leader said many voters had changed their minds and now favour the country becoming independent.
He claimed a Section 30 Order would be granted by the UK Government, which would allow another vote to be held.
“A lot has happened in the last five years but the promises that were made in 2014 haven’t been kept,” Mr Blackford said.
“We were told that we were going to
“We were told that we were going to get home rule in Scotland – that hasn’t happened. MP IAN BLACKFORD
get home rule in Scotland – that hasn’t happened.
“We were told our rights as EU citizens would be respected, Boris wants to tear us out of Europe.
“I think the people of Scotland recognise that if we are to secure our future as an independent country in Europe, that is the best way to protect jobs and the best way that we can make sure that we take our responsibilities for climate change and deliver fairness.”
“What we’ve seen in the streets of Glasgow today are many people coming to us saying they’ve changed their mind, they’ve gone from No to Yes, they want that referendum – that’s reflected in conversations we’re having all the time.
“Now is the time for the people of Scotland to have their say on their future and to grasp the opportunity to complete that journey that we started when devolution came to Scotland in 1999.
“Let’s make sure that the Scottish Parliament has all the powers so we can get on with the day job, make that contrast with our government in Edinburgh that’s working for the people and the chaos and confusion that we see at Westminster.
“That’s the choice that the people of Scotland expect to be able to take over the course of the coming months.”
Five years ago the UK was in the grip of constitutional chaos as Scotland went to the polls to vote in the 2014 independence referendum. The breakaway that the SNP had dedicated their entire political cause to over decades was finally on the table.
But in the end the people came out in favour of the status quo and Scotland remains a constituent member of the UK.
The poll was expected to settle Scotland’s constitutional future for a generation at least.
But that expectation came before the extraordinary political rollercoaster of Brexit brought Britain’s domestic and international political agenda to a standstill.
Then Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to offer up a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union set in motion a series of events so extraordinary that the independence flame which was dimmed after 2014 suddenly discovered a brilliant new glow.
Some argue that the chaos surrounding the UK’s departure from the EU is manna from heaven for proponents of Scotland as an independent nation.
Others continue to contend that Scotland does not have the strength to stand alone in the world, especially from an economic perspective.
The framing of the pro and anti arguments may have moved on since 2014, but five years on those core issues surrounding independence are as raw as ever and remain a long way from being resolved.