THE BOMBSHELL MURDOCH TWEET
‘OH f ***’, said one aide as the news reached Downing Street.
At 4.12pm on Saturday, September 6, 2014, Rupert Murdoch tipped off his half a million Twitter followers about an electrifying new poll that was set to appear in the following day’s Sunday Times.
Even at 83, the media magnate revelled in making mischief.
A late convert to Twitter, he had developed a knack for using it to cause a stir. The ‘reliable new poll on Scottish independence’, he tweeted, ‘will shock Britain… everything is up for grabs’.
The poll indicated the Yes camp had pulled ahead. Panic soon spread across Whitehall: independence, once perceived as an impossibility, was now a painfully real and present prospect.
At No 10, there was an attempt at decorum: ‘When dealing with big issues, like the future of the country, there is no time to go into meltdown,’ claimed one senior figure.
There was, however, no way to control the frenzy. Tory MPs, many of whom had only minimal contact with Scotland, did not help the volatile situation.
Ministers – including the Prime Minister – and their advisers were inundated with text messages asking what was going on.
‘Everybody under the sun had advice,’ said one government member. ‘Sir Bufton phones his aunt in Pitlochry and she says, “I’ve only had a leaflet delivered from Yes”. Then, suddenly, they contact the Prime Minister to say: “Everyone’s telling me it’s all falling apart”.’
David Cameron was in Scotland but cut off from the comfort of his usual team and the Whitehall machine. The Prime Minister was spending the weekend with the Queen at Balmoral.
But Mr Cameron was not to be distracted by royalty or protocol. He had to act – and fast.
His nervousness over the refer- endum had increased sharply in recent weeks and he knew that, if his side lost, he would have to resign, being the Prime Minister responsible for the break-up of a once united kingdom.
Two weeks before, the Queen had been entertaining a different politician: Alex Salmond. Her reaction to the poll is said to have echoed that of her Prime Minister and, a week later, she too would intervene, advising Scots to think ‘very carefully’ about their decision.
But, on this Saturday afternoon, only 12 days before the referendum, Scotland’s First Minister was taking a break from campaigning and was enjoying a round of golf at the Castle Stuart course, overlooking the Moray Firth near Inverness.
Mr Salmond was interrupted by a call from his chief of staff Geoff Aberdein with details of the impending poll. Mr Salmond welcomed the progress but worried that it had come a week too early – shocking his opponents into action and hampering Yes Scotland’s final push to victory.