Donations to referendum

Details have been released of the major donors to the Yes and No campaigns...

ALMOST £4 million has been donated to campaigners on both sides of the referendum debate, with those fighting for Scotland to stay in the UK receiving £1.2m more than their pro-independence rivals, election watchdogs have revealed.

New figures released by the Electoral Commission show £3,965,595 was given to six registered campaigners between December 18 last year and June 26 this year.

Better Together, the lead group making the case for Scotland to stay in the UK, received £2,406,475 during this period.

Pro-independence Yes Scotland was given donations totalling £1,160,000 — £1,246,475 less than Better Together.

Under the laws governing September’s independence referendum, all registered campaigners must declare donations of more than £7,500.

The largest donation to the Better Together campaign so far was £1m from Harry Potter author JK Rowling in June.

Drinks company William Grant and Sons has donated a total of £185,000 to those campaigning for the Union — with £135,000 going to Better Together and £25,000 to both the No Borders Campaign group and individual campaigner Angus MacDonald.

Yes Scotland received £1m from husband and wife Colin and Christine Weir, who scooped £161m on the EuroMillions lottery in 2011.

Bus tycoon Sir Brian Souter, chairman of the Stagecoach Group, donated £100,000 to two pro-independence groups — Christians for Independence in January and Business for Scotland in May.

Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall said: “We are humbled by the level of financial support that our campaign has been able to attract.

“The figures released today do not paint the full picture of the generosity of the thousands of Scots who have made a contribution towards keeping Scotland in the UK. When you include the thousands of smaller donations we have received, we have raised over £4m during this period.”

Mr McDougall also claimed the campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum is doing “whatever it can to funnel cash to front organisations”.

Electoral Commission rules state that spending by an organisation working with an umbrella campaign group, such as Yes Scotland, must come off the £1.5m spending total for that umbrella group. The rule was put in place to stop umbrella groups setting up front organisations to get around the legal spending limits.

Ye s Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins said their “massive grassroots support” had been “overwhelming in its generosity” when it came to donations.

Mr Jenkins said: “Some 10,705 people have given nearly £194,173 in two months since we declared our running total in May.

“We still have a long way to go and hope that our supporters continue to help fund us to take the campaign over the finishing line with a resounding Yes vote on September 18.”

He also said Better Together’s claims “about Yes Scotland and supposed ‘front organisations”’ were false and unsubstantiated.

“Yes Scotland has followed the Electoral Commission rules from day one and continue to do so,” Mr Jenkins said.

“We are humbled by the level of financial support that our campaign has been able to attract.”

Blair McDougall