

Scottish politics

Another setback for Gordon

The issue of Scottish independence may hurt the prime minister

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Readers' comments



Hmm. The YouGov opinion poll was interesting. Its 19% tally for pro-independence Scots was out of step with other recent polls showing up to 40% support (Interesting you chose to ignore those findings but hey ho). Now if you look at the langage and questions asked in YouGov poll you will find it highly pejorative. One example is that it uses "Scottish Executive" rather than Scottish Government to describe the SNP administration a clue, perhaps, to participants as to the view of the questioner.

I think the way you phrase questions in an opinion poll really matters but, interestingly, - as long as it's not exteme - wording isn't as important in a referendum.

Listen, I know the Economist is going to remain hositle to the idea of Scottish independence even while you are in favour of the trend providing its real driver - globalisation. But should you really allow your staff to post comments like the first one from the cod-nationalist "Mac Coinnich". If you allowed the use of coulour I'm sure he would have used a green font.

There are lots of people in Scotland who are quite sane, want to see independence and don't believe that England will be anything but the closest of friends to the next member of the UN.

Craig A.M.

No Mac Coinnich it’s not a matter of confidence its a matter of common sense if anything ethnic Scots suffer an over abundance of ill founded confidence. Scots long for independence? While Scots are longing for independence do you think they are seriously considering the military, economic and diplomatic consequences of destroying a political entity that has survived two world wars, the collapse of empire and thirteen long years of neo-liberal fundamentalism?
The problem with the Scots is they are very British and like everyone else in Britain the majority tend towards small minded parochialism (to the extent that they object to importing vibrant and earthy American phrases like "Bring it on") unable to see beyond there home town and thus unable to perceive the wonders of the British State.
The fact is the British state is a logical geographic and linguistic entity.


"Craig AM" not only writes patronising drivel he/she provides a very good example of the Scottish cringe.

For those interested in this phrase "the Scottish cringe" please re-read the comment below to fully understand it.

PS Do you think "Craig AM" works for the Economist?

View from the North

I would like to suggest the editorial staff of The Economist should get to work on a detailed and balanced analysis of the arguments for and against Scottish independence, for the events of this week in Edinburgh ensure that there is going to be a referendum in a couple of years.

Objective data is always welcome in such debates, and The Econmist likes to consider itself a source of this. I can suggest some possible data to present, for Scotland, for England or the rest of UK; and for comparable small European countries such as Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. Figures for the last century would usefully avoid any short-term variations:
- relative economic growth rates
- population growth and emigration statistics
- military casualty statistics

OK, I confess I am being a little disingenuous. I have seen these data already. These figures tell a surprisingly clear story, and it is cetainly not an argument for Scotland to stay in the union.

Scots chap

What a week!Seven days ago if you had asked any seasoned political observer whether Scotland would have a referendum on the issue of independence in the forceable future, the answer would have been a resolute "No'. This would have been the response irrespective of whether one desired it or not.Although the SNP had introduced a white paper in the Scottish parliament outlining it's intention, any bill presented by the minority administration on the matter was almost certainly doomed.Not any more.The referendum is now most definitely ON. Given that this is actually a reserved matter for the Westminster parliament, Alex Salmond's bill - in the unlikely event of it being passed (until this weeks event), would have had no more legal standing than a very accurate opinion poll. Again, not any more.Westminster, through it's silence this week, has essentially acquiesced their authority on this matter to the Scottish parliament.This is a tectonic shift. Until this week, the Scottish independence debate was essentially an intellectual one - with all participants knowing deep down the referendum would not happen during the lifetime of the current SNP administration. Given the additional member system of voting in Scotland it is unlikely that Alex Salmond would ever have gained the parliamentary majority necessary to pass such a bill.Unionist should be scared. Once someone has made the jump to supporting independence they are unlikely to jump back. The unionist demographic is aging and Labour. Given that the referendum is scheduled for one year after David Cameron comes to power, the prospect of another eighteen years of tory rule to many Labour voters will be to much to bear.

rab mccann

Independence for Scotland cannot come soon enough. It will be a hard task particuarly with most of the labour supporting media such as the daily record telling blatant lies on how prosperous an independent Scotland could be. Recent reports compiled for Westminister (which of course never got published) shows how successful an independent scotland would be. We would have one of the highest GDP per capita figures in Europe much higher than what it would be within the union. Also, this did not take into effect the rapidly rising oil prices (which may limit growth in Scotland to an extent) but will boost Government coffers significantly, allowing us as a country to benefit from serious investment which we have been seriously lacking for some time.


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