The Scottish independence referendum Archives - Page 106 of 111

Nationalists for No: The Real Referendum Battleground?

8th August 2013 Comment Elections, parties & leaders The Scottish independence referendum

Rather a lot of political excitement has been caused recently by claims that the Labour for Independence campaign was a front populated by current and/or recent SNP activists rather than a grassroots organization consisting of genuine Labour members – see, for example, these articles by Severin Carrell and Tom Gordon. Apart from casting aspersions on […]

Panelbase July Poll

1st August 2013 Comment The Scottish independence referendum

Just when Scotland’s politicians – and its psephologists – thought it was safe to lie in the sun and forget about the referendum for a while, up popped the Sunday Times last weekend with its Panelbase July poll. So apologies that it has taken us a little while to catch up with what was the first regular public […]

Is the independence movement a child of university expansion?

16th July 2013 Comment Policy issues The Scottish independence referendum

One of the great social revolutions of our time has been the expansion of higher education. In the Scottish Election Surveys of the 1970s, just 9% of adults had gained a higher-education qualification. In the Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey of 2012, the figure had quadrupled to 36%. This massive change has occurred in parallel with […]

‘Young people cannot be trusted with political decisions’ – Why actually?

19th June 2013 Comment The Scottish independence referendum

The minimum voting age for the Scottish independence referendum will be 16 rather than the usual one of 18. Many commentators have expressed strong views on whether this is a good idea or not. On the one hand it has been argued that younger people can judge the merits of or problems with independence just […]

Yes are behind – but how far?

19th June 2013 Comment The Scottish independence referendum

Eight polls have so far been conducted since the Scottish Government accepted in January that the question on the referendum ballot paper should read, ‘Should Scotland be an independent country’, as recommended by the Electoral Commission. Every single one of those polls, conducted by no less than five different companies, has put the Yes side […]