The mind of the nation (part 1)
As we were compiling our second poll, it struck us that it provided an opportunity to find out a lot of things about the Scottish public at once, that weren’t necessarily directly related to the referendum.
Politicians and newspapers routinely make all sorts of claims about what the public’s attitude to various issues are, but whenever we Google for polling data backing up those assertions it’s very thin on the ground, especially for Scotland specifically.
So as usual, we just went ahead and did it ourselves.
We didn’t go into any detail on anything – we simply wanted a very broad-brush picture of the Scottish electorate’s gut instinct on the hot societal topics of the day, so we just asked people whether they were in favour of, or opposed to, a wide range of propositions. Some of the answers were pretty much what we expected, and some of them came as quite a surprise.
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THE UK HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
In favour: 32
Against: 46
Don’t know: 21
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A clear majority (just short of three to two) opposed, then, but perhaps a smaller margin than you’d have thought. There was a sizeable gender divide – men were against Trident by just 9 points (39-48) while women were twice as opposed (18 points, 27-45) – and a wholly predictable political one (Tories +54, Labour -18, Lib Dems -11, SNP -30), but the more striking stats came by socio-economic group.
The wealthiest Scots were also those most willing to spend billions of pounds on the submarine weapons system, almost tied at 43% in favour to 44% against. Down at the bottom of the financial scale, just 24% of DE respondents backed the nuclear “deterrent”, with more than twice as many – 49% – opposed for a net -25.
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THE MONARCHY
In favour: 50
Against: 32
Don’t know: 17
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Some justification again here for the SNP’s “don’t scare the horses” approach to independence, with a solid half of Scots keen to remain under the rule of the House Of Windsor, and less than a third desiring a Scottish Republic. Women were more in favour (+24 compared to +11 for men), and old people much more keen on the Queen than the young (+49 for over-65s, compared to +5 for 18-34s.)
Political breakdown was +77 Conservative voters, +13 Labour, +38 Lib Dem, -2 SNP.
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THE BEDROOM TAX
In favour: 16
Against: 75
Don’t know: 9
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We were using this essentially as a cipher for welfare reform in general, because it encapsulates the broader ethos behind the new ideology around social security that’s shared by all three Westminster parties. And it was one of the few issues which, in terms of net rating, united Scots right across the board.
Even Conservative voters came down against what their party doggedly keeps insisting is the “ending of the spare room subsidy” by a clear margin. 36% of Tories backed the tax with 47% opposed, for a net score of -11 while Labour voters (despite Gordon Brown having introduced the concept in 2008) tallied a whopping -72, with Lib Dems on -31 and SNP supporters also at -72.
Surprisingly, women were less opposed to the tax than men, at -54 versus -65.
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MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU
In favour: 41
Against: 38
Don’t know: 21
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UKIP might never have held onto a deposit in a Scottish election, but as a nation we’re still less than completely enthusiastic about our relationship with the rest of the continent. More Scottish people still want to stay in than leave, whereas polls in the rest of the UK consistently show a majority wanting out, but it’s a tight call.
Women were the more Eurosceptic, dead-heated at 37-37, while men were pro-Europe by 46 to 38. Attitudes broadly hardened with age – the 25-34 age group were +22 and those aged 35 to 44 even more positive at +28, but there was a sharp drop-off after 45, with over-65s registering -18.
The parties looked predictable at Conservative -32, Labour +12 and Lib Dem +44, but we were startled by the SNP-voter result of -3 (39 to 42). We’re at something of a loss to explain that one, frankly.
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VOTING RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS
In favour: 11
Against: 80
Don’t know: 9
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We’ve been somewhat bemused at the rise of this as a liberal cause lately (we don’t have a strong view either way, and we suspect prisoners don’t rate it much of a priority either), so we thought it’d be worth gauging the public mood. And the public mood was pretty unequivocal, with the joint-lowest don’t-know rating of any subject.
There were no huge demographic differences on this one – the Lib Dems were the most forgiving, but still scored -57 (18 to 75). And women were harsher than men, at -73 versus -63. But basically, everyone’s on the same side here – as far as Scots are concerned, if you commit a crime and get banged up for it, that’s the end of your participation in the law-making process until you’re out again.
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ASSISTED SUICIDE
In favour: 61
Against: 17
Don’t know: 22
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The compassionate side of the Scottish people came out on the issue of the right to die, however. By almost four-to-one they backed the principle enshrined in Margo McDonald’s so-far-unsuccessful attempts to decriminalise those who help the terminally ill to depart this mortal coil at a time and in a manner of their own choosing.
There were only three points between the sexes (men +42, women +45) and not a vast amount of difference across political views (Tories lowest at +34, Labour +37, Lib Dem +59, SNP +50), but there was a noticeable fall in support in the oldest group, either understandably or surprisingly depending on your perspective. For those aged 55-64 backing was +43, but for those who’d actually made it to 65 and beyond the figure dropped to a still-supportive +31.
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NATIONALISING THE RAILWAYS
In favour: 47
Against: 28
Don’t know: 25
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We’ve touched on UK-wide feelings about bringing rail transport back into public hands recently, and Scots are clear on the subject too, although with considerably more doubt. Again, women voters were noticeably more small-c conservative, backing renationalisation by just +12 compared to +26 for men.
There was very little difference across class, which surprised us a little (the AB and DE ends of the socio-economic scale recording an identical +16), but a bigger political divide, breaking down at Conservative voters -10, Labour +20, Lib Dem 0, SNP +31.
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‘PAGE 3’ IMAGES IN NEWSPAPERS
In favour: 24
Against: 53
Don’t know: 23
(We’re not making any “24-53-23” jokes here. We’re better than that.)
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The antagonistic, arrogant and, to our mind, counter-productive ‘Lose The Lad Mags’ campaign has brought the issue of naked nipples on news-stands back into the public eye, with newspapers already in a prickly and defensive state over the post-Leveson introduction of a Royal Charter for regulation reacting badly to anyone else trying to dictate what they can and can’t put in their publications, and retailers reluctant to restrict the sales of popular and profitable lines.
That’s a shame, because our poll shows widespread public support for removing pictures of semi-nude women from the nation’s breakfast tables and workplaces. There was, it should be said, still a narrow plurality (+4) in favour of the images from men, but female opposition was overwhelming at -59.
Perhaps strangely, Lib Dem supporters were in this case the least liberal and most censorious, by a long way. They opposed newsboobs by a net -56, with Labour voters at -30, the SNP -28 and the mucky old Tories just -20.
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OBTAINING NATURAL GAS BY ‘FRACKING’
In favour: 26
Against: 34
Don’t know: 40
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Our poll was “in the field”, as they say, during the Grangemouth crisis, so the issue of energy supply would have been very much on people’s minds. Nevertheless, this subject recorded the highest level of don’t-know responses of the 20 issues in our snapshot. (We’ll be bringing you Scotland’s views on nuclear power in Part 2.)
Women were far warier of the controversial technique than men, and in one of our poll’s few cases of the sexes actually being on opposite sides of the centre point, registered a -16 against the male +2. There was also a sharp divide along wealth lines, with the AB group being +6 versus the DE group’s -18.
As you’d expect, Tories were enthusiastically in favour (+26), with supporters of the other three parties against, SNP voters being narrowly the most strongly opposed by -16. (Alert readers may have noticed the exclusion of the Greens throughout this analysis, which is because the sample size was too small to be reliable.)
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DECRIMINALISING RECREATIONAL DRUGS
In favour: 25
Against: 59
Don’t know: 16
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In the poll we explicitly identified “recreational” as meaning “cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine etc”, which was intended to create a distinction between genuinely leisure-focused substance-partaking and the more hardcore pursuits like heroin addiction. We stacked the deck a little further by using “decriminalising” rather than the more extreme “legalising”, but the Scottish public still wasn’t having any of it.
Opposition was across-the-board again, with only the Tories standing out from the crowd at -53, with the other three all at least 15 points closer to the centre. (The Lib Dems were unsurprisingly the most liberal at just -16.) Men were against by -24, with women much more against decriminalisation at -44.
And that’s it for the first half of our mammoth investigation into what the Scottish public thinks about things that are nothing to do with the referendum. Tune in soon for the concluding section, after which we’ll get down to the fun stuff where we laugh at Alistair Darling and such.
after which we’ll get down to the fun stuff where we laugh at Alistair Darling and such
We’ve got a head start on that bit.
Great stuff this!
Still worth buying the Herald this morning?
Stu. A suggestion. It would be a good idea each time you put up a new item to repeat the result for the basic question re Indy up right at the beginning
Interesting one on Assisted Suicide. I think a lot of politicians still let organised religions influence them far too much. The main religious groups are the main opponents of Assisted Suicide and clearly only make up a small minority of the population based on these findings.
Personally, I support Margo’s position on this.
Scoring a respectable 8 out of 10 with the majority. Feeling rather normal, may shave.
Shocked by the nuclear weapons results tbh, particularly in light of the previous “space monsters” question.
The results are fascinating and kick Ashcroft’s “how I learned to love the bomb” into touch. Mildly surprised at the size of the decriminalising recreational drugs against figure but I suppose if cocaine and the like were in the mix then I might have swung that way too whereas I am more liberal on the more common or garden grass.
Nukes, Bedroom Tax, Fracking, Prisoner Voting, and Queenie show that the current position of the SG is probably spot on but Europe is a mixed blessing. I don’t think the EU’s equivocation over Scotland has done them any favours to be honest.
Baps in papers is so 1970s I can’t believe they still do it. The internet is full of baps (so I have heard) if one has a bap deficit/fixation. Totally unnecessary in a newspaper imho.
Interesting results there. I suppose the large don’t know figure for the Fracking question would partly be down to many people not knowing what fracking is. As for the surprisingly closer-than-expected results for nukes, that might be partly explained by the fact you specified UK rather than Scotland – many folk will be against Trident simply because it’s in Scotland, and there may even be some who are opposed to it, but DO support the principle of the UK having nukes.
As for nationalising the railways being surprisingly supported by better-off folk, you’ve probably got a lot of “live in Edinburgh, work in Glasgow” commuters in there, who are the ones most feeling the effects of rail privatisation. Certainly something parties need to really consider when making their first post-indy manifestos.
Firstly, happy birthday to the Reverend.
On the results in this section, does this show that women like change less than men? More risk in change? That’s what I would have guessed, but then why are they more Euro sceptic. EU membership figures here are the most upsetting for me. I thought there was quite a lot of mileage in the argument that if separation is bad in the modern world, we should be opening our arms to embrace more EU integration (not saying that’s my opinion, just a counter point to the idea that ‘separation’ from Eng,Wales, NI is bad).
I wonder if our obsession with Hollywood and US TV, plus our media’s obsession with what goes on there, and also in our ex colonies generally, is making people even more Anglophile.
Re assisted suicide. I have a close friend whose eighty nine year old mother is in the final stages of alzheimer’s. Honestly if you put an animal through this you would quite rightly find yourself up in court. I am surprised that assisted suicide scored so low.
Even those who understand what Fracking is, remain unconvinced about its over all safety (or not). I think 40% awaiting to be convinced one way or the other is quite reasonable and reassuring.
Given shale gas has been there for thousands of years I can’t understand the short term thinking behind a sprint to extract it. Let’s see what other countries do and learn from their mistakes.
Doug I think the railways being supported by the better off is the exact opposite of your thoughts.
I believe it is a case of they rarely use it so nationalise it if you like.
more of I’m alright Jack attitude, than a love of public ownership.
I think that 25% for decriminalising recreational drugs is quite high given that cocaine and ecstasy are included. Cocaine while recreational is still quite dangerous, MDMA isn’t but suffers from having a bad reputation due to bad press. Seeing a separate question for cannabis would have been interesting in light of the recent legalisation moves in Washington/Colorado states and Uruguay but appreciate this wasn’t a Scottish Drugs Attitude poll!
I had a look in at the Herald, OBE is moaning that any poll commissioned by evil separationists is a work by the Devil and anybody that looks at will become possessed.
So it is a doubly pleasing poll.
“I had a look in at the Herald, OBE is moaning that any poll commissioned by evil separationists is a work by the Devil and anybody that looks at will become possessed.”
How many times did he manage to work “Alex Salmond” in?
“we were startled by the SNP-voter result of -3”
Not so surprising. We tend to associate opposition to EU membership with the political right, but there is a stronger and more rational case against from the left. A significant sub-group of SNP supporters are decidely leftist. You have pretty much the same signal on the monarchy: SNP supporters are least enthusiastic at -2.
Murray
I agree on fracking. The gas isn’t going anywhere. Let others try and see what happens. As far as I am aware they poisoned water tables in the States. Our water is a precious and wonderful gift in a world that is increasingly short of it. Let them fix the bugs and techniques, if they are fixable, before we rush into this.
Re decriminalising of recreational drugs. It is impossible to have a reasoned debate regarding this. I put the blame right at the door of our MSM. One mention of decriminalisation and they are out like a pack of hounds baying for blood, concequently it is political suicide to even mention it. I suspect that this includes an large dose of hypocrisy within the MSM.
Best wishes on your brithday Stu:
Thanks for this insight and frank returns
Still a massive target to overcome at this stage.
The problem area still seems to be the Women’s vote.
I really don’t know what to say about that other than in TV debates & commentary YES put women to the fore (and they are excellent), BT put forward males only to date.
If I’m honest I was hoping for the gap to be closing more than this; so still very concerned.
But what can you do with such a powerful state machine in the driving seat, corroborating Scottish MP’s & journalists, (WoS & Newsnet excepted) and promotion of unchallenged state propaganda via BBC & Scottish / British newspapers.
We can but keep up the good fight for YES; hopes Scots voters aren’t as thick as they appear at this stage.
They do still seem to buy a lot of political garbage, (Dunfermline residents), or severely lack aspiration for positive change on the big question.
I mean the chance to create a progressive modern country, by a pen stroke come on ?
Translates as we’re still feart. Doesn’t sound like I remain unconvinced to me.
in scotland, fracking could take place miles from populated areas.
Comparing apples with pears across the board….(and leaving out fracking)
In favour of change: 43%
In favour of status quo 38.5%
Don’t know 18%
Handandshrimp… remember, the MSM thought they were the sole keeper of such polls (Until WoS proved it wasn’t)… expect much ‘Labour style’ gnashing of teeth and refusal to accept that the old way is gone. They know this disempowers them, because the conclusions derived at in such polls, are as much influenced by the questions asked, as the analysis made.
Surprised by the monarchy question- can’t think of anyone I know who is in favour… I remember working in Homebase in 2002 when Lizzie had her jubilee- they sent us tons of merchandise for the event, the vast majority of which stayed on the shelves unsold.
@ HandandShrimp
There’s a funny rap about it here:
And stuff on earthquakes in Ohio:
@David
Yea! Lets go trash the Highlands.
i wonder how that poisonous councilor mr kelly will react to this poll?
i think fracking is certain to happen, if it does then surely remote areas would be better?
Stu
So far the name count is separatists 4 Wings 3 and SNP 2 but is early doors…only 13 comments in total so far.
The Dunfermline result indicates how large swathes of Scots are oblivious to actual party policies.Had the Labour voters had any knowledge of what they were actually voting for rather than the outright fairy tales on their leaflets.Then they would have quickly worked out that the two didn’t square with each other.So there are some pretty …well let’s be blunt stupid folk out there who vote for a rosette rather than with any actual thoughts.That’s slab for you though they have a rump of eejits they can aye rely on.
David; “in scotland, fracking could take place miles from populated areas.”
…that would be in areas we use for farming (arable/sheep) or which contains sensitive wildlife. You will guess rightly that I am vehemently opposed to Fracking. We in Scotland have a wealth of natural resources far on excess of what we need. We need to think of the future generations and develop the best solutions possible. There is simply no reason to pursue Fracking… it would be second to bottom of the list of options (just above Nuclear power).
im in your camp on the fracking but im convinced it will happen unfortunately, money talks
David- fracking can only be done where the gas is. Which geologically speaking is the Cemtral Belt in Scotland where all the people live, where refineries, gas plants, power stations etc are located. Serious implications for water table and geological stabilty (earth tremors) I’d suggest you find out more about fracking instead of posting of what you know not of
@David,
I don’t think there’s much oil shale in the Highlands. Most of it is in the Central Belt (which after all was where the petroleum business started – using shale)
I’m amazed by the pro royal vote. A few weeks ago number 2 son (age 10) asked if anybody liked the royals so I showed him the kick off of Diana’s funeral and the people who lined the streets in howls of anguish, floods of tears and sloughs of despond.
He found the whole thing a little strange. Of course during the wedding he was sitting on a moor having macaroni cheese cooked on a Trangia. This may have coloured his perception.
money talks
“money doesn’t talk, it swears.”
just an opinion
fracking in Scotland can be resisted as drilling permissions are controlled by local authority/SG last I heard though happy to be put right
As a Scot living in England I don’t get a vote (Shame!) but I sincerely hope the Scottish people vote YES all the way!
As for nuclear weapons we have the US and UK and France all screaming about Weapons Of Mass Destruction, yet they insist they need to maintain an armament of the most destructive and indiscrimnate weapon ever devised! Hypocrisy is rife as normal!
For thermonarchy, I prefer to be a “citizen” and not a “subject”. Let’s face it the “House of Windsor” are over-privileged German immigrants who changed their name from Sachs – Coberg – Gotha during WW1 in order that the British people may not realise that their young men were dying in the fields of france and belgium fighting the king’s cousin.
Aye sneddon, but if Labour retake Holyrood there will be payback for all that Vitol money.
Radio Scotland mentioned the poll.Not disparigingly but in a sort of at arms length…oh it’s not msm …er so it’s inherently biased or amateur sort of comment.The guest journalist admitted msm are afraid of of the specialist online sites.They should be as Wings is far more professional than most of the journos on th BBC.They don’t do any research before spouting their drivel.They just say things that sound like they have proven facts when it is actually just opinion.Wings does the research msm doesn’t do …it’s the only way to find out the truth these days.
As regards the bedroom tax,I find it very interesting that so many Scottish tories are against it.I bet the result would be very different among tories in the rest of the UK.The same would probably hold true for free education and privatisation of the NHS.Education,health and welfare beliefs are split along cultural rather than political lines in the UK,to a large extent.
@David.
I am against fracking for several reason ans especially in “remote areas” it is these remote areas that are one of Scotlands greatest assets. Not only for tourism but for the preservation of “Scotland the Brand” it is what sells Scotland as a clean wholesome country. Witness the increase of sales of Scottish beef during the horsemeat debacle.
I would much rather the time money and effort went into being the worlds leaders in renewables.
It will take some time (not in my lifetime) but I hope that independence brings about the repopulation of these “remote areas” back to the levels of pre union.
@mealer;
All the Scottish Tories have moved to Dunfermline, and are currently defending their right to have a study.
The poll will not be properly analysed by MSM, it will be ridiculed as something drummed up by those troublesome seperatists & nats.
Remember ‘Proud Scots’ are easily duped and will follow the westminster line, so it can’t be from our regionalist friends and therefore can’t be trusted.
If its not from the BBC /STV or one of our trusted journalists / newspapers, (that’s supposed to mean an impartial view probably from one person – Prof John Curtice).
You know the script and how it goes.
Forget fracking – we will be importing Gas from US or England – see Grangemouth !
The MSM can ignore this poll all they want, but as far as I can see there seems to be a general consistency of Yes circa 35% and No circa 43%/44% with large number of undecided. That makes it winnable for Yes.
H&S I think any labour party in a indy Scotland won’t be the same jokers we have now. If they are I can’t imagine them having the majority in Holyrood to push through fracking licences anywhere in Scotland. Born an optimist
The referendum poll has been included in the Wikipedia tally of polls!
Congratulations..
There is a discrepancy though it shows No ahead by 18%, instead of 8%
link to en.wikipedia.org
Doug Daniel
I agree with you, Doug. I would not be in the least surprised if some folk thought it was a ‘sweary’ word (as in …fracking hell).
I have posted a few times mentioning that this is just about one of the worst things that folk could allow to happen, not just in Scotland, but in the entire UK! If we remain with the Union, then this will most definitely happen in Scotland. Make no bones about it. The Tories love to copy the Americans, and the Americans believe it solves all their problems when it comes to Oil and the Middle East.
Given the first chance, Westminster will setup hundreds of rig heads all across the Central Belt and hammer out as much gas as possible, and to hell with the Scottish people!
Most people have no idea that Fracking not only screws up the environment, but it plays havoc with the ground that you walk on. A couple of decent tremors could cause damage to houses (as in cracks appearing). On top of that, the natural water supply will also be contaminated. Scotland can kiss goodbye to any bottling of natural water that comes from the Central Belt!
Seriously folks, if you have no idea what this is, then be scared …be very scared!. There is a film called Gasland that was made a couple of years ago. It’s a documentary about Fracking in the United States, and it’s pretty disturbing. Pour water from your tap, light a lighter on the water …and hey presto …water and flames gushing from the tap! Now, imagine drinking that crap?
In the documentary, residents have experienced a variety of chronic health problems directly traceable to contamination of their air, of their water wells or of surface water. In some instances, the residents are reporting that they obtained a court injunction or settlement monies from gas companies to replace the affected water supplies with portable water or water purification kits. If they can’t then, they need to buy bottled water every single day from their own money. They can’t bathe in it (chemicals and toxins due to Fracking), so they have to wash in basins from bottled water.
Here is a link mentioning everything above. Check out that map of where not to drink.
link to strangesounds.org
Check the video’s out on the same page (just below the map)
or, try this
link to maps.fractracker.org
On the second link, zoom in on the map. Now, tell me that doesn’t worry you when you check out one of these states with quite a few drill sites? You imagine that across the Central Belt, Ayrshire, Fife, and the Borders.
These Tory b******* will not give a damn, when it comes to this. They love the Americans, and love their governmental and economic strategy. The Tories have implemented Private Health Care, Deregulation of the Banking System, Tuition Fees and they intend to water down Workers rights and contracts …all which originated in the States.
I read, that before Reagan, a kid could go to a top college in the States for the princely sum of $2,000. I always wondered how a kid, working in a coffee shop or a garage could afford a $100,000 education in the States. It turns out that $2,000 was enough. Not anymore! Reagan brought in the Banks to help him with the economy, and then everything changed. Now, most kids can’t afford it in the US.
This all sound familiar.
Let’s be honest, Fracking will come to Scotland …if we remain in the Union.
The good people of Scotland needs to be informed… The French and most of Europeans have banned the fracking method of obtaining gas and petrol because it pollutes our natural resources, and Americans living near those wells are living hell on earth… WATCH THIS :
link to youtube.com
Well someone With a wicki registration please get on to Wicki with the accurate figure.
@Famous15;
Already done it. Has it not worked?
Interesting results and you can see what informs a lot of the SGs policy on independence. I’m definitely one of the 40% on fracking, not really up to speed there and surprised at how close the numbers were on retaining the royalty.
Looking forward to part two and a good chuckle at Darling’s expense.
@ Atypical_Scot – Yes its changed to 8%. However I did notice this in the Schools and University Surveys. Not blaming you by the way just my observation.
In September 2013, a survey of over 11,000 Aberdeenshire schoolchildren eligible to vote in the referendum returned 75.5% against independence – Reference 183
Of course there is no dispute that something was held but it certainly was not a SURVEY. The reference 183 was a cut and paste directly from the Scotsman rag.
Furthermore the 11,000 figure who are supposedly eligible to vote in next years referendum is a downright lie. There are not or will be 11,000 secondary pupils from Aberdeenshire schools eligible to vote next year.
The mock referendum was rolled out for every secondary pupil in Aberdeenshire, in otherwords from age 11 upwards. I will try and find out how many are truly eligible and see how that skews the blatant twisting of the result.
Thanks again for amending the 18% lead to 8%
As a retired geologist with experience in engineering geology and hydrogeology, I would agree with sneddon and kininvie that the potential for fracking in Scotland outside the Central Belt is close to zero, because of the lack of shales with significant organic content.
Although I have not looked into the pros and cons of fracking, my guess is that it could be acceptable in suitable (carefully chosen) locations if done correctly, but it will probably cause major problems when it is done in the wrong place (i.e. too close to an important aquifer) and/or mistakes are made during construction/operation. If fracking is commonplace, it will be ‘when’, not ‘if’, and the consequences if a major aquifer is contaminated in an area reliant on groundwater could be huge. I suspect that eventually the rush to fracking will be seen as a huge mistake.
@Scaraben
Although cental belt shale was not entirely worked out before the mines closed, I don’t imagine there’s an economic amount left close to the surface, and what there is will be riddled with flooded workings.
But I’ve read that fracking targets shales that lie far deeper than can be reached by conventional mining. Is this the case? And do you know whether the central belt contains such deep shales?
Here’s a map of the 13th onshore round of exploration licenses on offer:
link to gov.uk
Of course, there’s a message in the above: If we don’t like fracking, then we have to get the licensing under our control for a start.
Trident will be gone the US administration can no longer afford the support. The US administration has no objection and wants Scotland in NATO and the EU
Shale Gas is used in the US, but it is still one of the most indebted countries in the world, just raised it’s debt ceiling from $16trn to $18trn. At this rate it will not be able to afford support to an apartheid State and 122 nuclear warheads.
Much opposition to the EU comes from reports in the right wing Press (the majority). The Press Barons like the tax evasion in the City of London, it adds to their wealth. The City of London is the tax evasion Capital of the world. It has a negative effect on the world economy.
The UK can no longer meet it’s NATO commitments to cover surveillance in the Atlantic. The aircraft used, worth £Billions were recently sold off for £Millions. The Base in Scotland was shut down. The promises made at the time, to relocated other Army Forces were reneged on.
Does the Scottish Gov not have control over Fracking licence?
It was reported that the Scottish Gov had received no request for Fracking licence.
3,000 – 16+ year olds will be eligible to vote? How many will turnout? No big deal with a high turnout.
It’s the Postal Vote that is a problem. A third of the Voters in recent elections. With no checks and balances. Open to corruption.
Right will triumph over might, in the long run.
If thanks to the great uninformed/misinformed Scottish sheeple there’s a no vote and the neo feudalists in Westminster get to frack Scotland (which they’ll do before they do it anywhere else) then it’s game over for “Scotland”. There really has to be a strong and concerted effort by those with the resources and the know how to get the truth about this out to the Scottish public at large.
What’s Salmond’s view on it? I’ve no idea because I’ve never heard him say anything about it, just like I’ve never heard a peep from him or Sturgeon about their/SNP’s view on whether or not they think that playing the banksters’ game with an unbacked fiat currency is a good idea or not. Why aren’t they being asked these questions? Not by the MSM of course, but by informed people, bloggers, activists etc.
It isn’t just religious-minded who are against so-called “assisted suicide” or “assisted dying”. Many disabled people and disabled activist groups are also against it. As artist-activist Liz Crow puts it, the only time the media are interested in the opinions of disabled people is when they want to kill themselves. Simply discussing legalised killing of disabled people and the elderly alone, rather than giving everyone the right to be helped to kill themselves, shows how this debate comes seriously close to the discredited ideas related to eugenics.
Can you tell me please the number of people survied for this poll, and which demographic you used? I would like to use this information in school lessons.
Many thanks,
Thomas Tyrrell
I’m not surprised with the EU poll result, not in the slightest. I’m of course voting ‘Yes’ as I do not see the SNP’s charge to taking Scotland into the EU post ‘Yes’ as a game changer.
A friend of mine an IT lecturer says he wants Scotland to be independent so will be voting ‘NO’. His reasoning makes sense, what’s independent about being an EU member state, one that permits economic and political union?
I like him would much prefer Alex Salmond to offer an in/out referendum should ‘Yes’ be returned this keeping folks like my friend onboard instead of him voting ‘NO’, waiting on the UK in/out vote in 2017 (If it ever comes to pass) taking everyone out then waiting for the indy referendum question to arise next time under different circumstances.
I am also informed lecturers and teachers are pushing the ‘NO’ vote so other than parental, Olympics influence the young uns are hearing from what they consider to be a sound source without having to do any homework on this particular subject.
Encouraging poll, a 4% swing is only one masterstroke from our First Minister away. I can’t help but feel he is going to pull a rabbit from the hat not far from the vote.
A friend of mine an IT lecturer says he wants Scotland to be independent so will be voting ‘NO’.
Just to check – that’s a “No” to Scotland being in the EU (in the event of there being a Scottish EU in/out referendum) after voting “Yes” in the Scots 2014 indy ref?
Really surprised by the royalty result but I guess a lot of oldies like me had it shoved down their throats at school. I was watching our fabulous football team demolish Northern Ireland the other night and I didn’t bother to switch channels as usual when god save the quean (sic) came on. I haven’t heard it for years so it was strangely surreal watching a line of young women imploring a supernatural being to help another human being rule over them.
@Murray
Correct.
Should Yes be returned and given the importance and implications of Scotland becoming an EU member state and all it entails, I believe it would be proper and democratic to offer an in/out referendum on membership. There will be two years negotiations between both an independent Scotland and the rUK, this could be done during this period.
Should the unthinkable happen and a No is returned in 2014 those in favour of Scotland keeping well clear of EU membership would have to rely on Cameron’s in/out referendum in 2017.
As I said, I’m undecided on Scotland’s relationship with the EU, it’s extremely complex but do believe Alex Salmond has our best interests and will negotiate a good deal for Scotland with some of the opt-outs the UK has. For this reason I am not letting this issue be a barrier to voting Yes unlike my friend.
I’m really surprised Scotland’s proposed EU member state default position should Yes be successful is not discussed more on here given the lack of control membership would mean.
Any thoughts Murray?