The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Newsnight Scotland, 7-11-11

Posted on November 08, 2011 by

A fairly in-depth lead piece on the "devo max" conundrum, including an interview with referendum expert Dr Matt Qvortrup who, under very determined and persistent questioning from an unhappy Glenn Campbell, offered the professional opinion that a notional two-question poll where Q1 was "Do you want more powers for the Scottish Parliament?" and Q2 was "Do you also want full independence?" would be both legitimate and fair, and also that in his view, a vote of 51% for independence in such a scenario would mean independence for Scotland, regardless of whether the "devo max" question received a higher vote.

The unambiguous clarification of Dr Qvortrup's position was welcome given the strenuous attempts by the Unionist parties to misrepresent it last week, after the First Minister gave what turned out to be an entirely accurate summary of Dr Qvortrup's views, but one based on an erroneous source. Dr Qvortrup confirmed that he'd spoken to the First Minister and accepted his "misquote" was an honest error rather than an attempt to portray his views inaccurately.

The episode also featured a piece on whether the Scottish Conservatives can recover from the divisions caused by their leadership contest, in which party donor John McGlynn called for a change in direction.

Comment - please read this page for comment rules. HTML tags like <i> and <b> are permitted. Use paragraph breaks in long comments. DO NOT SIGN YOUR COMMENTS, either with a name or a slogan. If your comment does not appear immediately, DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and I WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMMERS.


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,990 Posts, 1,253,103 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • James Che on Faces In Sand: “Does Scotland need a referendum to leave the rUK. If it is not legally in the rUK since the 28th…” Oct 25, 08:38
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “How odd, Bob. My benchmark 30 seconds of internet research, which any eejit can repeat for herself, reveals that in…” Oct 25, 08:35
    • James Che on Faces In Sand: “Scotlands prison without bars is just a story book that Westminster parliament made up to impress other Countries and officials…” Oct 25, 08:25
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““stick yer moon cheese up yer arse ya rocket” Good to see you having a relaxed Saturday night, Dan. Sad…” Oct 25, 08:18
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Whoops, Geri! Ye’ve dropped 10 biolabs there. One of the many problems with making stuff up. You lose track. “No…” Oct 25, 08:00
    • James Che on Faces In Sand: “Scotland democratic vote for a referendum to leave the UK, There is no democratic way or mechanism, Hatey is correct,…” Oct 25, 07:47
    • Dan on Faces In Sand: ““The same people with a flourishing space program and credible plans to exploit the Moon.” Oh aye, have they fired…” Oct 24, 22:52
    • robertkknight on Faces In Sand: “Posted without comment… Religion: CofE: 80.6% No, 19.4% Yes” Oct 24, 22:12
    • Geri on Faces In Sand: “See Shit face, there exists this little thing called international treaties. Those treaties carry international clout. They’re, supposedly, upheld by…” Oct 24, 22:11
    • Lorncal on Faces In Sand: “Hmmmmm… You may be right, H McH. I did read somewhere that some of the masks for medical staff were…” Oct 24, 21:36
    • robertkknight on Faces In Sand: “2014 Referendum Study Demographics Birth place: oUK: 57.1% No, 42.9% Yes rUK: 72.1% No, 27.9% Yes SCO: 47.3% No, 52.7%…” Oct 24, 21:35
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““the real nations are the tribes and the country boundaries reflect nothing of this” Check out the big brain on…” Oct 24, 20:14
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Having made the bulk of the transition to renewables (which I believe Norway has), it’s foolhardy to pull up the…” Oct 24, 19:49
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““But guess what???” Hmmm, let’s see. I guess that EU Citizens, in addition to those of the Republic of Ireland,…” Oct 24, 19:32
    • robertkknight on Faces In Sand: “Our learned misnomer talks about democracy. LOL. If all were fair, equal, democratic and meaningful, then EU Citizens, in addition…” Oct 24, 18:35
    • Luigi on Faces In Sand: “Sigh. Is it too much to ask for our aspiring politicians to take an IQ test? No need to raise…” Oct 24, 18:34
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““you can’t go swimming until you can swim” Let’s see now. That thing you’re doing when you’re out of your…” Oct 24, 18:23
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““the same ppl who love a Jenny” I think I get what you’re on about there, Geri. You’re insisting that…” Oct 24, 18:13
    • Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““Thankfully – colonialism is over” Ah, c’moan noo, Geri, ye ken that’s a fib. The coloniser in the east, the…” Oct 24, 18:02
    • sam on Faces In Sand: “You might read this? https://justiceactionmaribyrnong.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Contemporary-Anti-Colonial-Self-Determination-Claims-and-the-Decolonisation-of-International-Law.pdf” Oct 24, 16:37
    • TURABDIN on Faces In Sand: “Referenda & elections are only as good as the data fed into them, rather like AI training. Corrupted or biased…” Oct 24, 15:45
    • Dan on Faces In Sand: “Interesting… #Ohm’sLaw content. Noticed that Norway is currently exporting 1.45GW to UK, but UK is currently exporting 1.35GW to Denmark.…” Oct 24, 15:44
    • robertkknight on Faces In Sand: “Hey, Mr Misnomer… Just for you: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/independence-referendum-figures-revealed-majority-5408163.amp” Oct 24, 14:53
    • Dan on Faces In Sand: “Yay, for post responding to Hatey’s brake hack released from moderation. To add a bit more info. Brake fluid has…” Oct 24, 14:26
    • DaveL on Faces In Sand: “‘They need to see that the institutions will function, the economy will stabilise, and the transition will be orderly.’ In…” Oct 24, 14:14
    • Geri on Faces In Sand: “Do they really? So a slogan on a bus & parroting ‘take back control ‘ didn’t work for Brexshit? Who…” Oct 24, 13:30
    • factcjecker on Faces In Sand: “Geri, I note the impeccable logic of your position. When it refers to England: “They’re hard wired racists. If “foreigners”…” Oct 24, 12:37
    • Geri on Faces In Sand: “That rewinding prick should be forced onto the first bus out of here. Why isn’t he? He’ll be receiving government…” Oct 24, 12:34
    • Northcode on Faces In Sand: “A forward-looking, inclusive case for independence can only persuade if it feels real. That means it must be grounded in…” Oct 24, 12:32
    • Dan on Faces In Sand: “fc says: “Thanks for the kind and polite words, Dan. That’s the way to formulate an argument.” Nae bother, treat…” Oct 24, 12:10
  • A tall tale



↑ Top