Everything about Scottish Independence totally explained
Scottish independence is a political ambition of a number of
political parties,
pressure groups and individuals for
Scotland to
secede from the
United Kingdom.
The
Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state from its own
unification in
843, until
1707, when the
Treaty of Union was passed by the
Scottish Parliament, which led to the formation of the united
Kingdom of Great Britain. The
Acts of Union, that put the Treaty into effect provided for the merging of the two nations by means of dissolution of the
Parliament of Scotland and the
Parliament of England and their replacement by a new
Parliament of Great Britain. As a result of provisions in the Treaty, as well as much of Scotland's relative isolation, many of Scotland's institutions remained separate and the
Scottish national identity has remained strong and distinct.
At the time of the union of the parliaments, the measure was deeply unpopular in both Scotland and England. Indeed, the Scottish signatories to the treaty were forced to sign the documents in secrecy due to mass rioting and unrest in the Scottish
capital Edinburgh.
Those who oppose Scottish independence and endorse the continuation of a form of union make a distinction between
nationalism and
patriotism, believing being part of the United Kingdom to be in the Scottish
national interest, and arguing that cultural, social, political, diplomatic and economic influence and benefits enjoyed by Scotland as part of a
great power, without compromising its distinctive
national identity, outweighs the loss of fully independent Scottish
sovereignty. Supporters of Scottish independence claim that the loss of independently Scottish representation internationally is detrimental to Scottish interests, and that as the
British government acts primarily in the interest of the entire United Kingdom, they claim it can be, in specific instances, to the inadvertent or perceived detriment of specifically Scottish interests.
History
Early formation and Wars of Independence
The
Kingdom of Alba first emerged as a unified
nation state in 843, with its capital at
Scone, under the rule of
King Kenneth I, who as ruler of the
Gaelic Kingdom of
Dál Riata led a conquest of the
Pictish kingdom
Fortriu and later expanded his territories to control parts of the
Brythonic
Kingdom of Strathclyde and the
Anglo Kingdom of Northumbria after the
Battle of Carham. A similar process of amalgamation also came about in the South of
Great Britain with the formation of the
Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, that developed into the neighbouring
Kingdom of England. The border between the two states was eventually formalised by the
Treaty of York in 1237. The Kingdom of Scotland further expanded with the signing of the
Treaty of Perth with
Norway in 1266, although
Orkney and
Shetland would remain under Norwegian rule until 1468. A reliance on sea trade led to close links with the
Baltic states, the
Low Countries,
Ireland and
France. A
crisis of succession in 1290 severely weakened Scotland and led to an opportunity for the neighbouring English king, who had recently
conquered the Welsh Kingdoms, to further consolidate his rule over the whole of
Great Britain.
Edward I of
England invaded Scotland in 1296 and was initially successful in subduing much of Scotland. However, Edward died in 1307 and Scottish troops under the command of
King Robert I began waging a war of liberation. Initially employing
guerilla tactics that were pioneered by
William Wallace, Robert was enormously successful and strengthened his position as king, although he was still fighting a de facto civil war against supporters of his murdered rival
John Comyn, who were eventually defeated at the
Battle of Inverurie in 1308. In 1314
Edward II sent a large English army to quell the Scottish rising. However, Edward's superior army was routed at the
Battle of Bannockburn. King Robert had won a decisive victory and Scotland secured its independence.
England eventually recognised Scottish independence in the
Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton. After the death of Robert the Bruce however,
Edward Balliol and his supporters renewed the rival claim to the throne and counted on English support, which culminated in an English invasion in 1332, sparking the
Second War of Scottish Independence. The English took
Berwick-upon-Tweed after the
Battle of Halidon Hill but this War coincided with the
Hundred Years' War, and eventually England became preoccupied with this cause. Bruce's son,
David II of Scotland acting in support of France in the
Auld Alliance was taken prisoner at the
Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346 after his disastrous invasion of England, and was only released eleven years later in 1357, after the
Parliament of Scotland agreed to pay a 100,000 Marks ransom in the
Treaty of Berwick, which also marked the last attempt by the Kingdom of England to directly interfere in the
Scottish succession.
Berwick-upon-Tweed itself, remained a disputed territory between England and Scotland, resulting in the
Anglo-Scottish Wars, which involved battles such as the
Battle of Otterburn,
Battle of Nesbit Moor and the
Battle of Humbleton Hill, until the eventual signing of the
Treaty of Perpetual Peace in 1502. This treaty was also later broken however, with Scotland's invasion of England, again as part of the Auld Alliance, in the
War of the League of Cambrai in 1513, culminating in the
Battle of Flodden Field. A further war with England broke out under
King James V with the
Battle of Haddon Rig and
Battle of Solway Moss in 1542. After the King's death, and the coronation of
Mary Queen of Scots, the first proposal for a Union of the two Kingdoms was raised in the
Treaty of Greenwich, which itself ultimately led to further conflict in
The Rough Wooing. The last pitched battle to be fought between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England was the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547.
Union of the Crowns
In 1603
King James VI of Scotland inherited the throne of England (as King James I), after the death of
Queen Elizabeth I, and thus "united" Scotland and England under a single monarch. His first obstacle in this imperial ambition however was the attitude of the
Parliament of England which opposed the loss of England's independence. In Scotland the union desired by James met with the same lack of zeal that it did in England.
Treaty of Union
Political union. Both the Scottish and the English Parliaments were dissolved, and all their powers were transferred to a new
Parliament of Great Britain located in the largest city in the new United Kingdom,
London. Certain significant matters remained separate, including
Scots law, the
Burgh system,
education in Scotland, the
Church of Scotland and the
Order of the Thistle. Most aspects of
Scottish culture and
Scottish national identity remained strong and distinct.
On
16 January 1707, after three months of clause-by-clause debate, the Scots Parliament voted decisively by 110 to 67 for union. The ultimate securing of the treaty in the
Parliament of Scotland can be attributed to a number of factors. One of the primary motivations in favour of the Union was constitutional. In England, the
Glorious Revolution of 1688 that had deposed the Catholic
King James II in favour of his Protestant daughter
Queen Mary II and her husband
William of Orange had been widely welcomed, but in Scotland, it was far more controversial. The Presbyterian majority tended to support King William, while the significant minority of Episcopalians and Catholics tended to support James. The passing of the
Claim of Right Act 1689 led to the first of the
Jacobite risings, resulting in the
Battles of Killiecrankie,
Dunkeld and
Cromdale.
The
Act of Settlement 1701 was, in many ways, a major cause of the Union. The Parliament of Scotland wasn't happy with the Act of Settlement, as the English Parliament had determined the heir to the throne was
Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of
King James VI of Scotland, without formally consulting the Scottish Parliament. In response, the Scottish Parliament passed the
Salic Law-based
Act of Security in 1704, which gave Scotland the right to choose its own Protestant male successor to the childless
Queen Anne.
As a result, the
Parliament of England — fearing that at the height of the
War of the Spanish Succession, Scotland under a separate, potentially
Stuart, monarchy would restore the
Auld Alliance with
France — decided that, in order to deter any potential French-supported Jacobite invasion of Great Britain, full union of the two Parliaments and nations was essential before Anne's death, and with French military power weakened after the
Battle of Blenheim, used a combination of exclusionary legislation (the
Alien Act of 1705), diplomacy and bribery to achieve it within three years under the Act of Union 1707. This was in marked contrast to the four attempts at political union between 1606 and 1689, which all failed owing to a lack of political will in both kingdoms. By virtue of Article II of the Treaty of Union, which defined the succession to the British Crown, the Act of Settlement became part of
Scots Law as well.
The failure of the
Darien scheme, which had effectively bankrupted many people in Scotland and drained the fragile Scottish economy of more than a quarter of its
liquid assets, was another major incentive. Many Commissioners had invested heavily in the
Company of Scotland and they believed that they'd receive compensation for their losses; Article 14 of the Act of Union stipulated that a future Parliament of Great Britain would grant
£398,085 10
s sterling to Scotland to offset future Scottish liability towards the English national debt. In essence, it was also used as a means of compensation for Scotland's losses in the Darien Scheme. Half of Scotland's trade in the early 1700's was with England, and this, along with the offer of further
free trade with England's already extensive
overseas colonies, was likely one of the principal reasons the Acts of Union were not as heavily resisted by the government of Scotland as they'd with other previous attempts to amalgamate the two countries. Bribery was also prevalent, Many
petitions were sent to parliament against the union, and there were protests in
Edinburgh and several other Scottish towns on the day it was passed, threats of widespread civil unrest resulted in the imposition of
martial law. As a result of the unrest in the capital, the signing of the treaty had to be conducted in secrecy.
Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath noted that "the whole nation appears against the Union."
Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, an ardent pro-unionist, observed that the treaty was "contrary to the inclinations of at least three-fourths of the Kingdom". Many opponents of the Treaty of Union had proposed an alternative to full Parliamentary Union along the lines of other European composite states, such as the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Despite this initial opposition, the economic benefits to Scotland from the Union soon became apparent with the beginning of the
Scottish Enlightenment,
American Tobacco Trade and later growth from the expansion of the
British Empire and
Industrial Revolution which led to the rapid expansion and industrialisation of
Edinburgh and
Glasgow.
Scottish home rule
Visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822, and subsequent rise in
Tartanry, did much to reinvigorate a sense of a specifically Scottish national identity, which had been split between the
Episcopalian and
Roman Catholic-dominated
Highlands and the
Presbyterian-dominated
Lowlands since the
Glorious Revolution in 1688, and continued during the 18th century through the
Jacobite risings, the
Act of Proscription and subsequent process of
Highland Clearances by landlords. From the mid
19th century calls for the
devolution of control over Scottish affairs began to be raised, but support for full independence remained limited. The "home rule" movement for a
Scottish Assembly was first taken up in 1853 by a body close to the
Conservative Party, complaining about the fact that Ireland received more support from the British Government than Scotland and soon began to receive
Liberal Party backing,
The Scottish National Party itself was formed in 1934 after the union of the
National Party of Scotland and
Scottish Party. The SNP didn't support all-out independence for Scotland, but rather the establishment of a devolved
Scottish Assembly, within the United Kingdom. This became the party's initial position on the constitutional status of Scotland as a result of a compromise between the NPS, who did support independence, and the Scottish Party who were devolutionists. However, the SNP quickly reverted to the original NPS stance of supporting full independence for Scotland. The
Interwar period proved difficult years for the SNP, with the rise of undemocratic nationalist forces in Europe in the shape of fascism in Italy and Spain and
national socialism in Germany. The alleged similarity between SNP and foreign nationalists, combined with other factors such as a lack of profile in the mainstream media made it difficult for the SNP to grow.
The concept of full independence or the less controversial
Home-rule, didn't re-enter the Scottish mainstream until the 1960's, with the famous
Wind of Change speech by
Harold Macmillan, which marked the high-point of
Decolonisation and the decline of the
British Empire, which had already suffered the humiliation of the 1956
Suez Crisis. For many in Scotland, this served to undermine one of the principal
raison d'êtres of the
United Kingdom and also symbolised the end of popular
imperialism and imperial unity which had united the prominent
Scottish Unionist Party, which subsequently entered a steady decline in support. The SNP won a Parliamentary seat in 1967, when
Winnie Ewing was the surprise winner of the
Hamilton by-election, 1967. This brought the SNP to national prominence, leading to
Edward Heath's 1968
Declaration of Perth and the establishment of the
Kilbrandon Commission.
1970s resurgence
North Sea oil off the east coast of Scotland further invigorated the debate over Scottish independence. The
Scottish National Party organised a hugely successful campaign entitled "
It's Scotland's oil", emphasising the way in which the discovery of oil could benefit Scotland's then-struggling
Deindustrialising economy and its populace. In the
February 1974 General Election the SNP returned 7 MPs. The failure of the Labour Party to secure an overall majority prompted them to quickly return to the polls. In the subsequent
October 1974 election, the SNP performed even better than they'd done earlier in the year, winning 11 MPs and managing to garner over 30% of the total vote in Scotland.
The Labour Party under
Harold Wilson had won the election by a tiny majority of only 3 seats. Following their election to parliament, the SNP MPs pressed for the creation of a
Scottish Assembly, which was given added credibility after the conclusions of the Kilbrandon Commission. However, opponents demanded that a referendum be held on the issue. Although the
Labour Party and the Scottish National Party both officially supported devolution, support was split in both parties. Labour was divided between those who favoured devolution and those who wanted to maintain a full central Westminster government. In the SNP, there was division between those who saw devolution as a stepping stone to independence and those who feared it might actually distract from that ultimate goal. It was therefore incorrect to conclude that the 36.4% who didn't vote, was entirely down to
Voter apathy.
In protest, the Scottish National Party MPs withdrew their support from the government. A
vote of no confidence was then tabled by the Conservatives and supported by the SNP, the Liberals and
Ulster Unionists. It passed by one vote on 28 March 1979, forcing the
May 1979 General Election, which was won by
Margaret Thatcher, effectively ending the
Post-war consensus. The then Labour Prime Minister,
James Callaghan, famously described this decision by the SNP as that of, 'turkeys voting for Christmas'. The SNP returned only two MPs in the 1979 election, leading to the formation of the controversial
79 Group within the SNP.
Devolution
Home Rule movement which included many supporters of union who wanted devolution within the framework of the
United Kingdom. Some saw it as a stepping stone to independence, while others wanted to go straight for independence.
In the years of the Conservative government post 1979, the
Campaign for a Scottish Assembly was established, eventually publishing the
Claim of Right 1989. This then led to the
Scottish Constitutional Convention. The convention promoted consensus on devolution on a cross-party basis, though the Conservative Party refused to co-operate and the Scottish National Party withdrew from the discussions when it became clear that the convention was unwilling to discuss Scottish independence as a constitutional option.
John Major, the Conservative prime minister before May 1997, campaigned during the 1997 General Election on the slogan "72 hours to save the union".
The Labour Party won the
1997 General Election and
Donald Dewar as
Secretary of State for Scotland agreed to the proposals for a
Scottish Parliament. A referendum was held in September of that year and seventy-five percent of those who voted approved the devolution plan. The
Parliament of the United Kingdom subsequently approved the
Scotland Act which created an elected
Scottish Parliament with control over most domestic policy.
The Labour Party's Donald Dewar became the
First Minister of Scotland, while the Scottish National Party became the main opposition party. With the approval of all parties, the egalitarian song "
A Man's A Man for A' That" by
Robert Burns, was performed at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Parliament has
legislative authority for all non-
reserved matters relating to Scotland, and has
limited power to vary income tax, a power it has yet to exercise. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation by passing a
Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for certain issues. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament since 1999 have seen a divergence in the provision of
public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. For instance, the costs of a
university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places.
Scotland is also represented in the
British House of Commons by
59 MPs elected from territory-based
Scottish constituencies.
The Scottish National Party emerged from the
2007 Scottish Parliament election as the single largest party by a margin of one seat, breaking the
Labour Party's 30 year dominance of
politics in Scotland. Lacking an overall
majority, the Scottish National Party formed a
minority government, installing leader
Alex Salmond as
First Minister of Scotland. Alex Salmond has announced that his government intends to publish a
white paper that will include issuing a bill on holding an independence
Referendum to the Scottish Parliament. If this was passed by Parliament and a "yes" outcome was obtained in a subsequent national plebiscite, it would establish a mandate for the
Scottish Executive to open talks with the
British Government, with a view to repealing the
Acts of Union 1707, eventually restoring Scotland's independent sovereignty.
Referendum on independence
The
SNP government has a manifesto commitment of holding a
referendum by 2010.
Although the
Scottish Conservatives and
Scottish Liberal Democrats continue to remain opposed to the notion of holding a referendum, in May 2008
Scottish Labour Party leader
Wendy Alexander called for a referendum within 12 months, saying the SNP should have "courage of its convictions". Subsequently, Labour Prime Minister
Gordon Brown denied during
Prime Minister's Questions that this is what Alexander had intended.. Alexander's statement also caused concern amongst the other founders of the
Scottish Constitutional Commission. In response to Alexander, First Minister
Alex Salmond told the Scottish parliament that he'd be sticking to the SNP manifesto commitment of a 2010 referendum, which would be held in the same year as the
next General Election.<
It should be noted however that any referendum for Scottish independence or any Scottish parliamentary bill seeking to change the constitutional status of Scotland as determined by the Scottish Parliament wouldn't be legally binding on the UK Government; under the
Scotland Act 1998 the United Kingdom parliament holds absolute
parliamentary sovereignty and any changes to the contitutional status are reserved as a matter for Westminster. Further, the UK Parliament has the right to ammend, alter or repeal the Scotland Act and remove the consititutional status of the Scottish Parliament at any time, allowing it to effectively block any move for independence - although such an action would have significant political ramifications.
Support for independence
Nationalism
Scots National League formed in 1921 as a body primarily based in
London seeking Scottish independence, largely influenced by
Sinn Féin. They established the
Scots Independent newspaper in 1926 and in 1928 they helped the
Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association form the
National Party of Scotland, aiming at a separate Scottish state. One of the founders was
Hugh MacDiarmid, a poet who had begun promoting a Scottish literature, while others had Labour Party links.
They cooperated with the
Scottish Party, a home rule organisation formed in 1932 by former members of the
Conservative Party, and in 1934 they merged to form the
Scottish National Party which at first supported only home rule, but then changed to supporting independence. They suffered a setback in the 1930s when the name of nationalism became associated with the
National Socialists in
Germany, however it's important to emphasise that Scottish nationalism is based on
civic nationalism rather than ethnic or ultra-nationalism. The SNP enjoyed a number of election successes in the 1960s, and the discovery of
North Sea oil in the 1970s countered concerns about the economic viability of an independent Scotland.
Self-determination
A number of cross party groupings have been established with the aim of widening the scope of the pro-independence viewpoint and campaigning for a referendum on the issue. The most significant being the
Independence Convention which seeks "Firstly, to create a forum for those of all political persuasions and none who support independence; and secondly, to be a national catalyst for Scottish independence." Another being
Independence First, a pro-referendum
pressure group which has organised public demonstrations.
Political parties
Scottish independence is supported most prominently by the
Scottish National Party, but other parties also have pro-independence policies. Among them are the
Scottish Green Party, the
Scottish Socialist Party,
Solidarity and the
Scottish Independence Party.
Fifty of the seats in the Scottish Parliament are held by pro-independence members, nearly 40% of the total. This comprises 47 Scottish National Party members, two Green members and
Margo MacDonald, an independent politician.
Opposition
England,
Wales, and
Northern Ireland. This has never emerged as a homogeneous movement, but rather represents a general consensus of the main
British political parties and other prominent commentators. Specifically within the
Scottish Parliament. The Union is supported by the
Scottish Labour Party,
Scottish Conservative Party and
Scottish Liberal Democrats, who since the
2007 election, collectively hold 79 of the 129 seats, over 60% of the Parliament. Opposition to Scottish independence is also held by many individual figures such as
George Galloway, it's also opposed by many smaller political parties such as the
Scottish Unionist Party and
UKIP.It is a broad viewpoint that ranges from those in support of the United Kingdom as a centralised
unitary state governed exclusively by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, to those who support varying degrees of
devolved transfer of administrative and legislative responsibilities from
Westminster to
Holyrood, including those who support a solution to the controversial
West Lothian question, such as
Federalism, similar to
Germany,
Canada or the
United States.
Many opposed to independence argue that the
Economy of Scotland has performed well in recent years, with consistent economic growth,
urban regeneration, a growing population, historically low unemployment rates, Edinburgh's position as Europe's fifth largest financial centre and Scottish
GDP per capita being the largest of any part of the United Kingdom after
Greater London. As a result of this, Unionists believe Scotland is economically stronger as a part of the
United Kingdom Economy, and that a country as relatively small as Scotland is comparatively better able to prosper in an increasingly
globalised world with the international influence and stability derived from being part of an economically
powerful state. Many Unionists have also contested claims by the SNP that Scotland currently underperforms economically, relative to other small countries in the region; such as
Norway,
Finland and
Ireland. Also, with the
Treasury's Barnett formula, Scotland is currently able to sustain higher levels of
per capita public spending relative to the rest of the UK, due to its disproportionate contribution of tax revenues from oil production.
Unionists claim this would be difficult to sustain after independence, without raising taxes, as
North Sea oil revenues will
decline in the longer-term, although others argue that a culture of maintaining a comparatively large public sector and
welfare state in Scotland is also an impediment to more substantial and competitive economic growth seen in other nations like
Ireland, and that the surplus oil revenue ought to have been invested in a
Sovereign wealth fund like
The Government Pension Fund of Norway, with some wishing to reduce public spending and devolve more fiscal powers to the Scottish Parliament in order to address this issue within the broader framework of the Union.
Others argue that as part of a unitary British state, Scotland has more influence on
international affairs and diplomacy, both
politically and
militarily, as part of
NATO, the
G8 and as a permanent member of the
UN Security Council. Accrding to the laws governing
Successor states, in a similar manner to the way
Russia succeeded the former
Soviet Union's position within the international community, the rest of the United Kingdom would retain all its
diplomatic links and membership of
international organisations, with Scotland having to raise its own
Armed Forces, establish its own
diplomatic contacts and apply for separate membership of international organistions such as the
United Nations, as the rest of the UK would continue to maintain its seat on the Security Council.
Some within Scotland who oppose further
integration of the
European Union also claim that independence within Europe outside the
EU three would, paradoxically, mean that Scotland would be more marginalised, as a relatively small independent country applying to join the EU, Scotland would be unable to resist the whims and demands of larger member nations, such as being obliged to adopt the
Euro and have no greater influence over the formation of treaties like the
Common Fisheries Policy, and as a result would be even more politically "impotent" with the resulting loss of its current political influence within the UK Government, which has been claimed by some to be so significant that it has been occasionally dubbed as the "
Scottish raj".
There are others who view a desire for independence as symptomatic of the so-called
parochial "
Scottish cringe" and assert that some nationalists are
Bigoted or
Anglophobic chauvinists in their attitude towards England.As a result, many unionists emphasise the historical and contemporary cultural ties between Scotland and the rest of the UK, from the
Reformation and
Union of Crowns, to Scottish involvement in the growth and development of the
British Empire and contribution of the
Scottish Enlightenment and
Industrial Revolution, to a shared solidarity during the
Battle of Britain to shared contemporary
Popular culture, primarily through the prevalence of the
English language and a shared
currency, to the current demographics, where almost half of the Scottish population have relatives in England, almost a million Scots living and working in England and 400,000
Anglo-Scots now living in Scotland. There are also significant economic links with the Scottish
Military-industrial complex as well as close links between the Scottish financial sector and
Global London-based financial institutions, such as the
London Stock Exchange.
Public opinion
Despite the large number of
opinion polls conducted on the issue, it's difficult to gauge accurately Scottish public opinion on independence because of the often widely varying results of the polls. Poll results often differ wildly depending on the wording of the question, with the terms such as "break up" and "seperation" often provoking a negative response. For example, an opinion poll published by the
The Scotsman newspaper in November 2006 revealed that a "Majority of Scots now favour independence". However, a poll conducted only a matter of weeks later purported the exact opposite. The research funded by
Channel 4 reported that "The figure in support of Scottish independence had seemingly dropped". A third poll by
The Daily Telegraph claimed that a significant proportion of Britons would accept the breakup of the United Kingdom. Research conducted in early 2007 revealed that Scottish independence was increasingly appealing to younger Scots.
In a poll in 2007 commissioned by the Scotsman newspaper it said Scottish independence was at a 10 year low with only 21% of people in support for it. However, the poll also showed that Alex Salmond's personal
Approval rating was high. Conversely, a 2008 opinion poll commissioned by the Sunday Herald newspaper, showed that support for independence was 1% higher than for the status quo The issue of public support for a referendum on Scottish independence or greater devolution is much more clear cut.
When polls give three options, including an option for greater
devolution or a new
federal settlement, but stopping short of independence, support for independence significantly declines. In a poll by
The Times, published in April 2007, given a choice between independence, the status quo, or greater powers for the Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom, the last option had majority support. The issue of public support for a referendum on Scottish independence or greater devolution is much more clear cut. Polls show a consistent support for a referendum, including amongst those who support the continuation of the union. Most opinion polls place the figure of support for a referendum around 70–75%.
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