
When it comes to nationalist propaganda, the Scottish Nasty Party have evidently stepped into the shoes occupied by their 'Irish' counterparts 10 or more years ago. They have managed to leak out snippets of propaganda that the MSM is, alas, failing to adequately challenge. One of the SNP's latest press releases concerns the alleged positive persuasive tactics of their party. The SNP begin their little Pravda piece with the following passage:
'A poll for the BBC shows an increasing number of Scots back the SNP's call for the Scottish Parliament to negotiate for Scotland to become an independent state.'
Whoa, steady horsey!! Let's not let your vicious anti-Britishness get ahead of you. What the BBC poll respondents actually said was that they requested a referendum to settle the issue, perhaps because they are somewhat fed-up with the focus of politics north of the Border resting on a pointless and completely destabilising aim of breaking the Union when more mundane political matters should be, and were meant to be, the order of the day for the Scottish Parliament following its inception. According to the BBC a clear majority of Scots want their nation to remain within the United Kingdom family.
Moreover, the poll found different degrees of support for the Union depending on how an independence referendum question is phrased. Rob Roy Salmond's preferred option....
'the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state'
......won 42% support with 50% opposing such a measure.
In the poll's own design of the question....
'In a referendum on independence for Scotland, how would you vote?'....
54% of respondents wanted Scotland to remain within the UK and 38% favoured an independent state.
However, when a range of options was put to the participants...
'Which of a range of scenarios were closest to people's views of how Scotland should be governed?
28% backed the option of Scotland's separating from the rest of the UK.
47% were in favour of remaining in the UK, with the Scottish Parliament able to make "some decisions about the level of taxation and government spending in Scotland."
22% said Scotland should remain part of the UK, with "decisions about the level of taxation and spending in Scotland made by the UK Government.'
On this count, support for the Union comes in at an impressive 69%. The option to include a range of choices in any hypothetical referendum also has implications for Northern Ireland. Nationalists there mistakenly think that a referendum on UK cession only has to include a straightforward question on remaining in the UK or joining the Irish Republic. The Belfast Agreement commits Parliament to no such thing. A referendum Act could include questions on remaining in the UK with Direct Rule AND remaining within the UK with a devolved Parliament as well as the option of joining the Irish Republic. Polls suggest that the margin between the two straightforward constitutional options widens when the pro-Union count is multiple choice on systems of internal governance.
With this appearing to be the case in Scotland also, the Unionist parties have an ace to play. Due to the fact that they can block a referendum if the wording doesn't suit, Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MSPs can play the ace of agreeing to a referendum if the option of remaining within the UK is mult-faceted with questions on the powers the electorate desire for Holyrood. That way they can win an even more convincing vote and effectively kick the potential destruction of our Union into the long grass for a very long time indeed.