THE 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign really began on Thursday, May 5, 2011.
The Scottish Parliament elections on that day threw up a result that the Labour grandees who devised the devolution legislation in 1997/98 had tried to make impossible – the SNP won an outright majority of seats, something that the Additional Member System of proportional representation was supposed to prevent.
The scale of the victory was crushing: Labour, who had seen the likes of Jack McConnell, Wendy Alexander and Margaret Curran all stand down, lost 22 constituency seats to the SNP who also took seats off the other two main parties – the three leaders, Iain Gray, Annabel Goldie and Tavish Scott all promptly resigned – and ended with 69 seats in the 129-member Parliament, an overall majority of four. No doubt about that mandate, then.
It is very much worth pointing out that the SNP won 45.4% of the constituency popular vote, and 44% of the regional “list” popular vote. So at a time when opinion polls were showing around 30% support for independence, the election voting itself showed that there were many more people prepared to at least consider independence – and given the eventual 44.7% Yes vote in the referendum itself, it could be argued that the Yes side was hugely successful in converting possible pro-independence voters into actual ones. Alex Salmond was duly re-elected as First Minister, and having stood on a strong policy of legislating to give the people of Scotland their say on independence, he wasted no time in setting out his Government’s position on the referendum which he said would be held in the latter part of the Parliament.
In his first speech in his second term as First Minister, Salmond said: “We see our nation emerge from the glaur of self-doubt and negativity – a change is coming and the people are ready. They put ambition ahead of hesitation and the process is not about endings, it’s about beginnings.
“Whatever changes take place in our constitution, we will remain close to our neighbours. My dearest wish is to see the countries of Scotland and England stand together as equals. There is a difference between partnership and subordination – the first encourages mutual respect, the second breeds resentment.”
It is worth recording the then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s words at the time: “I passionately believe in our United Kingdom, so I congratulate Alex Salmond on his emphatic win, but I will do everything obviously as British Prime Minister to work with the First Minister of Scotland, as I always do, and treat the Scottish people and the Scottish Government with the respect they deserve.
“But on the issue of the United Kingdom, if they want to hold a referendum, I will campaign to keep our United Kingdom together, with every single fibre that I have.”
(Contrast and compare that Cameron attitude with the “no indyref2” pledges of the current incumbent of Number 10 and his subservient branch manageress in Holyrood.) The SNP annual conference in October 2011 marked the official start of the party’s campaign for independence. Opposition politicians wanted the vote to be held as soon as possible, but even arranging the voting details would take many months, so Salmond and his Cabinet said “wait”.
The horse trading behind the scenes between the Scottish Government and the Tory-LibDem Coalition Government in Westminster soon began. David Cameron was supremely confident of victory whenever the referendum was held, but he was determined to bury the cause of independence once and for all, so while readily conceding that a Section 30 referendum – one approved by both Governments – would be granted, he took a hard line on the nitty gritty of important details such as the possibility raised by Salmond of a three-part question featuring a third option which became known as “devo max”.
Cameron was adamant that it had to be a single question with a Yes/No answer. Salmond later admitted that while he would have supported a devo max question if necessary, it was also a negotiating stance to get what his Government really wanted – the question to be set by the Scottish Government in consultation with the Electoral Commission, the vote for 16- and 17-year-olds, and the timing of the vote which Salmond had calculated to be in the autumn of 2014.
On January 10, 2012, the UK Government published its consultation paper on Scotland’s constitutional future, and 15 days later the Scottish Government published its consultation paper on the referendum. Cameron said: “We owe the Scottish people something that is fair, legal and decisive.” No one disagreed, except those who didn’t want a referendum at all.
To read the full story of the referendum, pre-order our souvenir magazine at thenational.scot/shop
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