THE YES campaign “couldn’t have done anything differently" during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, according to an ex campaign chief.
Blair Jenkins – the former Yes Scotland chief executive – told The Daily Record that’s “not to say it was a perfect campaign” or that lessons weren’t learnt.
"The vote in favour of independence ended up being much higher than anyone thought it would be at the beginning of the campaign - and that's because we did run a very good campaign,” he said.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond: Scotland would be in a better place had we voted Yes
"That's where public opinion was in Scotland at that time, it was an accurate reflection. The majority of people in Scotland were not ready to vote for independence, that's where we were then."
Jenkins, a former BBC journalist. was appointed to run the cross-party Yes Scotland organisation in 2012.
Speaking out ahead of the 10th anniversary of the landmark referendum, Jenkins said that the issue that most bring up is currency when asked what arguably could have done differently.
"And I know a lot of Yes people say, if we'd had a different currency policy, we would have won,” he (above) said.
“[But] I looked at a lot of not only public, but private, polling on currency. And the clear preference, whether they were in favour of independence or not, was to retain the pound.
"The SNP policy was in place long before Yes Scotland launched. But if they had decided to argue for a separate currency, all the polling suggests it would have been more of an uphill struggle.
"I don't think a different currency position would have been a silver bullet that changed the outcome. I don't think there is such a silver bullet."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel