What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about 2014 Scottish independence referendum, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor
154 postsBetter Together releases a video featuring a housewife who discusses how the Referendum discussion are affecting her family:
D’y’know, ma Paul’s worse than the telly these days. He will not leave off about the Referendum. He started again this morning. “Have you made a decision yet?” I was like, “It’s too early in the morning to be discussing politics. Eat your cereal”.
Murray tweets his support for independence:
Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 18, 2014
Stewart, the Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, starts the Auld Acquaintances Cairn by placing the foundation stone in a field near Gretna on the westernmost edge of the border with England. He hopes that visitors to the site will add stones until the monument is nine feet high. Stewart:
[The debate] has been too much about politicians and celebrities and not enough about giving ordinary people the chance to show how they feel.
Premier Li says at a joint press conference with Cameron in London that the union should stay together:
I believe that the United Kingdom can stay at the forefront in leading the world’s growth and development and also continue to play an important and even bigger role for regional stability and global peace, [but] we certainly respect the choice you make.
A ScotCen Scottish Social Attitudes survey shows that a majority of Scottish voters would back remaining in the union with the Scotland granted ‘maximum devolution’ of powers, if it were included as an option on the referendum ballot. It finds that 32% of voters would back a devo-max plan with the Scottish Parliament running everything apart from defence and foreign affairs, while only 31% back independence. When voters are asked to choose between independence and more devolution, 61% would back ‘devo-max’ and 39% independence. In a run-off between ‘devo-max’ and the status quo, ‘devo-max’ would win by 62% to 38%.
The Scottish Parliament in Holyrood unanimously passes the independence referendum bill, setting out rules such as the referendum question and campaign spending limits.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon:
I think we can be proud that we’re passing legislation that will put Scotland’s future into Scotland’s hands – I hope that the people of Scotland will seize that opportunity, seize that future, seize that prospect of a better Scotland with a resounding ‘Yes’ vote.
First Minister Salmond announces that Sept. 18, 2014 has been selected as the date for Scotland’s vote on independence from the UK. He says this will be:
A date which becomes etched in our nation’s story as the day Scotland took a decisive step forward to a better, fairer future.
The Scottish government approves the Electoral Commissions recommendation for the referendum question. The question submitted to Parliament for approval for the public to vote on consists of six words:
Should Scotland be an independent country?
Voters have the choice to answer only Yes or No.
The UK and Scottish governments agree to ‘work together to ensure that a referendum on Scottish independence can take place.’ The agreement issued in Edinburgh says the referendum should fulfill several conditions:
Have a clear legal basis;
be legislated for by the Scottish Parliament;
be conducted so as to command the confidence of parliaments, governments and people, and;
deliver a fair test and a decisive expression of the views of people in Scotland and a result that everyone will respect.
The governments agree to promote an Order in Council under Section 30 of the Scotland Act of 1998 in the UK and Scottish Parliaments to allow a single-question referendum to be held before the end of 2014. This will allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate.
The governments are agreed that the referendum should meet the highest standards of fairness, transparency and propriety, informed by consultation and independent expert advice.
Stewart Maxwell, a former Scottish National Party minister and Member of Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland says the party has no clear view on what ‘maximum devolution’ means, but that the generally understood meaning of the term is that Scotland would have responsibility for all but two main government portfolios:
It’s not up to us to define devolution max. We support independence, but I think the common understood definition of devolution max is that it is full devolution of all powers with the exception of defence and foreign affairs … Many people including civil Scotland have said they want devolution of welfare, they want devolution of certain taxes, pensions so there’s clearly a desire out there for more devolution. So, I think it’s important that we allow that debate to occur before we decide what goes on the ballot paper.
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore, a Liberal Democrat, says that the most difficult issue with placing a third option on the Scottish referendum ballot, allowing for the union to remain together but with Scotland granted ‘maximum devolution’ of powers, is that noone knows what the term means:
Devo max is really a brand without a product, a concept of more powers for Scotland without any detail about what that entails.
He says those who use the term should define what it is that they want. The three main unionist parties – Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative – prefer only a single question on the ballot, ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’ with only two possible answers – Yes or No.
Scottish ministers say Scots living outside the country will not be allowed to vote. Eligibility for the referendum will be determined under the same rules that govern Scottish parliamentary elections. The Scotland Act states that while people living abroad who were registered to vote in the UK in the previous 15 years can remain on the election register, this only allows voting in UK or European parliamentary elections. It does not allow voting in local elections or in elections to the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Bruce Crawford, minister for government strategy, tells the Scottish parliament:
Hundreds of thousands of people born in Scotland now live elsewhere in the UK and beyond. The registration and validation of entitlement to vote would add significant complexity to the task of electoral professionals in organising and running the referendum.
First minister Salmond announces that he wants to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The timeframe for the vote is designed to allow all the necessary legislation required to authorise it to be passed and for proper preparations to be made:
The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. That’s because this is the biggest decision that Scotland has made for 300 years. If you are going to do things properly and have the debate in the way it must be had then that is the date that we are going to move towards.
He says the referendum must be ‘made in Scotland’ and approved by the Scottish Parliament, and warns the UK government about ‘trying to pull the strings behind the scenes’.
What Scotland objects to is all the strings they (the UK government) are trying to to attach. They are trying to run a referendum by proxy.
