Referendum bill passes
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.
Governments reach agreement
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:
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Have a clear legal basis;
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be legislated for by the Scottish Parliament;
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be conducted so as to command the confidence of parliaments, governments and people, and;
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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.
Referendum in 2014
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.