SCOTTISH voters view the country’s major institutions more favourably than they view British bodies.
A new poll by Panelbase shows strong support for the NHS (64%), the police (57%) and the Scottish Parliament (47%) in upholding democratic processes.
The latter score is particularly impressive bearing in mind that support from Tory respondents for the parliament in Edinburgh is only 20%
British institutions fared poorly. The House of Commons scored only 27% among Scots, and the House of Lords rated even worse at 23%. Among SNP supporters these scores fall to 17% and 20% respectively.
The poll was commissioned by the Constitutional Commission on behalf of the Scottish Independence Foundation.
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It aimed to find out what issues Scots cared most about and whether or not those issues should be reflected in a written constitution.
Almost 90% of respondents said human rights are important to them. Scots also feel strongly about fair elections – 92% believed them to be important.
READ MORE: Is Scotland ready for a codified constitution?
The environment is another deeply felt issue, with 88% of Scots viewing environmental issues as important.
John Drummond, founder of the Constitutional Commission told the National: “This is breakthrough research which has not been carried out before. It shows what people in Scotland would like the country’s constitution to reflect.
“Put simply, a country’s constitution tells its citizens and the world at large what the country stands for; and what it will not stand for.
“But the UK is one of only three developed countries in the world that doesn’t have a written codified constitution.
“The UK constitution is whatever the British government of the day, with a working majority, says it is. And no UK government may bind its successors.
“For example, if a Westminster government decided to abolish the Scots Parliament tomorrow then constitutionally they are perfectly free to do so, restricted just now only by any European rules that might apply.
“Likewise, a UK parliament could abolish any and all civic rights presently enjoyed by people in Scotland – fettered only by those protections afforded by European legislation. Of course, these protections will disappear as a result of Brexit, to be replaced, or not, by Westminster.’’
The poll asked respondents what they thought about the UK constitution.
There is broad agreement (77%) that a written constitution ought to reflect what a country stands for, and what it will not stand for.
Support for this view was greatest amongst Lib Dem supporters (86%) and 74% of Tories also agreed.
But 30% of Scots were under the impression that the UK has a written codified constitution. This view is held even amongst SNP supporters, where 31% believed this to be the case.
The US fared well as 53% of Scots agreed that it had a written constitution. Awareness dropped sharply thereafter with only 31% believing that Ireland has a written constitution, and even fewer at 12% knew that India was so governed.
Other findings suggest that constitutional matters are poorly understood in Scotland and this could be a severe handicap when Scots are faced with decisions that involve major changes to the way they are governed.
Greg McCarra, CEO of the Scottish Independence Foundation, said: “This research shows that British institutions – vital to our democracy – are poorly regarded by Scots. It is also clear that in Scotland we need to work harder to ensure that basic constitutional matters are better understood. This is particularly important as we head into a period of constitutional uncertainty caused by Brexit.”
The Scottish Independence Foundation sponsored this survey and the full data will appear on their website tomorrow: www.SIF.scot. Visit thenational.scot for analysis on the report by Dr Scott Tindal, research fellow at the University of Edinburgh
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