ONE of the key tasks of the organisation set up by Angus Robertson will be to examine the changing attitudes among certain groups of people who tended to vote No in 2014.
The former SNP deputy leader explained that Progress Scotland, the body he has launched with pollster Mark Diffley, wants to find out to why older voters, EU nationals and voters who were born in the rest of the UK, but who have settled in Scotland, were less inclined to vote Yes and what arguments might persuade them to change their minds.
“Amongst certain groups of voters ... Yes did not perform well enough last time around. That was the case with European voters, that was the case with older voters and that was the case with people born elsewhere in the UK, largely in England.
“Those were groups where the argument last time didn’t work well enough and with all of these people we need to understand where they are now, and what it is that might persuade them to change next time around,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland.
“I think one of the interesting things is it can’t be the same case as was run in the last referendum given everything that’s changed, so we also need to understand the changed circumstances to be able to make an effective case possible.”
Robertson explained polling had suggested that while around 8% of No voters had moved to Yes since 2014, around 5% had moved from Yes to No, and that Progress Scotland would also carry out work to find out why this latter shift had taken place in a bid to persuade them back to the independence case.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon backs launch of Progress Scotland initiative
Progress Scotland’s launch comes at a critical time for the independence movement.
With some clarity due in the coming weeks on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, Sturgeon has said she will set out her thinking on the timing of a second independence referendum “soon”.
SNP activists will expect some movement when they gather on April 27 and April 28 in Edinburgh for the party’s spring conference. It will be the first – since the Brexit vote – where the UK is no longer an EU member despite Scotland voting by 62% to stay; that’s if Brexit does go ahead as planned on March 29.
But by the end of April the Brexit fog should have lifted to some extent anyway. Voters should know if the UK has left the EU, and if it has crashed out without a deal or left with May’s deal, perhaps with a tweak to the political declaration (the non legally binding part of the agreement she struck with the EU).
The situation will allow Robertson and other organisations in the Yes movement to refocus their arguments.
Issues that will need to be updated in the new political landscape will be whether an independent Scotland seeks to rejoin the EU or goes for “the Norway option” of membership of the European Economic Area, a move which would allow it to keep out of the Common Fisheries Policy.
READ MORE: How to support independence organisation Progress Scotland
Currency and trade are also among the policy areas which would need to be revised ahead of a new independence referendum.
But amid the turmoil, there are some signs the mood among voters is shifting. One recent poll found support for independence would rise to 52% under a no-deal Brexit.
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