“Independence supporters face the prospect of explaining and reaffirming the expanded mandate for they have won. Many will not look forward to beating their head against this particular brick wall once again, as the unionist counter-argument will only become more shrill, obstinate and unconcerned with democracy the more they are put on the defensive.”
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“Tomorrow’s Holyrood election – for which more than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the highest number yet recorded – has arguably frustrated Scotland’s politicians at least as much as the public on whom their futures depend.”
Sean Bell: What kind of election campaign has it been?
“A new Act of Union… would not only curtail the future of Scottish democracy, but would dismantle Scottish democracy as it currently exists.”
Sean Bell: A new Act of Union would place the law and democracy at odds
You get the sense that all these parties are worn but comfortable items of furniture, to be shuffled around Holyrood manor in a quinquennial dusting exercise, ultimately to be placed neatly back in their same groove.
Source Direct: Unionist Pearl Clutching, Nationalist Evasion
“The means to bring about change and speed up progress here at home in Scotland are already available to each and everyone of us. It’s high time to remind ourselves what they are.”
The Pressure series: Applying pressure in Scotland
What should the UK Government’s strategy be to stop Scottish independence? One would think this is the sort of thing Tory politicians and their staffers think about themselves. But no, in these days of neoliberal governance, Ministers seem happier to outsource all of their thinking to ridiculously expensive private consultancies. Bloomberg has now reported on a leaked 21-page memo […]
Preparing for a “velvet No”
September 18th. The sixth anniversary of Indyref. I’m sure I am not alone among Source Direct subscribers in wondering if we will ever see as politically vibrant times again as the summer of 2014, when it felt like there wasn’t a person in Scotland who wasn’t actively engaged in shaping the country’s future. So much […]
Don’t lose sight of what made 2014 special
“Will these polling results resemble the eventual makeup of Holyrood in 2021? Mibbes aye, mibbes naw. Will continuous and verifiable majority support for independence lead to a second referendum on the national question? Could be – but nobody’s quite sure how.”
Sean Bell: Polls, pundits and the perils of heeding the loudest voices
“Never before have the foundations of public support for the Union looked so weak,” polling expert John Curtice has declared. His basis for this assessment is the latest poll by PanelBase showing 54 per cent in favour of Scottish independence, with 46 per cent against, which added to other previous polls over the past six […]
5 ways to build pressure for the Right to Decide
New polls on the Scottish elections in 2021 and on support for independence have raised the question of a referendum again. The polls show the SNP on course to win 72 seats in the Holyrood election scheduled for next May, an outright majority, while support for independence is at 52 per cent. A slender lead, […]