I have a short piece on The National’s website about the new Opinium poll which has Yes ahead by 51% to 49% – you can read it HERE. When I wrote it yesterday I included a couple of paragraphs about the findings from the poll on the Royal Family, which were probably trimmed because of space constraints. So for your delectation and delight, I’ll post them here –
Perhaps the most stunning finding of the poll is that respondents are split down the middle over whether an independent Scotland should become a republic or retain the monarchy. Past polls have tended to suggest that, although Scotland is cooler towards the royals than other parts of the UK, there was still a significant pro-monarchy majority. One reason for the change could be the revelations in the recent Harry and Meghan interview, although it’s also likely that the question wording played a part. Asking respondents to think specifically about what should happen after independence may have teased out that some people who are sympathetic towards the monarchy nevertheless feel it would be logical for an independent Scotland to make a fresh start and find a homegrown Head of State.
That said, the SNP’s soft pro-monarchy stance may still be electorally smart. Republican voters are unlikely to refuse to back independence just because the monarchy is being kept, but the issue could well be a dealbreaker for some of the substantial minority of Yes voters (30% according to the poll) who want the royals to stay.
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I received an email this morning (and it genuinely was only one email) from someone who was rather gratuitously going out of his way to inform me that he wasn’t going to contribute to the
Scot Goes Pop fundraiser because he didn’t like the fact that I’ve made supportive comments about Alex Salmond. This, of course, is one of the unavoidable hazards of crowdfunding a blog – some people will always see it as an opportunity to say “how DARE you expect me to hand over money when you haven’t said exactly what I want you to say on subject X or Y”. The reality is that I’m not expecting any individual to hand over money. All I’m doing is putting the fundraiser out to the world and saying “if you like the blog and find it interesting and useful, you can help to keep it going if you wish”. But if you don’t like the blog and don’t find it useful, or are uncomfortable with supporting it for any reason, of course I wouldn’t expect you to donate – that would be silly. By the same token, though, it would be wrong of me to say I’m going to change my views or self-censor because people will refuse to donate if I don’t. If fundraisers are having that kind of distorting effect, then it’s hardly worth the bother, because you’re not getting a truly independent alternative media written by people who can speak the truth as they see it without fear or favour.
In any case, my position on the current controversy is reasonably nuanced, and has been wrongly caricatured by both sides. I am indeed supportive of Alex Salmond, and I think it’s to be greatly regretted that the Scottish Government weren’t more respectful of the jury’s verdict. I also think we’d be in a much better place now if Mr Salmond had been encouraged and welcomed back into the SNP fold. However I do not think Nicola Sturgeon should resign, and I’ve made that abundantly clear. I think it would be positively harmful to the independence cause if she was forced to go.
I’ve said that I would back an Alex Salmond list party if one was formed – but that would still entail voting SNP on the constituency ballot. And I’ve also said that I’ll be giving both votes to the SNP if there’s no Salmond party, which presumably by now is the most likely scenario.
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I’ll have a treat for you later tonight – a few hours ago I recorded a podcast with Ellen Höfer of EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland, so check back later for that.
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