Opinion: Starling On Scotland Referendum

September 20, 2014

[Opinion column written by Jonathan Starling]

Friday was a long and, at times, a surreal day here in Scotland.

One of the most common sights in the streets, cafes and offices in Scotland on Friday was frequent yawning – with an 86% voter turnout it seems that an equally large number of the population also spent most of the night nervously watching the results coming in.

For Yes supporters Friday has largely been a rollercoaster of emotions – disbelief, grief, anger, fear – with sadness dominating. I came across some Yes-supporting colleagues with tears of sadness today, when yesterday they had tears of joy and hope as they dared to believe victory was in reach.

For No supporters Friday has been a strange mix of relief, concern over whether the promises a panicked Westminster establishment made would be honoured, and others wondered whether they’d made the right decision and what the consequences might be.

As the evening drew in, there was further depression for Yes supporters as the First Minister Alex Salmond announced he will be resigning as First Minister and Leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) in November.

While the Yes campaign was bigger than the SNP and Mr Salmond, no one can deny his personal contribution in leading Scotland to this historic moment.

And, as the evening progressed, reports began to come in of the ugly side Unionism, with Unionist thugs descending on Yes supporters in Glasgow, where the Yes supporters had gathered to take stock of the result.

To chants of ‘Rule Britannia’ and with Nazi salutes and hurling racist insults, these Unionist thugs attacked Yes supporters with flares, fists and more.

To be clear, these thugs represent an extremist fringe of the No campaign, but these developments are concerning all the same, especially with the sectarian Unionist Orange Order calling for triumphalist marches over the weekend – a provocative move on their part.

For the Yes supporters, there are positives to take from this experience.

The incredible grassroots campaign that they initiated has energised Scottish – and British – democracy. The challenge now is sustaining this in the face of their demoralising result.

The Yes campaign showed that a politics of hope can be a powerful motivator.

The Yes campaign showed that people can be informed and engaged politically.

Even with a No win, the Yes have won Scotland (if the Westminster promises are upheld) greater devolved powers, and have triggered a wider conversation about UK-wide constitutional reform.

All but two age groups were pro-independence. The only groups that had a majority No vote were the 55-64 year olds and the 65+. Or, as a Yes supporter phrased it poetically to me ‘The hopes of the young for a better world were sacrificed by the fears of the old’.

61% of Yes voters, and 38% of No voters believe the question of independence has only been settled for no more than the next ten years.

The ‘experiment’ of lowering the voting age to 16 has been proven a resounding success, with 16 and 17 year olds showing they are more than capable of informed decision-making. This has exposed a whole new generation to popular politics and has enlivened Scottish democracy.

One negative though is that the politics of fear have also proven to be a powerful motivating factor, with many No voters voting out of fear, rather than any positive love for the Union.

For both Yes and No voters the question now is that of holding Westminster to their promises. Without the rather panicked promises of the No campaign in the last two weeks of the campaign, it is very likely that the referendum would have been a Yes victory.

Failure to honour those promises, or, worse, attempts to ‘punish’ Scottish voters (for even threatening independence) will guarantee a new referendum in the near future; and it would be unlikely that the Westminster elite will be able to scare or bribe voters again, should they be found to have been bluffing now.

The proposed 2017 in/out EU referendum could also trigger a new referendum on Scottish independence, especially if the Eurosceptic right, dominant in England, vote to leave the EU while Scotland – solidly pro-EU at the moment – votes to stay within the EU.

For myself, I have been inspired by the energy of this referendum.

The energy of the grassroots debate, of random strangers discussing the minutiae of the pros and cons of independence, to the ‘democracy walls’ that sprung up outside some polling stations during the vote, where citizens used post-it notes and chalk to propose ideas for a written constitution for an independent Scotland, this process has shown the world what politics can, and should be – participatory, (mostly) respectful, informed and passionate.

- Jonathan Starling, a Bermudian, is presently studying in Scotland

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Comments (10)

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  1. Ringmaster says:

    A few questions for Mr. Starling.
    It is clear you wanted a ‘Yes” vote.
    As a Bermudian, did you vote in the Scottish Referendum?
    Do you agree with ordinary residents having a vote, when Scottish people by birth but not living in Scotland were denied a vote?
    If a similar Referendum were to be held in Bermuda would you vote?
    Would you agree to let all PRC holders vote?
    Would you agree with ordinary residents voting?
    What benefits are there to Scotland being Independent, when it is clear they would have to join the EU, be ruled by Brussels, use the Euro and so become dependent on a totally alien power?

    What was refreshing was to see a majority see that they would not be better off, and were being lied to and bullied by powerful political egos who only had selfish interests at heart.

  2. aceboy says:

    A complete waste of money and effort which demonstrated that independence is NOT desirable…and you are inspired by it.

    I’m not in the least surprised.

  3. Chaos Theory says:

    Sounds about right for a left wing extremist. Would like to see a counter opinion for the no point of view.

  4. Mark says:

    Who is Jonathan Starling??

  5. Trulytruly says:

    No need. The majority were already convinced to vote no.

  6. Creamy says:

    Jonathan, you, as a resident of Scotland right now, were entitled to vote. As you said, it was a “resounding success” for democracy. We should use the same model if we ever have a similar referendum; all Bermuda residents over 16 should have a vote.

  7. sandman says:

    You lack understanding to say that No voters were motivated only by fear.

    I suspect many were a motivated by the view that things were working fine as they were, and that the promised devo-max would be better than full independence. I know one scot who postal voted Yes, but then regretted it when devo-max was put on the table.

  8. MAKE MY DAY says:

    Well done ALL you *NO* voting “Jocks”!!! Keep it British!!!

  9. Under Grounds Of National Security says:

    The route to independence begins with a sound leader who has demonstrated competent leadership and places Bermuda back into a financially bouyant position.

    And the hope to become independent must be on the political manifesto of the political party, so that it becomes a work in progress as the party (ruling at that time) achieves all of its promises to the people of Bermuda.

    The socio-economic conditions must be stable and the political atmosphere must contain trust not racial devisiveness.

    You do not have to be black to want independence nor do you have to be white to remain tied to Britain, but we must respect each other and recognize that above race we all want what is best of Bermuda.

    There will be a time when a referendum will be called for independence, I sincerely hope that race, hysteria and greed are not our formost considerations for or againt independence.

    • Cleancut says:

      Well put, but, ” you do not have to be black to want independence nor do you have to be white to remain tied to Britain” you would be very surprised at just how many blacks appose and how many whites are for.