I see the Times have begun having some Scottish content on its website aside from its football coverage. The first piece it has is this poll on the future of the Union.
I fear, however, that it has been hijacked by the Nats already – Cyber Nats if you will – with a whopping 84% of voters believing Scotland should be an independent country, 4.2% voting for parliament to have further powers (how I voted), 6.5% calling for things to stay as they are, 0.3% calling for the Holyrood to have fewer powers – the Gordon ‘devolution is a two way road’ Brown position and 5% calling for Holyrood to be scrapped.
Where to begin… To start with I’m fairly pleased to see some Scottish content from the Times online as I believe their news, particularly their political coverage, is top notch. However, I’d love to see a breakdown from where all the votes come from as I suspect a great number of the independence votes came from the SNP floors at the Scottish Parliament. These polls being hijacked just look ridiculous.
In the election 37% of Scotland voted for the SNP in May – I refuse to say that 37% of Scotland voted for independence in May as not every Nat voter then would have favoured independence as some merely favoured a change from the Lib Lab pact – added to that the Green vote of 1.6% - they also then fully supported independence – it falls way below the 84% the poll has for support.
I’m sure if I had a similar poll on my blog the result would be ridiculously skewered in favour of independence and not in the slightest a representation of actual public opinion on the issue of independence. Perhaps the Cyber Nats should find other things to occupy their time.
4 hours ago
7 comments:
So, would you concede that, if some people voting SNP did not support independence, that some people voting Lib/Lab/Tory did, and that to base support for independence on a general election result is a tad naive?
Anon, in fairness, if you support independence you aren't really going to vote Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem are you, what with them being Unionist parties.
Under normal circumstances STB you would be incorrect there are probably all sorts of tactical reasons that a pro-Independence voters might vote for someone other than a nationalist party. i.e. in Edinburgh it could have been tactical to get a Labour incumbant out, or keep Labour away from regaining a seat. In which case they may have voted Lib Dem or Tory depending on circumstance to help acheive that goal.
However, in the last election you may well be right. There was such emphasis from the SNP that this time a vote for them was a vote for the push to independence that it is unlikely that many pro-independence voters did not actually vote SNP. You only have to look at the results and see the number of seats in which the SNP were 4th in 2003 and see the increase in their vote there.
So possibly they may have come close to the saturation level of pro-independence votes last time out.
Speaking as an SNP canvasser, I am only too aware that there are plenty people out there who said they would vote for independence, but that they were voting Labour or Tory or Lib Dem in May.
Carry on living in fantasy land boys.
Name three
Hi STB,
I've just had a look at that poll and it now shows 88% in favour of independence!
Granted the figures seem to be skewed somewhat, but I don't always buy the "it wuz the cyber-nats wot dun it guv" sentiment. If it were true then it would be an arguement easily levelled at any poll in which one disagrees with the outcome.
It's also fair to say that not all who voted SNP support independence, the SNP were quite clear at the election that that question would have to be settled at a seperate time and they stood on a broad platform. By the same token though, you do have to accept that there are those with a desire for independence who may have voted for unionist parties.
Most 'unionist' parties have an independence element in them, Labour most notabely.
You've questioned recently the number of 'snp' bloggers out there, I think more accurately you might look upon these as 'pro-independence' blogs. I've pondered your question and the one answer i return to is that independence is more than just politics, it's a cause that people can rally behind in a way that the status quo rarely is.
regards
Alasdair
Hey, Sid, maybe the Nats are on top...
You'd be surprised at how many people who vote for unionist parties don't appreciate their position on the constitution.
You'd also be surprised at how many people who vote for unionist parties don't think of the constitution first when they vote.
Shocking, I know, but there you go.
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