Incomprehensibly, 'Better Together' - the campaign that is fighting to maintain the constitutional status quo - has just published a YouGov poll revealing that the status quo is the least popular of three constitutional options...
More powers for the Scottish Parliament - 32%
Full independence - 30%
Status quo - 29%
(It's not clear from the Scotsman report whether the abolition of the Scottish Parliament and a return to the pre-1999 status quo ante was also offered as an option - we'll find out when YouGov release the datasets. Most probably there wasn't a fourth option, and the remaining 9% of respondents were Don't Knows.)
So full independence fares pretty well in this poll, but even more salient is the fact that the option of more powers for the parliament within the UK isn't on offer in the referendum, entirely as a result of anti-independence campaigners' determination to block it. Voters are making a straight choice between full independence and the status quo. Those who favour the most popular option of more powers will therefore have to plump for their second choice - and if they split roughly 50/50? Well, what do you know, independence will win.
Nice one, Mr McDougall. Do keep them coming.
It's easy enough to show how more devo would, in most circumstances, be a bad thing. Thanks to Dave and Nick, we know that an increase in the basic tax allowance from £10K to £12.5K is a favoured giveaway in the next WM parliament. The numbers are out there to show roughly what effect that would have on Holyrood's budget.
ReplyDelete"Vote No for more devolution and guaranteed income tax rises!" for the win? Maybe not.
One can only wonder what their interna polling is telling them about support for the Status Quo if they are resorting to asking a 'DevoMax' question?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's very telling that they couldn't even bring themselves to risk a straight 'devolution v independence' question (although even that would have been misleading enough).
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, without defining what "more powers" actually means, it's a totally meaningless option. The status quo + control over airguns would be "more powers", so would devolution of all taxation and welfare powers. It's a nonsense poll since it doesn't tell us just how many "extra powers" would be needed to stave off independence.
ReplyDeleteThe yes campaign should tell them that devo max is permanently of the table this is just another attempt by the unionists to usurp the yes vote.Their own polls must be telling them that the yes side is now ahead and that the majority of don't knows will come down on the yes side. The unionist panic is in full flow and boy is that sweet.
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