Will the Scots go free?

September 18, 2014 11:46 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:28 pm IST - EDINBURGH

People arrive to cast their vote at Portobello Town Hall near Edinburgh on Thursday. Scotland votes on Thursday to decide whether or not to end the 307-year-old union with the rest of the United Kingdom.

People arrive to cast their vote at Portobello Town Hall near Edinburgh on Thursday. Scotland votes on Thursday to decide whether or not to end the 307-year-old union with the rest of the United Kingdom.

Polls have opened across Scotland in a referendum that will decide whether the country leaves its 307-year-old union with England and becomes an independent state.

More than 2,600 polling places will be open on Thursday from 7 a.m. (11.30 a.m. IST) until 10 p.m. (2.30 a.m. IST, Friday).

Turnout is expected to be high, with more than 4.2 million people registered to vote 97 per cent of those eligible. The question on the ballot paper is simplicity itself: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” It has > divided Scots during months of campaigning.

Polls suggest the result is too close to call, with the pro-independence Yes side gaining momentum in the final weeks of campaigning.

First Minister Alex Salmond was casting his vote near his home in northeastern Scotland. If the Yes side prevails he will realise a long-held dream of leading his country to independence after an alliance with England formed in 1707.

Anti-independence leaders including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown have implored Scots not to break their links with the rest of the United Kingdom.

On a foggy morning in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, a heavy stream of voters began arriving at a polling station in the city center the moment it opened. One of the first, Anne Seaton, said she had voted Yes “because why not?”

“Scotland got under the English Parliament by mischance,” in 1707, she said. “It’s time now for Scotland to make a deliberate decision for independence.”

Voters expressed a mixture of excitement and apprehension about Scotland’s choice. Thomas Roberts said he had voted Yes because he felt optimistic about its future as an independent country.

“Why not roll the dice for once?” he said.

Once the polls close, ballot boxes will be transported to 32 regional centers for counting of the votes. The result is anticipated on Friday morning. Mr. Roberts said he was looking forward to watching the results in a pub, many of which are staying open overnight.

“I’m going to sit with a beer in my hand watching the results coming in,” Mr. Roberts said. But financial consultant Michael MacPhee, a No voter, said he would observe the returns coming in “with anxiety”.

In its final hours, the battle for Scotland had all the trappings of a normal election campaign — “Yes Scotland” and “No, Thanks” posters in windows, buttons on jackets, leaflets on street corners and megaphone-topped campaign cars cruising the streets blasting out Scottish songs and “Children of the Revolution.”

A phone poll of 1,373 people by Ipsos MORI, released on Wednesday, put opposition to independence at 51 per cent and support at 49 per cent.

That means neither side can feel confident, given the margin of error of about plus or minus 3 per centage points. On Wednesday, Mr. Brown, himself a Scot, told a No campaign rally that the quiet majority of pro-Union Scots “will be silent no more,” while pro-independence leader Mr. Salmond urged voters to seize a democratic opportunity 307 years in the making.

But it is, both sides acknowledge, a once-in-a-generation maybe once-in-a-lifetime choice that could redraw the map of the United Kingdom.

The gravity of the imminent decision was hitting home for many voters as political leaders made passionate, final pleas for their sides. More than 4.2 million people are registered to vote in the country of 5.3 million people.

Cathy Chance, who works for Britain’s National Health Service in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, said she would leave Scotland if it became independent.

“I don’t want to live under a nation that’s nationalistic,” she said. “I don’t think the world needs another political barrier.”

On the other side, Yes campaigner Roisin McLaren said she was finally letting herself believe independence might be possible.

“My family has campaigned for independence for a long, long time, and it’s always been a pipe dream,” the Edinburgh University student said as she knocked on doors in a last-minute effort to convert wavering electors. “Just in the last few days it’s seemed possible, within reach. I can almost taste it.”

Politicians on both sides expressed confidence in the Scottish public, but uncertainty rippled below the surface.

Opinion polls have failed to put either side decisively ahead. Bookmakers, however, told a different story. A winning £1 bet on Yes would pay out £5 from many bookies, while the same pound would return just £1.20 from a winning wager on No. One firm, Betfair, has already paid out on a No win.

Mr. Brown, Britain’s former leader, told supporters that the patriotic choice was to remain within the U.K.

“The vote tomorrow is not about whether Scotland is a nation we are, yesterday, today and tomorrow,” he said. “The vote tomorrow is whether you want to break and sever every link,” with the rest of the country.

Mr. Salmond, energetic leader of the Yes campaign, said Scots would seize “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the future of this country into our hands”.

Despite gains in support for independence in recent weeks, Mr. Salmond said his side remained the underdog.

“However, as we know in life, in politics and certainly in this festival of democracy, underdogs have a habit of winning sometimes,” he said.

Amid the uncertainty, even the opinionated Rupert Murdoch hedged his bets. The media mogul, whose newspapers were long considered a powerful force in British elections, travelled to Scotland last week and wrote a series of tweets that seemed supportive of independence.

But on Wednesday his Scottish tabloid newspaper said it would not endorse either side. It ran opinion columns by Yes and No leaders and told Scots: “The Scottish Sun has faith in you to make the right choice.”

A Yes vote would trigger months of negotiations between Scotland and the British government over the messy details of independence, which Scottish authorities say will take effect on March 24, 2016, the anniversary of the date in 1707 that Scotland decided to unite with Britain.

In Edinburgh, an unscientific but popular sweet-toothed survey has backed pollsters’ predictions that the result will be close. For 200 days, the city’s Cuckoo Bakery has sold referendum cupcakes vanilla sponge with a centre of raspberry jam, topped with white chocolate icing in three versions, adorned with a Scottish Saltire, a British Union Jack or a question mark.

On Wednesday, the bakery announced the result of its cupcake referendum — 47.7 per cent No, 43.5 per cent Yes, and 8.8 per cent undecided.

Co-owner Vidya Sarjoo said the number of undecideds had plummeted over time.

“At first people really weren’t sure a bit scared, maybe, to make their decision,” she said.

The cupcakes, she stressed, “are all exactly the same flavour. And they all taste delicious.”

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.