Britain’s Prime Minister and Scotland’s First Minister signed an agreement yesterday to hold a referendum in 2014 on Scottish independence that could lead to the United Kingdom breaking up after 300 years.
Prime Minister David Cameron and pro-independence First Minister Alex Salmond inked the agreement and shook hands in cold autumn sunlight after a meeting at the Scottish Government building, St Andrews House, in Edinburgh.
Cameron strongly opposes a Scottish breakaway, and the signing of the terms for the vote fires the starting gun on two years of campaigning, which puts the leaders on opposing sides.
After months of negotiations, the deal clears the way for Scotland’s administration to hold the vote in the last quarter of 2014, offering Scots a straight yes-no question on leaving the United Kingdom.
Securing the vote was a victory for veteran politician Salmond, who has spent his political career backing the idea of an independent Scotland, but he faces an uphill battle to bring a majority of Scots to his view.
He told reporters after the signing: “I’m delighted to say that the Edinburgh agreement... paves the way for the most important decision Scotland has made in several hundred years. I believe that independence will win this campaign. I believe we’ll win it by setting out a better future for our country”.
His Scottish National Party (SNP), the majority party in Edinburgh’s devolved parliament, must fight against a “no” campaign from all three big parties in the British Parliament: Cameron’s Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labour.
Cameron said: “This is an important day for our United Kingdom, but you can’t hold a country in the United Kingdom against the will of its people. Scotland voted for a party that wanted to hold a referendum. I believe in showing respect. This is the right outcome for Scotland and for the United Kingdom to give the people the choice. But I passionately hope and believe that they will vote to keep the United Kingdom together. We are better off together, we are stronger together, we are safer together.”
A survey by pollsters TNS-BMRB released last week showed 28 per cent of Scots in favour and 53 per cent opposed, while other polls have shown similar results.
But Salmond urged pundits not to write him off too soon, citing his party’s surprise election victory in May 2011, which gave it a parliamentary majority and opened the door for the referendum.
“We turned a substantial opinion poll deficit into a substantial election victory. We did that by winning the arguments,” he said.
“We intend to win the argument for independence.”
The SNP had pressed for the 2014 date, giving them time to try to win over voters and coinciding with the anniversary of the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn, a famous Scots victory over the English.
The vote is to break new ground by including 16 and 17-year-olds, a move favoured by Salmond’s side, but in a concession to the British government the ballot paper will not offer a third option of increased devolution. The SNP says Scotland – with a population of five million – should be able to run its own foreign, economic and defence policies, and proposes to set out fuller terms of the proposed separation in a year.
The devolved Scottish Government currently has powers over areas such as health and education, as well as a separate legal system.
Salmond wants to retain the sterling currency and the British monarch as head of state, but big questions remain such as the fate of revenues from North Sea oil reserves and the debt incurred by Royal Bank of Scotland’s state bailout. (AFP)