A Second Scottish Independence Referendum: Should the Diaspora get a Vote?

Primary Author or Creator:
Murray Stewart Leith
Additional Author(s) / Creators
Duncan Sim
Publisher:
The Political Quarterly
Alternative Published Date
2023
Category:
Type of Resource:
Article
Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)
8pp
Fast Facts

The 2014 referendum result did not end the debate around Scottish independence.

More details

Interestingly, one of the arguments againstgiving the vote to Scots in the wider UK in2014 was a belief that they were likely to votefor the Union, thereby skewing the voteagainst independence. This would have ren-dered the result more challengeable. In fact,partly because of Brexit and partly because ofthe poor standing of the current Conservativegovernment in Westminster, there currentlyappears to be a majority in favour of indepen-dence within the diaspora. So, the idea that thediaspora is predominantly unionist seems nolonger to be accurate. In closing, we muststress that more research is required and hopethat this study will provoke discussion aroundScotland’s constitutional debate.

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