With a little over six weeks to go to the referendum on September 18, the Yes campaign is set to move into a new phase this week by stressing the theme of ‘opportunity’ for Scotland – beginning with a new poster launch on Thursday.
The pro-independence campaign has said that independence is an opportunity to build a country where we always get the government Scotland votes for, to ensure the wealth of Scotland benefits all the people, to create more jobs, to improve childcare, to protect the NHS, and to get rid of Trident nuclear weapons.
Describing the referendum as “a precious opportunity that we cannot guarantee we will get again”, Yes Scotland said it believes the people of Scotland will grab the opportunity.
A key moment in the week is Tuesday’s STV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling – and, say Yes, the mass TV audience will benefit its campaign.
According to Yes Scotland, private research indicates that voters are moving from ‘undecided’ to Yes at the rate of more than two to one compared to those declaring for No. The private research also shows that for every 10 people who have moved from the undecided middle ground, seven have become Yes voters, while three have moved to No.
The campaign said it believes that a similar process will occur on a larger scale as people engage with the debate to a greater extent than they have up until now. Yes research also indicates that the percentage of those likely to vote in the referendum is 78 per cent very likely and 11 per cent quite likely: 89 per cent in total.
From the beginning of the week, a 12-page guide on the opportunities of an independent Scotland will start to be distributed by the Scottish Government to all 2.5 million households in the country.
Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world – richer, per head, than Japan, France and the UK as a whole.
The document will highlight Scotland’s strong and varied economy, with multi-billion pound industries in food and drink, tourism, the creative sector, life sciences, more top universities than any other country in the world, a quarter of Europe’s offshore wind potential, and 60 per cent of the Europe’s oil reserves. Scotland generated more tax per head than the UK for every one of the last 33 years.
Blair Jenkins, Chief Executive of Yes Scotland, said: “The referendum is the best and biggest opportunity the people of Scotland have ever had to build the kind of country most people want – more prosperous, fairer, where our vast wealth works for all the people. A country where we have the powers to guarantee the protection of our health service, and get rid of the monstrosity that is Trident nuclear weapons.
“It is the opportunity of a lifetime – one I believe that the people of Scotland will not want to pass up.”