SCOTLAND - Plans for special body to run independence referendum

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8526938.stm

Plans for special body to run independence referendum 

Scotland's future is part of an ongoing constitutional debate
The Scottish government plans to set up a special body to run a future referendum on independence.

Ministers do not want to use the Electoral Commission which overseas Westminster elections.

The plan was revealed in minutes of meetings which were obtained by the BBC under Freedom of Information.

The draft bill on the independence referendum - which could take place as soon as 30 November - is expected to be published on Friday.


FOI DOCUMENTS
Extracts from correspondence between the Electoral Commission and Scottish government officials

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email from the Scottish government, 13 march, 2009 - "We are now looking at what the question in an independence referendum might be and at some point will need to show we have properly assessed it for intelligibility, neutrality, etc."

Electoral Commission minute, 22 September, 2009 - "Scottish government officials confirmed... that there was currently no provision to consult any organisation as to the intelligibility of the referendum question."

Electoral Commission minutes, 6 November, 2009 - "There seems little regard to the remit and role of what the Scottish Referendum Commission would actually do."

Read the full exchanges obtained under FOI [2.91MB]
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The Electoral Commission has a statutory role to run referenda called by Westminster, but has no formal role in those called by the Scottish Parliament.

In the minutes obtained by BBC One's Politics Show, civil servants told the commission they planned to set up a new body - the Scottish Referendum Commission - to run the election.

The paperwork also revealed the concerns of the Westminster commission over the wording of the questions and that the timescale towards the poll was too short.

A minute from September last year said: "Scottish Government officials ... confirmed that there was currently no provision to consult any organisation as to the intelligibility of the referendum question".

No Scottish minister would comment on the FOI minutes, however, a spokesperson said that Scottish voters already had quite recent experience of a multi-option constitutional referendum.

The Electoral Commission said that when the government sets out the referendum on full independence, it would "consider it and submit a response" using experience of planning for referendums in the UK.

'Waste of time'

It added: "We are not able to comment until this public consultation is opened."

Commenting on the revelations, Scotland's Tory leader, Annabel Goldie, said First Minister Alex Salmond's "separation bill" was a "monumental waste of taxpayers' money and would fail".

She added: "Instead of dreaming up new ways to rig a referendum, Alex Salmond should get on with what he was elected to do."

Scottish Labour's Pauline McNeill said the "revelations expose how the SNP is trying to rig a referendum by getting round the rules".

She added: "While the rest of the world is trying to get people back into work and create jobs, Alex Salmond is wasting time and money on a doomed referendum plan.

"The Electoral Commission is there to be the neutral referee.

"By ordering the referee off the pitch, Alex Salmond is trying to avoid the scrutiny."

[trileacman]

What way would this november referendum go?

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I really don't think the Independence mindset is anywhere as strong in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany or Galicia as it is in Ireland. Those nations seem to have a different attitude towards England, France and Spain where the Irish have always had more an active separatists movement be it constitutional or revolutionary.

[Zapatista]

I really don't think the Independence mindset is anywhere as strong in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany or Galicia as it is in Ireland. Those nations seem to have a different attitude towards England, France and Spain where the Irish have always had more an active separatists movement be it constitutional or revolutionary.

The Idependebce/United Ireland mindset in Ireland has always been small too. Within the last 50+ years anyway.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

I really don't think the Independence mindset is anywhere as strong in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany or Galicia as it is in Ireland. Those nations seem to have a different attitude towards England, France and Spain where the Irish have always had more an active separatists movement be it constitutional or revolutionary.

I wouldnt see it as such a black and white issue. Different countries with different experiences and the "mindset" varying in different era's too.

[muppet]

Ministers do not want to use the Electoral Commission which overseas Westminster elections.

But Westminister isn't overseas from Scotland, yet. 

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I really don't think the Independence mindset is anywhere as strong in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany or Galicia as it is in Ireland. Those nations seem to have a different attitude towards England, France and Spain where the Irish have always had more an active separatists movement be it constitutional or revolutionary.

I wouldnt see it as such a black and white issue. Different countries with different experiences and the "mindset" varying in different era's too.

Very true Red Hand, by the way are you based in Scotland, because your perspective might be quite interesting.

A bit like what Lamh Dhearg Alba was saying, I would recommend people read Jonathan Burdon's A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes, it really is interesting, and it covers Ireland from pre-history to the modern times. Its a book that I think everyone from Tony Feron to Evil Genius and everyone in between would enjoy, its fascinating. It breaks Irish history down into little coffee break pieces, everything from major battles to less well known everyday stories from a certain place or time in Ireland. The amazing interaction of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, America, Australia etc. over time. But by explaining Irish history complexities in a simple way it broaches at similar complexities in other places such as England or Scotland. How Harold Godwinson was actually granted asylum in Ireland at one stage under the protection of a powerful Gaelic King.

I have interesting books on Scottish history (making of a nation I think) and one on the Vikings. Its funny how all these books cross paths. The interconnectivity of European history is amazing.