Wednesday April 7th 2021
Vanguard Party champions the Union and Brexit. The UK, four Nations in Union, will prosper as an independent country, outwith the EU. If Scotland were to leave the Union and join the EU, it would not be an independent country. It would be a rule-taker from Brussels. There would be a hard border with the rest of the UK. Scottish exports to the rest of the UK are currently worth three times those to the EU. Funding via the Barnett formula would end. Scots would lose British citizenship.
Vanguard Party believes Scotland’s future should be decided by the people, not the courts. However, independence is not practical without the support of a simple majority (50 per cent + 1) of the registered electorate, not merely a simple majority of valid votes. IndyRef2 must require a simple majority of the registered electorate of the whole of Scotland, for the whole of Scotland to leave. In 2014 only 38 per cent of the registered electorate of the whole of Scotland voted for independence.
Alternatively, IndyRef2 must require a simple majority (50 per cent + 1) of the registered electorate of a region, for that region to leave. Regions voting to leave, whether or not contiguous, would form the independent country of Scotland. Other regions would remain part of the UK and continue as the devolved nation of Scotland. In 2014 Glasgow, Central Scotland and West Scotland were the only regions where 40 per cent or more of the registered electorate voted for independence.
Vanguard Party believes referendums are good for democracy and that constitutional referendums should require a simple majority of the registered electorate to succeed.
2014 IndyRef by Region | “Yes” vote | Valid votes | Total votes | Yes % Valid votes | Electorate | Yes % Elect-orate | Turn-out % | “No” majority | Swing % required IndyRef2 |
S. Scotland | 293,511 | 710,847 | 711,399 | 41.3 | 824,931 | 35.6 | 86.2 | 123,825 | 8.7 |
Lothian | 177,269 | 437,589 | 438,140 | 40.5 | 516,277 | 34.3 | 84.9 | 83,051 | 9.5 |
Central Scotland | 166,272 | 335,224 | 335,509 | 49.6 | 391,198 | 42.5 | 85.8 | 2,680 | 0.4 |
Glasgow | 194,779 | 364,126 | 364,664 | 53.5 | 486,296 | 40.1 | 75.0 | (25,432) | (3.5) |
W. Scotland | 218,412 | 475,604 | 475,950 | 45.9 | 542,137 | 40.3 | 87.8 | 38,780 | 4.1 |
Highlands & Islands | 151,372 | 343,688 | 343,997 | 44.0 | 397,204 | 38.1 | 86.6 | 40,944 | 6.0 |
NE Scotland | 219,391 | 497,163 | 497,603 | 44.1 | 594,661 | 36.9 | 83.7 | 58,381 | 5.9 |
Mid Scot & Fife | 196,983 | 455,674 | 456,082 | 43.2 | 531,234 | 37.1 | 85.9 | 61,708 | 6.8 |
Scotland-wide total | 1,617,989 | 3,619,915 | 3,623,344 | 44.7 | 4,283,938 | 37.8 | 84.6 | 383,937 | 5.3 |
Source of 2014 results: House of Commons Library |