Scottish Independence

From Catalonia to Cumbria, there are around 100 active separatist movements in Europe. What drives them, and how many are serious about full independence?

The SNP are using a new referendum as a wedge issue in their fight against Labour

A “yes” to independence would also mean “yes” to Brussels

Years of political turbulence, economic shocks and the failure to ‘level up’ as pledged have turned English devolution into a key political and constitutional issue

Gen Z’s belief that Scotland is heading for IndyRef2 is starting to falter

Scotland will flourish as a member of the European family, while England tragically continues thinking it's exceptional

Perhaps – but the problems would be immense and the economic damage severe

Humza Yousaf disagrees, but there is growing SNP acceptance that winning a referendum is not just around the corner

The SNP needs an evidence-based story about how Scotland would avoid austerity or worse

The first minister has stepped down after eight years, appearing to admit she is a hindrance to winning independence and therefore rejoining the EU

This will be the year Scottish artists put IndyRef2 on their setlists

Nicola Sturgeon’s hopes for a second referendum have been dashed by the Supreme Court. Yet getting and winning another vote would not mean automatic re-entry into the Union

Nicola Sturgeon wants a new referendum soon. Some SNP members aren’t so sure – and perhaps only gradually changing demographics will bring an end to the union

MPs are set to examine the effectiveness of the Electoral Commission at the time of the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums.  The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) will be hearing from senior officials of both campaigns on the Commission’s role of enforcing compliance with rules governing spending and donations during both votes. The meeting on Tuesday comes […]

Many pro-Europeans, north and south of the border, have sympathy with the independence cause. But this is yet another Union they should fight to stay in A referendum on Scottish independence is coming. Boris Johnson pretends it isn’t. He will delay, prevaricate, challenge in court and maybe deny it altogether. But none of these tactics will […]

Boris Johnson’s bid to save the Union by splashing the cash won’t be enough. He will need to do a lot more than that.  The ballots cast by Scotland’s voters hadn’t been fully counted when the high-stakes game of constitutional poker between Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson began. As it became clear – to no […]

Here’s every Scottish independence supporter’s favourite thing… a list of reasons, from an Englishman, as to why Scotland might want to stay in the Union It was a good election for incumbents. Across the countries of the UK, parties engaged in frenetic, Covid-disrupted campaigns, only for most things to stay the same. Scotland’s parliament, on […]

The Tories privately admit there is a mandate for a second referendum on Scottish independence and that it could take place as early as 2023, a former adviser has said. Ex-communications chief for the Scottish Conservatives Andy Maclver told STV’s Scotland Tonight that it was “perfectly obvious” last week’s election results were a mandate for Indyred2. […]

If Scotland becomes independent during Boris Johnson’s premiership, that will be his lasting legacy, former prime minister Gordon Brown has said. The argument over Scottish independence has intensified in recent days after the SNP’s landslide victory in the Holyrood election, which also produced the largest pro-independence majority in the Parliament in the history of devolution. […]

Michael Gove has refused to rule out suing Nicola Sturgeon’s government if it tries to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, in a briefing with journalists. The cabinet minister avoided answering the question when probed twice by reporters. Asked if he would take Sturgeon to court over her proposals to hold a new vote, Gove […]

Gordon Brown is launching a fresh campaign to keep Scotland in the UK in the wake of the SNP’s latest election victory. The former Labour prime minister declared that the think tank he set up, Our Scottish Future, will become a “campaigning movement” to make the “positive, progressive and patriotic case for Scotland in Britain”. […]

Alex Salmond will not return to the Scottish Parliament after he failed in his bid to pick up a seat on the North East regional list. The former first minster had hoped to boost the Scottish independence cause by returning to frontline politics with his Alba Party. But his party failed to pick up a […]

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to hold a referendum on Scottish independence “when the time is right”, as she retained her Glasgow seat. Giving an acceptance speech in Glasgow after she defeated Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar by 19,735 votes to 10,279, the first minister said her party is set for a […]

An independent Scotland would need to confront border issues with the rest of the UK if returning to the European Union, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Concerns have been raised by critics of Scottish independence who say Scotland rejoining the EU would result in a hard border with England. The first minister told BBC Radio 4’s […]

Among the many complex issues that Scottish independence would throw up would be where to draw a line between English and Scottish waters. Should Scotland vote for independence at some point in the coming years, the issue of where its land border with England should lie will be among the simplest of subjects to resolve. The matter […]

Downing Street is embarking on an incompetent battle to preserve the Union Boris Johnson doesn’t care about Scotland. There are a lot of complex elements to the government’s anti-independence strategy, but at the heart of it is that one simple fact. He doesn’t understand Scotland and he isn’t interested in it. There couldn’t be a worse […]

The SNP could miss out on a majority at the Holyrood election, according to a new poll. The Savanta ComRes survey for The Scotsman predicts the party will return 63 MSPs – two short of a majority and the same number as in 2016. However, there would still be a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, with […]

The Alba Party’s manifesto is the only one “taking Scottish independence seriously”, Alex Salmond has said. At the launch of his party’s proposals, the former first minister took a swipe at the SNP and the Scottish Greens – the latter of whom he has previously accused of being “as weak as dishwater” on independence. During […]

Researchers argue the divides in England are even stronger than between the different nations of the United Kingdom. For many of us, a national identity is an essential part of who we are. For others, it’s a source of division. National boundaries, like any boundary, imply that some are on the outside. As long as […]

A new survey suggests that 60% of Labour supporters across the UK back another independence referendum “in principle” in the next few years, and 56% think the party should too. The YouGov study, which spoke to 1,073 Labour members between March 17 and March 24, found that while supporters in the rest of the UK […]

Nicola Sturgeon has said she has no plans to call a separate referendum on whether an independent Scotland should join the European Union. She said a “detailed prospectus” would be put to Scots ahead of any second independence referendum, and she claimed most people would want to be part of the EU again. She was […]

Scottish independence offers the only way back for the country to rejoin the European Union, the Scottish Greens have claimed. The party’s co-leader Lorna Slater said leaving the UK “is now our route back to EU membership” and that it would give Scotland “the powers and potential to be a leader in the transition to […]