Demand A Fairer Referendum For Scotland in 2016

An outstanding 45% of Scotland voted YES to independence on the 18th September 2014. However, this was simply not enough to win the vote and free Scotland from a callus, deceitful and covetous Westminster government. The 55% of Scotland who voted against independence were brainwashed and fear-mongered by the Westminster government anda biased media. The Scottish population were poorly informed due to this and resulted in asking meaningless questions to the Yes campaign, despite the fact that the statements made or fears provoked lacked solid proof and substantial background facts.

Westminster knew what they were doing. They knew that by inflicting fear upon the people of Scotland, they'd be afraid to leave the Union. They astutely did not allow any Scottish people currently not living in Scotland even on a temporary basis not to participate in the vote. Whereas English people living in Scotland were permitted with a vote. Although not every English participant voted No in the referendum, this is still hugely unfair due to that many English people voted against independence because they simply prefer their own country. Therefore, a hugely biased, unfair, prejudiced vote.

In the 1979 referendum, 52% of Scots voted for independence. This was still over 10% of the 40% rule. The 40% rule allowed for independence to take effect if over 40% voted for independence, as opposed to a majority. However, Westminster adapted the rules in the eleventh hour and claimed the vote as void due to only 63% of registered voters turning up to vote on the day of the referendum. Again, this is enormously unfair.

The media in Scotland were extremely biased about the referendum, primarily supporting the No campaign and participating in fear mongering of the Scottish public. Amongst this, they printed stories of celebrities who were "for the no vote." There is no evidence to back these stories up or prove the celebrity had actually said these things. Even if the celebrity had favoured the No vote, there were many English and Scottish celebrities who did support the Yes vote. Needless to say, in a Scottish newspaper, this should have been the preferred choice of headline. The media also insulted Salmond's plans for a defence army for Scotland. They used this in such a way to brainwash the people of Scotland into thinking Scotland could not protect itself against an attack. With Scotland's oil money, a defence army could easily be set up and used only to protect Scotland if required and not to attack or invade other countries. A large army is only necessary if a country wants to go to war or invade other countries. Scotland was against the invasion in Iraq after the attack on the Twin Towers. Despite this, Scottish soldiers were sent out first to fight. Salmond's plans were to attack only if attacked. The newspapers also supported the trepidation story of "not being able to use the pound." Sadly, a large percentage of the population believed this, even despite Alistair Darling admitting on a live TV debate that "Yes, of course Scotland can use the pound."

The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) was immensely biased about the referendum, profoundly supporting the No campaign. They frequently invented new ways to fear the public of Scotland becoming an independent nation. During a live segment with a reporter in Glasgow, many no campaigners were advertising "No thanks" signs. When a Yes campaigner appeared on the screen to show his "Yes" sign to the viewers, the feed was automatically cut and when the connection resumed, the Yes campaigner had disappeared. Furthermore,a shared status on Facebook expressed a mother's outrage when her teenage daughter was due to go on a BBC show about a debate for first time teenage voters. As her 16 year old daughter was due to go on stage, she was asked by the show producers to change her opinion from a "Yes" to a "No vote” because the Yes opinion was overtaking the No. This in itself is shocking.

Another fear-mongering method used by the media was that supermarkets would increase their prices in an independent Scotland. A Scottish citizen took it upon himself to contact these companies. In turn, each of these companies denied the claims and expressed their “low price promise” to the general public.

Overall, the people of Scotland were very poorly informed and unfavourably misled. Many people simply voted No simply out of fear. They were made to believe that Scotland will need England once the oil runs out. The contrary is true. Westminster knows it needs Scotland’s oil revenue, hence they fought hard to keep Scotland in the union. The people of Scotland could not build hope of a better future with an independent Scotland. They were not told of an independent Scotland's plans to invest their oil money and save the country from bankruptcy in generations to come. They were not told that by keeping Scotland's own oil money and investing it, more money could be invested into services such as NHS and education. Thus improving healthcare, medicine and education for the Scotland and the future generations of Scotland. It is paramount to the people Scotland to be run under a government the majority of them did vote for and be led by a leadership party who has the people of Scotland's best interests at heart.

The system failed the people of Scotland by not providing adequate information and deep-seated facts. They were impelled to believe that Scotland could not have a positive future on its own, when in fact the adverse is true. 

Demand a fair referendum for Scotland in 2016 and demand that all media give unbiased opinions. The people of Scotland deserve to be fed correct, profound and concrete information. The Yes campaign released a Wee Blue Book with facts, statistics and information for the Scottish referendum. The book is subtitled "The facts the newspapers leave out." This is immensely true and it's vital information which the public should be aware of and have easy access to. This information which can provide hope and faith for a better alone Scotland. Demand for newspapers and TV media to be unbiased and contain unprejudiced facts about an independent country. This, in turn, will help the people of Scotland make a informed decision for their country, and in turn, a better future for our generations to come.

"Put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands." ~SNP