UNIONISTS have launched a campaign to raise the bar for a second independence referendum by insisting any constitutional change must be backed by two-thirds of voters.
The Scotland Matters group, which includes figures from the Better Together campaign of 2014, has lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament on the issue.
It coincides with the Scottish Government advancing its Referendums Bill through Holyrood in order to pave the way for a second independence referendum in late 2020.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she will ask the UK Government to transfer vital referendum powers it has so withheld by January next year.
READ MORE: Scotland move to join EU has to be 'seriously considered', says Van Rompuy
The Scotland Matters petition, which is cited in a report to Holyrood’s constitution committee tomorrow about the Referendum Bill, says a two-thirds vote for change would avoid a disputed result.
Rather, it would be “clear, demand acceptance by all, and neutralise subsequent efforts to revoke the result of have another referendum” and give a “powerful mandate” for the government implementing the change.
It goes on: “The narrow Brexit vote and ongoing difficulty of a British Government to negotiate and implement a settlement is an example of the problems resulting from deciding an issue on anything less than a substantial majority that gives a widely accepted mandate.
“Very few people questioned the 75/25 per cent result of the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum.”
The vote to establish the Scottish Parliament won 74.3% of the vote, while the second question on giving the parliament tax-raising powers was backed by 63.4%.
READ MORE: How the papers reacted to Boris Johnson's humiliating press conference
Two-thirds majorities are not unusual in constitutional matters.
A two-thirds majority of MSPs is required to change Holyrood’s electoral system, and the support of two-thirds of MPs is needed to hold an early election at Westminster under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.
The SNP also uses a two-thirds majority to change its own party constitution.
However thresholds of more than 50% have been highly controversial since the 1979 referendum on devolution when most people who voted backed a Scottish Assembly, but the No side won because the Yes vote was below 40% of the entire electorate.
READ MORE: Greens attack ‘conservative’ SNP on Indyref anniversary
Mark Openshaw, of Scotland Matters, said: “With the division and chaos caused by recent referendums, it’s time for our MSP’s to set the bar high enough for everyone to accept a result. Recent events prove the 50 per cent plus one threshold is not enough.
“A two-thirds majority would put the result beyond doubt. There are precedents for such a system: the SNP itself needs a two-third benchmark for changes to its party constitution.”
Psephologist Professor Sir John Curtice dismissed the idea of a threshold last month, telling an Edinburgh Fringe audience that any constitutional position opposed by a simple majority of people was unsustainable.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel