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Friday 25 May 2012

Yes Scotland! Battle For Independence Begins

The "Yes" campaign to persuade Scots to vote for independence will launch this morning despite suffering a blow in a new poll.
A YouGov survey reveals only one in three want to leave the UK and over half those polled say they would vote against the proposals.
Organisers have vowed to stage the "biggest community-based campaign in Scotland's history" in the run-up to the independence referendum, which could take place in October 2014.
They aim to convince voters that "the people who care most about Scotland are the people that should be running Scotland".
Alex Salmond, the First Minister and Scottish National Party leader, will be one of the key figures at the launch.
Former Labour MP Dennis Canavan, who later became an independent MSP, has been named as another supporter at the event.
A host of celebrities and public figures have been lined up but their identities are being kept secret until the launch at Edinburgh's Cineworld Cinema.
A Yes Scotland spokesman said: "We have a 550-seat venue full to capacity and we could have filled it again with the level of interest we have received.
"We will have 100 journalists from all corners of the world, from China to the United States, from Spain to Germany, reflecting the interest generated not only in Scotland but internationally.
"We chose a cinema because it's a place where real people go, in contrast to a conference centre or other traditional venues, and we wanted to send a signal that this is about people not politicians.
"For us, this has to be the biggest community-based campaign in Scotland's history."
But a poll commissioned by former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling found 33% of people agree that Scotland should become independent, with 57% opposed and 10% undecided.
Yes Scotland has also faced accusations that it is an SNP sideshow, with two former SNP special advisers, a party lawyer and several prominent SNP supporters taking key roles.
Former SNP adviser Stephen Noon, a life-long independence activist, is now handling publicity for the campaign. Jennifer Dempsie, another former SNP adviser, is helping to co-ordinate events.
A company called Yes Scotland Limited has been established with SNP legal adviser Scott Martin as its sole director. Its registered office is in Saint Colme Street, just yards from the First Minister's official residence in Bute House on Charlotte Square, although Mr Noon insists this was unintentional.
The spokesman said critics would be left in no doubt that the campaign is about more than just the SNP.
But Scottish Green party co-convener Patrick Harvie said the campaign must be a genuine cross-party bid for independence rather than the SNP's "bland vision of politics-as-usual".
He said: "Most Greens support independence but there are many others who have concerns about the SNP's middle-of-the-road strategy."
Mr Darling, who is co-ordinating the campaign to keep Scotland in the UK, said the findings of his poll showed that on the issue of independence Mr Salmond "doesn't speak for Scotland".
The former chancellor commissioned a poll of more than 1,000 voters to coincide with the Yes Scotland launch.
Mr Darling said: "The Nationalists are entitled to their view but the majority of us simply aren't buying the independence policy they're selling."
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: "Alex Salmond is expected to pull out the stops for his big launch, but all the razzmatazz in the world can't hide the fact that the majority of Scots have no wish to be separated from the rest of the UK.
"The First Minister knows he is in trouble when more than a quarter of his own voters don't share his vision for a separate Scottish state.
"Scotland is better off in Britain and in the months ahead the Scottish Conservatives will be playing a full part in making this positive case for the Union."

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.

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