Brian Monteith: True Scots disenfranchised by voting boundary
Alex Salmond would prefer only Scots on the electoral roll to vote.Picture: Phil Wilkinson
Expat Scots who were once on the electoral roll vote in general elections, so they should vote on independence
Why will Scots who live in Blackburn, Lancashire, have no say about their destiny while Scots who live in Blackburn, West Lothian, will?
The future of Scotland and Scottish people should, according to Alex Salmond’s Scottish Government, be limited only to those on the electoral register for the Holyrood elections (an important detail, as I shall explain later). This restrictive definition means that those particular voters, be they Scots living in their own country, or people from England, Wales or Northern Ireland (because they are British) or Poland, Estonia or Hungary (because they are from the European Union) will have a say – but Scots living or working in the rest of the UK or around the world will not.
At first glance this may seem fair and reasonable, for surely only Scots who are living in Scotland should determine the nation’s future – and how could it be practical to allow Scots wherever they are to participate in the independence referendum in two years’ time? I strongly disagree with both arguments, the first on principle and the second because there is already a mechanism in place that could easily be adapted were the authorities willing to do so.
Firstly let me cite as an example twin brothers I know who could not be described as anything other than thoroughly Scottish. Born 11 minutes apart in Edinburgh in the late 80s to Scottish parents, their forebears fought beside Bruce at Bannockburn, signed the declaration of Arbroath and include the first Marischal of Scotland. Given proud Scottish names, they played in the parks and streets, where, like most Scottish lads they were daft on football and soon turned out to be good at it. One lived a Scots’ boy’s dream of winning a Scottish Cup medal at Hampden after beating Rangers boys club while the other narrowly lost in another cup final at Easter Road. Both made the national pool, with one pulling the jersey on twice for his country.
When they decided to seek degrees they studied in Scotland, one at Edinburgh College of Art, the other at St Andrews.
Now graduates, the artist lives and works in Edinburgh, while the economist sought a career in finance that took him to London.
Both have been on the Scottish electoral roll, one in Edinburgh, the other in St Andrews, and have voted in the Holyrood and Westminster elections – but when the independence referendum comes in 2014 only the artist living in Bruntsfield will have a voice; the economist living in Tower Hamlets will be excluded.
I have no idea how they might vote in the referendum but I do know that after it their circumstances could quite easily reverse with one returning to Scotland and the other going south or abroad – the idea that only one cares about his country and that must be the brother who works here is a baseless and self-evidently false assumption.
The artist knows that at some time in the future it may serve his prospects better to move to New York, Berlin or London – while the economist knows that he could at very short notice be posted to any corner of the Earth, not least somewhere in Scotland. Similarly, were they to become parents they might wish to emulate their father and choose to raise their children in Scotland. Why should one be treated differently from the other?
I know this example to be true for the twin brothers happen to be my sons.
My point is simple: one does not lose interest in Scotland simply because one’s career, relationships or spirit of adventure takes you abroad. Indeed, as I know from my own experience, one develops a greater concern. If one of these brothers of Scottish blood is to have a say in his country’s future, both should.
It is said by some that it would not be practical to let Scots absent from the electoral register take part in the referendum, while SNP Cabinet Minister Bruce Crawford says that there was no call to extend the vote to Scots outside Scotland in the devolution referendum of 1997 and so it should be limited to those who vote in Holyrood elections. The letters pages of many daily papers carried complaints by England-based Scots that they were being denied a vote in that earlier referendum.
More important still, this is not a vote about the governance of Scotland – it is far bigger than just that. The independence referendum will be a vote about our citizenship, about who we are and what we are able to call ourselves. Scots will be deciding if they will remain British, with all that that entails.
My son in London may feel that he wishes to remain Scottish and British (the former will always stay with him but he can be deprived of the latter) but will be powerless to determine this. Likewise, thousands of proud Scots working in the rest of the UK could find that overnight they now come from a foreign land – without ever being given a say.
It would of course be difficult and expensive to assemble a register of Scots around the world just for the referendum, not least because there is no strict agreement on what constitutes being Scottish. Nevertheless, there is a compromise available already that is used for Westminster general elections, whereby anyone who has been on a British electoral register within the last 15 years but lives outside the UK can register for an overseas vote.
This rule has been acceptable to the SNP in general elections, so why choose to ignore it now and apply the Holyrood system which, like local council elections, does not allow Scots overseas to vote? Why is it acceptable to give servicemen taken overseas by their career a vote but not anyone else? When last week London-bound Scots graduate James Wallace started a campaign to gain a vote in the referendum I raised a cheer for his determination in making such a stand.
The independence referendum will not be some consultative local plebiscite that will hardly change a thing, it will be of seismic proportions and there will be no going back whatever it decides. Every Scot should have the opportunity of a vote in their own and their nation’s future – no matter where they live. It’s called democracy.
• Brian Monteith is policy director of ThinkScotland.org
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Comments
There are 39 comments to this article
Page 1 of 3
Kobi
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 01:03 AM#37 You really hate us Scots, don't you. Campaigning to deprive most Scots of having any say in their country's future. Pure racism.
christelijk_recht
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:16 PM# 27 deliverus wrote: "The unionists have been crying out for clarity on this, clarity on that and clarity on everything and when they get something clarified they want to muddy the water.What kind of people are they?" .................................................................................................................................... That's unclear.
christelijk_recht
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:03 PM"Why will Scots who live in Blackburn, Lancashire, have no say about their destiny while Scots who live in Blackburn, West Lothian, will?" .................................................................................................................... Mr Montieth, if you are referring to the referendum, those who are resident in Blackburn Lancashire are not resident in Scotland, and it is not clear to me why Scotland's vote on independence which deals with the right of those living in Scotland to determine their on destiny, has anything to do with those living in Blackburn Lancashire. ..................................................................................................................... Why should ethnicity play any role in this plebiscite? Should those who happen to have been born in Scotland but chose to abandon it for whatever reason, and who pay no taxes in Scotland, enjoy the right to have a say in the referendum while their next door neighbors who happen to have been born elsewhere, do not? That's discrimination on the sole basis of national origin. ................................................................................................................... Montieth's thesis is an inherently racist construct. There can be no place for such bigotry in any democracy. No, the people who should enjoy the right to determine their destiny are those who choose to live in Scotland. It is they who will have their future shaped by the result.
christelijk_recht
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 09:47 PMBrian Monteith is a Tory pol - pure and simple, yet he is never identified as such anywhere in the article. ThinkScotland.org, is a wholly-owned propaganda organ of the Conservative Party, run by Conservative pols. Yet, nowhere in the article is this salient fact revealed. .................................................................................................................... As night follows day, you cam bet if ether Monteith or the Jocksman, believed the majority of expats would vote yes to independence, this article would never have been commissioned, written, or published. No chance. So, what we have here is a bald attempt to mislead the readership of this rag into believing this is a non-partisan analysis. ...................................................................................................................... Make no mistake about it, it is anything but.
Faceless_bureaucrat
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 07:39 PM"Why will Scots who live in Blackburn, Lancashire, have no say about their destiny while Scots who live in Blackburn, West Lothian, will?" - a fundamental question, which I will answer on behalf of the SNP leadership. First of all , the SNP NEVER use the term "Scots", it is a loaded term implying heritage .. and the SNP are a "civic nationalist" party. So the guy in Lancashire isn't Scottish because he doesn't reside in Scotland. Think about a giant council and Salmond the provost, his domain is the council parish and everything outside is not his concern. By extension the Afghan just off the back-of-a-truck has more say in Scotland's future than the genuine Scot, off trying to earn a living. It sums up this utter monstrosity of a party, full of ugly, sleazy people that will do anything for power including denying people their birthright.
calimero
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 09:54 AMBrian Monteith is simply living in cloud cuckoo land. ========================================== As with most western nations, the right to vote in elections and referenda is determined by citizenship and residency. Monteith seems to be arguing from a sentimental rather than legal or even pragmatic position. ========================================== The logic of the argument to extend voting rights to citizens living and working abroad could be extended to referenda on local health boards, community councils, local authorities...why not? ============================================= Could not the individual cited by Monteith in his extraordinary argument have as much (or greater) personal interest in the good-running of the local Edinburgh hospital that assisted in his birth, as any other who is Edinburgh born (but still resident) . ============================================== It is a nonsense, and Monteith knows it. ============================================= In Ireland, which recognises dual citizenship, and has an expansive population scattered accross the globe, no such confusion exists. In any Irish referendum, irrespective of citizenship, the right to vote is explicitly excluded from those who are not resident in Ireland.====================That is the right and proper position, or is Monteith suggesting suggesting that those who can trace their birth back to the 12th century conquering of Ireland by the English, should now have equal right to decide Eire's constitutional future?
Kobi
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 02:51 AM#25 To anyone who doesn't know: check out Knowing too much: www.nationalistchildabusers'r'us.com
JPJ2
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:54 AMI know someone who likes tartan-can they vote in the referendum if they promise to vote "no" without listening to the debate (BECAUSE THEY HAVE INADEQUATE INFORMATION ON WHICH TO FORM A CONSIDERED JUDGEMENT AS THEY DON'T LIVE IN SCOTLAND)
Pending Moderation
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 10:42 PMI visited Scotland for about 10 days, I would also like a vote. Sound good Brian?
Celts
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 09:46 PMSo let me get this straight, if a Scottish footballer is transferred to an English Football club, does this mean he should be banned from playing for the Scottish national team?
samcoldstream
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 08:23 PMNext thing you know everyone that has had a postcard from Scotland will be demanding a vote in the forthcoming referendum.
Jo'Burg Jock
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 07:52 PMThe "journalist" has discovered a Blackburn in Lancashire and a Blackburn in West Lothian. Not much of an argument, is it?
deliverus
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 07:38 PMThe unionists have been crying out for clarity on this, clarity on that and clarity on everything and when they get something clarified they want to muddy the water.What kind of people are they?
Tartancult
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 07:13 PM#24 Why can't I have a vote in the referendum? ...................because you don't live in Scotland. Next.
Knowing too much
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 06:52 PMTo anyone who doesn't know: check out Brian Menteith.
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