INDYREF TIMELINE
D YREF TIMELINE No. Peter Geoghegan looks back at the lead-up to the independence referendum
OCT: THE EDINBURGH
AGREEMENT
A rather grand name for the compromise between Alex Salmond and David Cameron which gives next month’s vote its legal basis. Under the
deal, there will be a single Yes / No question, 16 & 17-year-olds will be able to vote and the Electoral Commission will regulate.
2013
MAR: DATE SET 18 September 2014 is chosen by Alex Salmond as the date for the
referendum.
SEP: MARCH AND RALLY
FOR INDEPENDENCE A host of Scottish cultural
luminaries, including comedian
Hardeep Singh Kohli and
writer Alan Bissett, assemble on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill
calling for independence. The aftermath features a stramash about attendance i gures. The organisers said 30,000 people;
the police said 5000.
FEB: DAVID BOWIE ‘Scotland, stay with us,’ appeals David Bowie in a statement read out by supermodel Kate Moss at the Brit Awards. The
Thin White Duke’s unlikely intervention spawned endless internet memes.
FEB: CURRENCY
UNION CHAOS George Osborne, Danny Alexander
and Ed Balls
rule out a formal currency union between the rest of the UK and an independent
Scotland.
2014
NOV: WHITE PAPER PUBLISHED
At 670 pages long, Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an
Independent Scotland gives Proust and Foster Wallace a run for their money. Launched
at the Science Centre in Glasgow, the White Paper sets out the vision for an independent Scotland, including the creation of a new Scottish broadcaster.
AUG: TV DEBATES
Alex Salmond goes head to
head with Alistair Darling in round 1 on STV, followed by a second bout on the BBC.
AUG: ELECTORAL COMMISSION GUIDE
PUBLISHED
Over two and a half million leal ets are sent out to households across Scotland explaining how to register for a vote, the voting process and the arguments from both sides.
Scotland votes . . . ? 18 SEP
21 Aug–18 Sep 2014 THE LIST 25
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