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For the last 300 years this country, Scotland, with its beautiful lochs and historic castles, has been part of the United Kingdom - which means its citizens are both Scottish and British.
But on September 18th 2014, the 5 million people of Scotland will have an historic vote. They must answer just one question:
Should Scotland be an independent country?
Yes? Or No?
If they vote yes, Scotland's political landscape and the future of its people will be changed forever.
In this film we want to find out what's behind the independence movement.
What does independence really mean to the Scottish people?
Who wants it?
And why do they care?
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| TITLE | Scotland: A Question of Independence |
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| Comm "On September 18th Scotland faces its biggest challenge since 1707 when it voted for the union with England. But back then it was the Scottish aristocracy who took that decision. This time every Scottish adult over 16 years of age can take part in the referendum which will decide Scotland's future." |
| Bannockburn reconstruction cont'd | Vox pops Man "I'll be voting Yes, I'll be voting for independence. Older Man "I think probably No" Young Woman: "To be honest I've not really decided yet. Young Woman "I'm going to be voting Yes Woman: "I'm voting No" Young Man: "I don't know yet. I think I would need to look at all the facts and that, and make my mind up."
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| Caption | Comm The difficulty for many voters are the facts themselves, They can be confusing and contradictory.
People who support Independence proudly boast of Scotland's abundance of resources. It has North Sea oil reserves, a multitude of world famous whisky distilleries and growing investment in renewable energy sources such as tidal and wind power. They claim that on its own, Scotland could be one of the richest countries in the world.
But those against Independence argue that Scotland would become isolated and is stronger and more secure as part of the United Kingdom. |
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In places like North Ayreshire, on the west coast, where poverty and unemployment are higher, there are still many undecided voters who feel anxiety for the unknown and are cynical about politics.
With the latest polls showing only 39% of the Scots backing independence, the YES Scotland campaigners are working tirelessly to win every last vote.
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| Doorstep interviews: It is just a question how do you feel about the referendum... How do you feel about the referendum? 1 woman - I am still quite undecided. I am still thinking things over. I am not so keen on Alex Salmond.
Man - Good, neither am I, but that's not what this referendum is about. It's about the people of Scotland taking control of their own destiny. That's all. Once we have taken the decision to be a nation, then we decide what kind of nation we wanna be. 2 man - Today we're just talking about the Scottish referendum....the cats and animals, babies and stuff like that. Welly boots. Woman - what an audience here. Man - we just want to know how you feel with the referendum coming up. Woman - know nothing about it. About Scottish independence? No, nothing. Man - right, on the 18th of September we've got a vote. You've got a vote. Woman - oh I know about that, I just don't know who I am going to vote for. Man - right, what's important to you then? What would you like to see changing in this country? Woman - I don't know. Nothing in specific. Man - Well, there's lots of kids about. Woman - Yeah, I've got four. Man - You've got four. Well, there's one good thing for you as a start Scottish indeendence is going to bring: free childcare. Woman - oh right. Can we afford that? Man - We can afford to do it, absolutely, cause we're one of the richest countries in the world.
3 union jack man - I don't really know who I am going to vote for. What politicians can you believe? You know what I mean. Man - see just on the very simple basis. If you vote to control your own affairs in Scotland, first of all, you know where your MP stays. You don't have to jump on a train down in London, which I have done in many occasions campaigning on different things. That's the first thing.
4. man - there's some websites. They're all non-political, so you can go there to get some information on it. What's your normal certain way of voting, who you're normally voting for, the parties? Woman - I don't vote at all. Man - you don't vote at all. That's allright. This time could be the one time that you will. Woman - I am, probably will be.
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| Telephone rings "Good Afternoon, Yes Scotland, Kat speaking, how can I help?" |
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According to the Yes Scotland campaigners, young people have the most to gain from an independent Scotland. 16-year old Saffron Dickson is a passionate activist and devotes all of her free time to the Yes campaign, regularly speaking at public events. She is convinced that Scotland will be a better country when it becomes independent.
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| Generation Yes video - Saffron: "Let's make a change" |
| Yes campaigners in North Ayrshire | Saffron Dickson, Campaigner
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| Door to door campaign | Saffron 14:35:43 I think with independence it can - it can change everything, because independence gives us the power, which means the Scottish people can mould their own country. We'll have actual powers over our own welfare, which means we don't need to drive people into poverty, and the fact that they're disabled and can't work, we don't need to drive people into poverty and the fact that they've been made redundant. We can actually pay people a living wage so that they can work and afford to eat. we can't change the huge gap between the social classes un- until we get independence. |
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According to recent reports, Scotland, with a population of just over 5 million, is still one of the most unequal societies in the developed world where the wealthiest households are 273 times richer than the poorest households.
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| Saffron at the office | Saffron 14:34:24 I come from Pollokshields, which is an area where literally streets separate the extreme poverty and the extreme wealth. My own street that I lived in, there's multi-storey flats where people have to pay £300-400 a month for heating to keep the mould down so their children don't get asthma or don't get chronic illnesses and - and so that their clothes don't smell, and they can't afford to feed because they need to heat. And then on the other side of the street there's people with million pounds mansions, people - whose children have trust funds and never need to worry about anything. There's such a big difference. And that's - that's not just in my community, that's reflected across the whole of Scotland. |
| Archive | Comm In 1999, after the act of devolution, a Scottish parliament was established, giving certain powers to the Scottish people. But the UK government still makes the laws in key areas such as social security and defence.
Pro independent supporters believe that poverty and inequality in Scotland can only be put right if the Scots have complete control over their own affairs.
These views have been championed by The Sunday Herald, the first national newspaper to choose a side in the debate. It's editor, Richard Walker believes an Independent Scotland will be a fairer society. |
| Caption | Richard Walker, Editor, Sunday Herald. 11:15:31 In terms of the - the kind of political culture in Scotland, there is a - a more caring attitude. An attitude which - which believes that those who are less lucky and who rely on the state, those people are in that position through no fault of their own, and that the state has a responsibility to make their lives as - as good as it's possible to make them. And also to give them the potential to get out of that situation and into work and to be a responsible member of society and contribute to it. I think - I'm not saying people - there are no people in England that believe that. Clearly there are thousands of people in England that believe that too. But I think I would trust a Scottish government more to take care of us and to create a fairer and more just society than I would trust, a Westminster government.
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Since its relaunch as a tabloid, the Sunday Herald has been outspoken about its sympathy for independence and is not ashamed to hold strong opinions.
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| GV's streets of Glasgow; close ups faces | Richard 11:06:50 I think newspapers should express views. Newspapers in Scotland have a proud tradition of being involved in campaigns for social change and constitutional change, including the debates on the - on devolution. And I think this debate, which is the most important one for 300 years is important enough for a newspaper to say this is our view of it.
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GV's Pollokshields
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On the other side of town, The No team - recently re-branded as "Better Together", is holding a special conference to launch the last 100 days of the campaign.
Applause, Video on screen: "Standing alone in a big competitive global market? No thanks!"
Businesswoman Tessa Hartman is one of the campaigners for Better Together. She believes that while Scotland has a strong identity, it is hugely enriched by flying the British flag.
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| GV's Sunday Herald | Tessa Hartman, Businesswoman I don't really understand where this need for political identity comes from. I think, you know, the Scots have been part of the - of the - of the chemistry and - and the tapestry, if you like, of Britain. You know, we built half of London. You know, look at the bridges. Our - our engineers, our - our - our technicians, our inventors. But yet we've retained a strong identity. And I think that those people who claim cultural identity is only going to be furthered through an independent Scotland are wrong because for me, I'm incredibly proud,//to be Scottish //, I'd fly that Saltire flag everywhere I can, But the power and the strength, and - and the love I have for being British is phenomenal. I think we are, as a nation, revered around the world. I think the British landscape and chemistry is envied around the world, and I'm - I'm proud to be part of both.
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| Caption | Comm Tessa has a media and PR business and in 2009 founded the Scottish Fashion Awards. |
| GV's Sunday Herald office;
| Tessa We've benefited being part of the British fashion culture, we've thrived at being part of the British fashion culture. If you were to strip that away, I feel personally in my business, that wouldn't have an industry left.
It's a big concern as to what's going to happen to all the jobs. You know, what are the high streets going to be populated with? What's everyone going to do if some of these companies decided to pull out? Because effectively we need to remember that you are becoming a foreign territory. It's just a catastrophe to think that we're going to shut the door and bring in more bureaucracy to run a smaller country and not be part of this great union.
You know, no one can answer the question of what the interest rates will be. No one can actually say what's going to happen to the pension funds. Where are they going to get the money to actually run the country? |
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| COMM Tessa's fears are echoed by the No Campaign, which has put forward many pessimistic scenarios if Scotland were to choose Independence.
Glasgow based stand-up Comedians, Paul Sneddon and Keir McAllister enjoy satirising the anti Independence movement.
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| GV's launch 100 days No campaign + Footage Tessa | Keir & Paul (on stage) I mean, they call themselves Project Fear. That is the name that the No campaign or the Better Together campaign gave to their own strategy, Project Fear. There's only two things that should be called project fear, and that's the baddies and Marvin movies and the Catholic approach to sex education. That's the only two things that should be called project fear.
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| Caption | Stage show cont'd A lot of the kind of campaigning, a lot of the posters - - Yeah, they've been misleading. - They've been misleading. I don't think there's been enough straight talking. |
| Stills - fashion industry | Paul Sneddon We aren't actually setting out to do er, a show that is pro-independence. We're setting out to do a show about the referendum. A lot of the comedy we're doing comes out of the cataclysmic scenarios that have been kind of put out by the Best Together campaign about what a dreadful state Scotland would be in if we voted yes.// K: We might not get the Gulf Stream. P: We might not get the Gulf Stream. K: Yeah.12:27:50 P: Edinburgh Zoo will have to hand the pandas back to China. |
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| Keir McAllister I mean we had the Defence Secretary came up to Scotland and said that an in independent Scotland, Scotland has to look out for attacks from space. That's the Defence Secretary!! |
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| K: And I think then Scotland we've been told the entirety of this campaign that we're too wee, we're too silly, we're too poor. All of these and we've got to think that way. And I think er, there - there's a huge er, mental leap that gets us to the point where we can think that we can do this as a nation. And that's what's holding people back is that we think oh we are - is this going to - you know, it's going to be some kind of post-apocalyptic Eastern Eur - European state, you know? We're gonna er, have no money and it's going to be all food banks. Genuinely people think that's what's going to happen. But, in fact, we've got more wealth and more information about independence than any other country that's - that's done it before. |
| Stand comedy club | Stage show Keir & Paul: Better Together sounds creapy, does it. It sounds like what your psycho X would say you after he kidnapped you. |
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The abundance of information and in some cases misinformation has left many voters in Scotland struggling to make up their mind. Radio producer Anna Magnusson is one of them. She remains undecided and would love to have a more honest and less-polarized debate.
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| Caption | Anna 12:55:53
The different sides are presenting their best case all the time. I want to hear about worst-case scenarios as well. I just wish that somebody would say, on the yes side, yes, we'll do all these different - different things, and yes, these are all these opportunities, but do you know it will be hard, it will be difficult. It's a huge change. |
| Caption | Anna 12:34:46 It's not about being Scottish, it's not about if you - if you want to be independent you're somehow more Scottish than if you don't. I think that's a false argument and I hate it when people use that argument. It's more subtle than that.
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The vote for Independence is a one way trip and Anna wonders if there is something in the nature of the Scottish people, which is holding them back.
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| Anna 12:49:02 Scots are people who, I think, have a - have both a great appetite for life, but sometimes a dark view of life. There's a story, there's a story, a - a poem by one of the Scottish poets, about a man walking down the street in the highlands somewhere, and the sun is splitting the sky and it's beautiful, and he meets an old lady coming across along the road and he says to her, ‘what a beautiful day.' And she looks at him and she says, ‘aye, but we'll pay for it, we'll pay for it.' And there is that sort of sometimes glass half empty thing with Scots. But when I'm abroad and you ask people and you say you're from Scotland, what they think of if they think of the country, they think of Robert Burns, they think of poetry and they think of music. They think of warmth. They think of the warmth of people here. So the exciting thing, I suppose, if I were to vote Yes would be what else we would be, what else we would be known for. What else people would come to Scotland for. And that is - I am curious about that.
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GV's river Clyde, Anna reading paper. n.b. chroma key here | Comm
Whatever Scotland becomes, the wider world will continue to recognize the country's iconic symbols.
For bagpipers Willie Park and David Worthspoon, those cultural symbols are at the heart of the independence debate.
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| David I've never felt in any way British. // I just, I feel Scottish. I feel comfortable being Scottish. Scotland and England are so different and I don't believe they should be er, conjoined. I don't think it's - it's fair or appropriate that er, our country is ruled by a parliament 400 miles away.
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Between 1970 and 2014, Scotland has been ruled by Conservative governments it did not vote for. At the election in 2010 the country only returned 1 conservative Tory MP.
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GV's stock shots River Clyde | Willie 19:40:05 The - the Tories are designed, to keep financial markets stable in London and to make sure the home counties and the surrounding London area are kept wealthy. And further north you go and when you come across the border into Scotland, we only matter for two reasons: we produce oil and we're a nuclear bunker as well. To keep the stuff away from England. We don't like nuclear bunkers and the oil's actually ours. And a hundred thousand pound a day for each whisky tanker that leaves a distillery in revenue goes down south. It doesn't come to us. |
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| Davy We will be a prosperous country, with the boom in renewables and a possible west coast oil boom, we could be the richest country in the world. People in Scotland need to understand this. The way we're being suppressed just now erm, is - is not good for the Scottish people. We need to move forward. |
| Bagpipes: GV's Mugdock castle, Willie & David playing | Comm Wille and David are as wedded to their Scottish culture as they are to their bagpipes. But Willie has an even deeper connection to Scotland's history. His ancestors once gave refuge to Bonnie Prince Charley, grandson of Scottish King James VII, as he mounted an attempt to claim the British throne.
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| Willie 19:52:47 My family tree extends back to the - the Jacobites on my mother's side. And it's something my grandfather used to tell me stories that we had Bonnie Prince Charley in one of the barns up near Spean Bridge. I didn't believe the story but, in later years, watching a historical programme I found out it was actually true. So. So. Immense feeling of pride, of being part of Scottish history and it's always been really in me since I was a wee kid. You know, growing up. It's always been there. And it's a Celtic - it's a Celtic thing. And all the Celtic people throughout the world probably the same feelings. With their culture.
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| Bagpipes playing | End Comm The referendum will be decided by both emotional sentiment and hard headed political argument .
Whatever the outcome, Scotland has shown that changing the path of history is never easy.
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| End Credits. |
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| Narrator Paul Burgess
Reseacher Rebecca Jolliffe Camera Shu Lorimer Keith Ingram
Sound Simon Tomlinson
Executive producer Anne-Marie Gilis
Directed and Edited by Paul Burgess
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| Bagpipes, scenery, |
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| Aerial footage |
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