"Debate intensifies as Scotland plans vote on independence" by Paul Kelbie | Associated Press August 24, 2014
GLASGOW, Scotland — Scotland’s long debate about whether the country should become independent has proved a bonanza for printers of bumper stickers, posters, balloons, and even umbrellas.
Nationwide the words ‘‘Yes’’ and ‘‘No’’ can be found emblazoned on everything from street lights to shopping bags. Posters proclaiming ‘‘Proud to be Scots. Delighted to be United’’ and ‘‘Yes to a better, fairer Scotland’’ adorn the windows of homes sharing the same street.
On Monday, Scotland’s proindependence First Minister Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, leader of the ‘‘No’’ campaign, will face off in their last televised debate before the Sept. 18 referendum.
Both sides claimed victory when the two clashed Aug. 4 — and interest from outside Scotland was so high it caused the Internet platform streaming the event to crash. This time the debate will be shown on the BBC across Britain, and on C-SPAN in the United States.
At stake is the support of thousands of voters who, despite a campaign lasting two years, have yet to decide .
Across the country, activists have held thousands of town hall meetings, coffee talks in private homes, and discussions in pubs, clubs, town squares, and on public transport.
People who have never been involved in politics before have come together and created a truly grass-roots national debate about a vote that could affect everything from Scotland’s economy, passports, currency, and military to its sense of national pride and its role in the European Union.
Politicians from both sides have toured Scotland to address the public, distributing flags — the blue and white Saltire of Scotland, or the red, white, and blue of the Union Jack.
School halls have held question-and-answer sessions for students, reflecting the fact that, for the first time in Britain, 16- and 17-year-olds are being given the right to vote.
Opinion polls suggest voters are narrowly divided on whether to break up Scotland’s 307-year-old union with England or remain alongside the English, Welsh, and Northern Irish inside the United Kingdom. In opinion polls the anti-independence side has maintained a consistent lead — but as many as a million undecided voters hold the balance.
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It's out of respect.
