Media advisory: Experts available to discuss Scottish independence referendum

LAWRENCE — Pollsters suggest a close vote when voters in Scotland decide Sept. 18 whether to secede from the United Kingdom.

The Acts of Union in 1707 made Scotland part of the United Kingdom with England and Wales. The UK also includes Northern Ireland. The Scottish National Party, led by Alex Salmond, who is Scotland's First Minister, in 2011 won a majority in the Scottish Parliament election, allowing Salmond to lay groundwork for this year's referendum.

Salmond has argued an independent Scotland would make the nation stronger as it gains more autonomy on how to spend its own tax revenue. UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Cameron's own political opponents in London have campaigned for keeping the status quo, arguing it would create issues over currency, European Union membership for Scotland, the fate of North Sea oil and defense.

University of Kansas experts are available to comment on issues surrounding the vote and its implications.

Victor Bailey can discuss history surrounding the vote. Bailey is Distinguished Professor of Modern British History and has written several books on the social and political history of England. He has been a faculty member at KU since 1988 and director of the Hall Center for the Humanities since 2000.

"The referendum vote, for many Scots, will come down to a choice between emotion and economics.  A yes vote will attract those who wish to underline their Scottish identity and who feel they have been sorely neglected by the main political parties down South," Bailey said. "A no vote will attract those who fear that independence is a leap into the dark, with too many unknown effects upon the Scottish economy."

Patrick Miller, assistant professor of political science, is available to discuss political opinion and election issues of the referendum. Miller's broad research includes mass political behavior.

Miller said for centuries Scotland has retained a strong, distinct sense of ethnic identity and that the referendum is a response to more Scots increasingly being dissatisfied with the direction of Britain's Conservative Party government, as well as Cameron's own commitment to continued strengthening of regional governments, including the right to a referendum.

"Polling on Scottish independence since 2011 has typically shown a large anti-independence edge, but that edge has now evaporated. The momentum is definitely with the pro-independence side, and the polls are now showing that the referendum is a true toss-up," Miller said. "What the polls can't answer, though, is whether Scottish voters are just venting their frustration in the polls and whether they will actually pull the trigger at the ballot box by voting for independence. We'll have to wait for the results to know that answer."

To arrange an interview with Bailey or Miller, contact George Diepenbrock at 785-864-8853 or gdiepenbrock@ku.edu.