Scottish Independence Referendum – another day another poll or two

A survey of architects in Scotland shows that an overwhelming number of them will be voting Yes next Thursday.

Close to two thirds of the 160 architects polled in Architects Journal, 59 per cent, say that they’ll be backing independence at the ballot box.

Alasdair Stephen, of RIBA Award-winning Dualchas Architects and a member of Architects for Yes, believes a Yes vote will lead to greater self-confidence.

Mr Stephen said: ‘Scotland will have more self-confidence, which will be reflected in our architecture.’

‘We will be equal with other nations in the world and we will realise that our architecture should be just as good. A lack of confidence and invisibility is preventing it from being so.’

The pro-independence group, Architects for Yes launched in August with a core belief that independence will provide greater opportunities for the profession and that the industry will play a key role in shaping the environment and social policies of the new Scotland.

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A new, ‘authoritative’ poll has shown that academic experts from across Scotland’s universities have overwhelmingly said No Thanks to separation.

The Times Higher Education Referendum poll had more than 1,000 responses, which were verified to have all come from academics with ac.uk email address.

The poll found that 54% of academics were voting No, compared to 40% voting for separation.

It also found that only 30% of academics thought that independence would be good for Scottish Universities.

In notable figures, only 34.8% of academics at St Andrews are voting to leave the UK, with only 23.4% at Dundee University.

In terms of what would be the best future for Scottish Universities the figures rise to nearly 70% at St Andrews and nearly 80% at Dundee in favour of staying in the UK.

Professor Hugh Pennington, Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, said:

“This is a remarkable study which confirms that the overwhelming view of university experts is that the best and brightest future for our world-class universities is as part of the UK. This means more opportunities for our young people and generations to come.

“With just days to go until we make the most important decision in Scotland’s history, we still don’t know how our world-class universities would be paid for. This is a risk we just don’t have to take. To settle for less than being a global leader in education is selling Scotland short and that is why we should say ‘No Thanks’ to separation.”

Scottish Labour Education Spokesperson Kezia Dugdale said:

“This survey shows that the experts have weighed up the facts, and overwhelmingly believe that Scotland’s future is brighter as part of the United Kingdom.

“Scotland leads the world in academic research, and by staying in the UK we can continue to make the discoveries which change, and save, lives.

“Separating ourselves from the rest of the UK would risk jobs, opportunities and funding for education in Scotland which comes from pooling and sharing risk and rewards across 63 million people rather than 5 million people.

 “Being part of the UK means we can take advantage of the opportunities of being part of something bigger.  We can have what the majority of Scots want – more powers for Scotland whilst keeping the opportunities of the UK, and avoiding all the risks of independence. We should say No Thanks on 18 September”