 | 'And now a public service announcement: Donald Dewar doesn't walk on water.' Iain MacWhirter in the Scotsman, 29 th July 1997. |  |
| 'And now a public service announcement: Donald Dewar doesn't walk on water.' Iain MacWhirter in the Scotsman, 29 th July 1997. | |
MORE than 500,000 Scottish voters may have "gone missing" by the time of the devolution referendum, dealing a blow to hopes of a high turnout to endorse the Government's plans.
The "loss" of 400,000-600,000 voters was revealed yesterday by the cross-party Scotland Forward organisation when it launched the next phase of its Yes, Yes campaign.
Scotland Forward officials said that as the referendum would be held in September, hundreds of thousands of people would either have moved within Scotland, moved out of the country or died since the electoral register was compiled in October 1996.
Based on experience, this would reduce the numbers who are likely to vote from the 3,995,923 registered last year by 10-15 per cent.
Scotland Forward denied that the campaign was making excuses for a low turnout in the referendum on 11 September. The campaign's national organiser, Paolo Vestri said: "We're running this referendum on a register which is 11 months out of date. We'll be doing some work to ensure that the percentage has to be discounted from the overall register so you can get a true reading of the percentage who have voted.
"It's not an excuse. In 1979 they discounted 5 per cent of the electoral register and that was an election held in March on a brand new register."
In the 1979 referendum there was controversy over the number of people who would count as having registered - a crucial aspect because of the rule that 40 per cent of the electorate had to back the plan.
The then Scottish secretary, Bruce Millan, ruled that there would be a 5 per cent "discount" from the register, which some specialists argued was too low.
A straight majority will apply for the forthcoming referendum, but the "missing" voters will give the pro-home rulers a problem in claiming that the plans have been endorsed by a large majority of Scots.
Speaking at a Scotland Forward press conference, the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, sought to play down the problem.
"It is going to be a simple majority contest as is the case in our democracy. What we will do is carry this handsomely.
"I think we will get a big response. I don't think the 'don't knows' and 'don't cares' will be allowed to dominate by the people of Scotland. I think it will be a true test of Scottish opinion."
He said the "law of the land" prevented the Government from getting people to register now, but there would be a campaign to remind people to use their vote.
The setback came as Mr Dewar used the Scotland Forward press conference in Edinburgh to highlight remarks made at the weekend by William Hague, the leader of the Conservative Party. The Scottish Secretary pointed to Mr Hague's statement that if there was a "yes" vote the general principle had been established and the Tories would be interested only in proper scrutiny and constructive criticism of the devolution legislation.
Mr Dewar said: "I would greatly welcome both proper scrutiny and constructive criticism in the parliamentary stage. The significance is that that rules out last-ditch obstructions and a refusal even to contemplate the possibility of listening to Scotland.
"I welcome that statement and I welcome that approach. It removes uncertainty, offers the stability which I think is essential and banishes the threat that a swing in electoral fortune at some future date would immediately put a Scottish parliament at risk from a Conservative administration.
"What it does is to underline the importance of the referendum vote itself. It is an historic opportunity. A Yes, Yes vote on 11 September will give the Bill an impetus and authority which will stand it in good stead in its parliamentary passage.
"A decisive Yes, Yes vote will effectively entrench the settlement and allow Scotland to look forward with confidence."
However, Scotland Forward immediately found itself under attack for a campaign leaflet that was published yesterday. In a question-and-answer section, the leaflet claimed that there was no tartan tax, that business taxation would not be affected by devolution and that there "really is no West Lothian question".
The chairman of the anti-devolution Think Twice campaign, Donald Findlay, QC, attacked the pro-devolution campaign for "lack of honesty" over the tax issue.
Mr Findlay pointed to recent remarks by the devolution minister, Henry McLeish, that tax powers of the parliament could raise £5 billion over ten years and contrasted them to the leaflet's claims.
He said: "We have one Government minister who wants to utilise the tax and spend powers of the proposed Scottish parliament and then we have the Secretary of State launching a leaflet which claims there is no tartan tax. Both cannot be correct."
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