Bicycle racks at Holyrood

saltire shield'It was through Mary's son, James VI that the Stewarts made their greatest conquest, the throne of England. Whether that was a victory for Scotland, however, depends on which side of the Tweed one stands.'
Stewart Ross in Monarchs of Scotland, Lochar Publishing.		Lion Rampant

The medium is the message

By Nick Jones, new media editor, New Media Age

In the Scottish universities a debate can be either be a rarefied intellectual dispute conducted under quasi-parliamentary rules or a knock-about display of repartee and banter. In English universities, traditional debates more resemble public speaking contests. But in Medialand, the art of debate reached its nadir at the hands of Carlton Television, producer of the January 8 television debate and telephone vote on the monarchy. The hoopla and hype dominated the debate and even Andrew Neil, the former editor of the Sunday Times, confessed: "I think it makes the Oprah Winfrey Show look upmarket".

But while the press spent a good few days following up the programme, already decried as the worst in 1997, little was made of the actual vote. Of the 2.6m who voted by automated telephone poll, 66% were in favour of the monarchy. But the only region to reject the royals was Scotland. 56% of voters from north of the border voted against the monarchy.

While Steven Norris, MP for Epping Forrest, stormed off the set of the show, other politicians did lend credence to the vote. "Television is acting as a substitute because the main parties are running away from the issue", said Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party.

Regional breakdown of the vote in per cent.

Region          Pro-monarchy    Anti-monarchy
Scotland        44                      56
N. Ireland      64                      36
North West      64                      36
North East      66                      34
Wales           59                      41
Midlands        69                      31
East Anglia     70                      30
London          66                      34
South East      72                      28
South West      71                      29

mail Nick Jones nickj@centaur.co.uk

Return to home page
RAINBOW