Scottish Referendum 'Vow' Seen As A Confidence Trick

At the time of the Scottish Referendum the then three main United Kingdom political party leaders, Prime Minister David Cameron, then Labour leader Ed Miliband and then Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, signed up to the idea of a 'Vow' to the Scottish people. The 'Vow' was a pledge that there would be substantial devolved powers to the Scottish Parliament if the people of Scotland would vote against full independence in the Referendum  on 18 September 2014.  

The idea of a Vow was a panic response after a poll put the Yes campaign ahead for the first time in two-and-half years. It came after a number of anti-independence PR disasters including when Ed Miliband had brought 104 MPs to Glasgow. Their marched down Buchanan Street was derailed by a protester, playing the Imperial March from Star Wars and using a megaphone to shout, “Say hello to your imperial masters ... People of Glasgow, your imperial masters have arrived!” 

Today's Scottish newspaper the National reports on a new YouGov Opinion poll that shows that only nine per cent of Scots believes that “The Vow” has been kept. The poll also comes ahead of a new book looking behind the scenes of the Better Together campaign. Joe Pike’s Project Fear, comes out on Friday and  features interviews with many involved in the No campaign. It points to the roll of the Daily Record and how 'The Vow' was conceived and drafted by journalists at the Daily Record, in consultation with former prime minister Gordon Brown.

Printed on the 16th on the front page of the Daily Record , a year ago today, it was one of the most important media interventions in the whole campaign. Now 'The Vow' is seen for what it was, a con. As pointed out by SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said: “This poll is a damning indictment of the UK Government’s broken promises on further devolution.”

The National newspaper promises more revelations from Joe Pike’s Project Fear on Friday.