This short video (14 mins) is worth a watch.
Produced by TLDR News UK, it raises a fair question and, in our opinion, has a decent stab at answering it.
Why pay attention to this?
What is TLDR News and who is behind it?
According to their own website:
TLDR News is an independent online media group that focuses on making digital content about news and current affairs from all over the world.
Starting in 2017, we focussed on explaining the biggest news events in the UK, namely Brexit. Since then, we’ve grown to 6 channels: TLDR UK, EU, Global, Daily, Podcasts and Business and we explain everything from the Turkish economy to how RyanAir took over Europe.
We pride ourselves on our accessible, non-partisan, and impartial coverage of current events – aimed to help young people better understand the world around them, and form their own opinions.
Currently, we have more than 2.5 million YouTube subscribers across the TLDR Network, with a majority of those aged between 16-35. Our content reaches millions of people every week, with our average videos achieving better viewership numbers than even major news outlets.
So far as we can tell, TLDR has no dog in the Scottish independence fight, so their take on what's happening is valuable - if their claimed viewing figures are anywhere near accurate then their material is reaching a lot of people. How many of them are Scots is impossible to tell, as is the % who may be unionists or 'soft' Yessers. But we take the production at face value along with TLDR's claim to be 'non-partisan and impartial'. It would be churlish of us to dismiss their effort because it fails to mention certain aspects of the current debate but there are omissions which they may wish to consider if they ever return to this matter:
Humza Yousaf's popularity ratings have been dropping since he became FM.
The attempted framing of Alex Salmond by the 'Alphabet Women' and their controller(s) is, for many Scots, at least as big a story as the missing £600k and for some it is much more important as Salmond's legal action is ongoing.
The legal action in the UK Supreme Court to secure Scotgov control over the timing of Indyref2 was not viewed by all Scots as a genuine attempt to resolve the Section 30 conundrum - rather, the dismal performance of Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain was viewed by many as deliberate sabotage instigated by a First Minister who wanted the issue removed from her in-tray permanently. (As cynical as this may sound to those not devoting nerdish levels of attention to Scottish politics over the past five years or so, suspicion/distrust of Nicola Sturgeon and her 'cabinet' is far more widespread/intense than TLDR appears to realise.)
There is no mention of the constitutional arguments raised in recent years by SALVO, Liberation Scotland. Nor is there an acknowledgement that the issue of abstentionism deserves to be taken seriously following the shockingly low turnout in recent by-elections. Mind you, if TLDR are using mainstream media archives and/or AI to do the bulk of their research then there's no reason why they should be aware of these arguments - god only knows it's well-night impossible to find any mention of them in the Scottish press and we don't recall any major pollsters asking Scots how they feel about the Claim of Right.
We leave readers to make up their own minds about TLDR and their effort to 'explain' what's happening in Scotland but, fwiw, we doubt that we could come up with anything remotely as engaging and professional if we were asked to produce a quarter-hour explanatory video about the current state of political play in Wales or Northern Ireland.
We've copied some of the comments reacting to the video. (The first is particularly interesting.)
TLDR may be right to conclude that, for now, the issue of Scottish independence is 'dorment' but we hope that things will spring into life, giving them something more substantial to get their teeth into.
We're not the only ones who hope it happens sooner rather than later.
500,000 people have died in Scotland in the last 10 years since 2014. Most of them are over 65 years old. In 2014 the over 65's were voting 70%+ NO. On that basis over 350,000 NO voters have gone. Replaced at the other end by young adults polling 80%+ YES( These 18-35 figures are from the Michael Gove "State of the Union" report released in January). 35-55 year olds are polling 80%+ YES. Do you get the unstoppable drift to YES, despite the best efforts of the Unionist press and media in Scotland. Demographics are doing the job for us. The corrupt Tory Westminster Government is doing the job for us. They can stall all they want but all that is doing is increasing the YES vote as more unionists die out. In 2030 a "Generation" of voters will have passed since 2014(We allow 16 year olds to vote in Scottish elections. Westminster cannot deny another referendum. At the latest 2030, but hopefully sooner, Scotland will be independent!
Problem is it was never economically viable. Sure Scotland can be Independent but the economics say it would be significantly poorer outside of the UK & the SNP did all they could to obscure that from the people. It's 2010 white paper on Independence was a joke, they were selling another Darien dream & time has savaged the claims they made.
Liberated colonies cannot help but feel for other colonized people. A free Scotland and Wales would behave like free Ireland does.. and having two more countries like that is not something that Starmer's overlords and underwriters would ever allow while he is in power.
SNP for me right now isn't about an independence movement. Its about having a more left option. They are a left of centre party. Labour and Tories are incredibly right in my view, indistinguishable from each other. Even if IndyRef2 isn't on the cards, Labour is not an option because of how right they have become.
The SNP is only 1 part of the independence movement..... I know far more people that are pro independence now than in 2014!
You have to remember that this is the current state of affairs before any such campaigning has begun. of course we learnt that the hard way from previous votes. I still think that Independence is a major issue behind the cost of living right now. I'm more annoyed at the fact we cant have a proper debate any more about the pros cons and possible options of independence. everything is framed under "No one wants the vote in the first place" vs " you had a vote in 2014". Independence is more than the SNP. There are many people from every part (Even conservative and labour) who would vote for it. Im getting pretty tired of the typically england based media players who are on the outside looking in and commeting on our behalf, you have no idea about whats going on "on the ground". The SNP have been hounded over the Covid enquiry and such when the Westmister lot were partying and stating let the bodies pile high.
Hard to have an independence referendum with the English supreme court says you cant have one. That's all there is to it. As long as Westminster says no, Scotland remains a prisoner. The SNP are still going strong and will have a majority of seats in Scotland, despite what England centric media hopes and prays for. In the end, a union kept together by 'No you can't have a vote because I say so.' won't be healthy.
People talk about Scottish independence as if it could be easily achieved. None of the parties is willing to face up to the massive practical problems, or educate the populace about them. There is no guarantee that Scotland would be permitted join the EU, and keeping the pound would mean that it would lose control over its finances. Block funding from Westminster would stop, leaving the government with insufficient money to support social services. No one has answered the question about who would be a citizen of Scotland - the people living in Scotland at the time of the referendum, or anyone born in Scotland, even if they do not live there. Finally, decarbonisation would mean that the government would lose over time all its oil and gas revenues, and nothing has been said about replacing that income. I do not see Scottish independence as happening, ever.
Question from an Australian: if Scotland leaves the United Kingdom (no longer governed from Westminister) does that mean you become a republic or will the House of Windsor continue to "preside/reign" over Scotland as King of Scotland? Does the personal union of the crowns end? Is there royal devolution, so to speak (like the way the Head of State of Australia is the King of England, however we are legally separate nations)
The next big awakening for scotish independence will be the referendum in northern ireland
I voted for independence and I would again as I see it as a deperate issue as to who governs Scotland, but the SNP is an absolute shambles and I say that as someone who voted for them plenty in the past. Yousaf just seems rudderless.
I wouldn't put too much weight on polls on independence outside of a referendum campaign. Nobody is talking about the realities of independence at the moment, so polling is based largely on an idealised view of what independence would look like. The reality is that Scotland can't afford independence and, if there is a second independence referendum, that will be made very clear to everyone.
The issue with the title of this video, as mentioned at the end of the video, is that it draws a correlation between "independence voters" and "SNP". Which isn't the case. Now, hands on the table, I'm Welsh not Scottish, so my devolution experience is with the senedd, however in the Labour run senedd there are Labour MS's (Members of the Senedd) who have voiced a support for questions regarding independence. This, in the end , boils down to the fact that the labour parties in the devolved governments dance to a different tune that the labour government in Westminster - mostly because labour won in Wales and the Manchester and the London mayoral elections while they lost in Westminster and Scotland meaning that they were "in government" as opposed to in opposition, which gives them a different perspective. So at the moment Scottish labour may be dancing to the same unionist tune of Westminster labour but if they get into power in Scotland and have to deal with their counterparts in London (or another conservatives government in London) labour MSP's will probably start rallying behind the independence banner.
This is a really good and fairly balanced video. There is a few points that I disagree with. Firstly although the shine has rubbed of the party overall on most issue people on all sides recognise that SNP have done a good job overall. Not perfect and some big mistakes but overall good. Secondly UK Labour have moved so far right to appeal to English supporter they are not what most Scottish people want. Also Labour may only last 1 term. Personally I think although not perfect SNP are on balance still better than the other options. We can all see Labour is not a good choice but we are ignoring because the prospect of another Tory government is so horrific. Problem is Tories will move right and be back worse than ever. Its like USA.
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