The Great British Break Up? The Live Debate

17 September 2014

• 87% of Scots outside Scotland wish they were voting in referendum, says new poll
• 54% of Scots living in England would vote for the country to stay part of the UK
• 46% of Scots living in England would vote Yes
• Final televised debate to be aired tonight on C4 hours before the polls open
• Jon Snow to chair panel including business leaders, politicians, celebrities
• Undecided voters will track debate showing which arguments persuade them

Scots living across the border in England have said overwhelmingly that they should have been able to vote in tomorrow’s referendum.

The new poll found that 87% of Scots no longer living in Scotland felt they should have been included in the historic process.

Meanwhile, 54% of Scots living in England would vote for the country to stay part of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, 46% said they would have voted Yes. [1]

Of those living in London 77% said they would back the Yes campaign while that dropped to 39% for those living in the North of England, 32% for those living in the Midlands and 43% in the South and East of England.

The survey of almost 400 Scots living in England was carried out by Opinium just three days before the polls open in Scotland on Thursday morning to decide whether it should be an independent country.

Overall, 43% of those polled said they were happy at the thought of Scotland’s separation from the Union compared to 46% who said they felt sad.

Six in ten (60%) said they had tried to influence a relative to vote for/against in the referendum. However, 80% of hypothetical Yes voters said that they have or will try to urge relatives to vote to leave the Union.

The poll comes as Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow prepares to host a final debate tonight, just hours before the voting booths open on Thursday morning. The Great British Break-Up? The Live Debate, produced by ITN Productions, will be broadcast live at 10pm on C4 on Wednesday September 17.

The panel show, held at Mansfield Traquair in Edinburgh, will feature politicians from both side of the referendum divide along with high-profile speakers, business leaders and experts on the constitution and issues such as currency.

The line-up includes high-profile names from the words of culture, business, health, media, politics and law. In the No camp, among others, is entrepreneur Michelle Mone, editor and journalist Fraser Nelson, Sir Menzies Campbell the former Liberal Democrat leader and comedian Rory Bremner. Panellists supporting the Yes campaign include fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, the actor Brian Cox, actress Elaine C Smith and Stagecoach boss Sir Brian Souter.

In addition to audience members from across Scotland there will also be voices from the public from around the rest of the UK.

A pool of 50 undecided voters will also take part. They will be provided with voting pads and will demonstrate which arguments best persuade them throughout the programme.

Jon Snow said: “It’s decision time. With just hours to go before Scotland votes, the fate of the whole United Kingdom hangs in the balance. We’ll hear live from those on both sides of the debate and watch to see which arguments, if indeed any, are able to sway our undecided voters.”

Viewers are encouraged to show their own allegiances live by using the hashtag #breakupyes and #breakupno during the programme.

The Great British Break-Up? The Live Debate, produced by ITN Productions, will be broadcast live at 10pm on C4.

Press Contact:
Laura Roberts, ITN

Notes to journalists:

The research was conducted online by CAWI (computer aided web interviewing), using Opinium’s online research panel:

The two surveys were conducted amongst:

371 adults that identify as Scottish living in England. The fieldwork was conducted between the 12th and 17th September 2014.

 

About Opinium Research LLP
Opinium Research is a full service insight agency offering quantitative and qualitative marketing research and consultancy across a range of sectors. These include consumer markets, financial services and insurance, technology, business to business, advertising and media, automotive, business and leisure travel, politics and healthcare. Opinium’s offering spans consultancy, syndicated, Omnibus and field and data services. Opinium runs a daily low-cost online Omnibus survey interviewing 2000 UK adults per wave.

 

Opinium – What People Think, Feel and Do. www.opinium.co.uk

[1] All figures exclude respondents with answers of “don’t know” and those who would not vote.