THE REFERENDUM AND SOME PANEFUL QUESTIONS

After politically themed cupcakes from Cuckoo's Bakery and politically themed cushion covers from a local soft furnisher, it’s now time for me to wade into the debate on Independence.  

That’s right, I’m going to tackle the biggest question being asked in Scotland today, and by the time you’ve finished reading this, you’ll be left with more questions than ever.

I recently took a walk around the streets of Broughton and conducted a completely unofficial poll. I didn’t speak to anyone; over the past few months I’ve heard enough opinions, views and rants to last a lifetime. Instead I walked around Broughton and surveyed windows.

Around 90% of the stickers displayed are Yes ones. That leaves 9% declaring No/No Thanks/Naw/Better Together, and 1% of miscellaneous stickers making all sorts of statements from Caution – Dog to Neighbourhood Watch, Druids Welcome and Nudists for Broughton to name but a few.

If 10% of the properties in Broughton have stickers in their windows, that leaves 90% of households either undecided or not really bothered enough to display their preferences because they don’t believe it will make much of a difference.

If you look closely at the more conventional national survey results, Broughton’s sticker poll does not reflect popular opinion. So why does the Yes campaign occupy more windows than the No’s? When I asked a top political pollster, aka Mrs Left-Handed Tea Drinker, she declared that the Yes camp is more passionate. It’s certainly true that the Yes camp is more vocal but voices don’t necessarily equate to votes – the polls clearly show that. Passion isn’t always displayed on the battlefield; sometimes people show their passion in different ways.

To the many questions being asked at the moment, I add two new ones: (1) Does displaying a political statement in your window make a difference? And what particularly worries me: (2) When you come to take it off, does it leave a permanent mark which means you won’t be able to hide the evidence? (Every time I buy a new pair of shoes, the half torn sticker on the sole lingers there for ages).

Seeing a campaign sticker in someone’s window doesn’t influence my own, personal long-term opinion. But I do fear that on seeing a sticker in a window on the morning of the vote, that message may subconsciously become lodged in the brain. (Some people get up early to vote, and sleep deprivation can do the strangest of things to you.) Perhaps this is the very purpose of displaying political advertisements in windows?

One of the most annoying aspects of this debate is the extremes both sides go to. The No voters think an Independent Scotland will become like North Korea, run by a foul dictatorship, and they feel that nothing actually needs to change. The Yes voters think that everything will change for the better in an Independent Scotland. Trains will no longer be delayed, rubbish will always be collected on time, people will walk the streets with smiles on their faces and tip their hats to passers-by on the street. To be clear, an Independent Scotland would not turn into North Korea; however, it wouldn’t be long before we all became disgruntled again.

Someone recently compared Scottish Independence to a child growing up and leaving home. The child moves away, gets a job, buys a house, falls in love, starts a family of their own and eventually ends up looking after their parents when they become old and decrepit. However, very occasionally that child can lose their job, can’t afford to buy a house, gets a divorce and ends up moving back home with their parents. I guess what that analogy is trying to say is that the future is uncertain for Scotland – it may thrive and prosper or it may struggle and need to rely on its closest neighbours for help. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, you don’t have to display a poster to show that you’re passionate. Whether you decide to follow your head, your heart, or your subconscious and the last house next to the polling station ... you just have to vote.