One of the most frequent things I have heard over the past few weeks regarding the upcoming referendum is: I just don't know where to find the facts. Voters - especially undecided voters - are desperate for sources of information that go beyond the journalistic hype (and potential bias) of the mainstream media. But it's hard to find such information in a neatly-packaged form: pro-Yes websites will collate a certain set of links, whilst pro-Union websites will present another.
The problem is - as I have quickly and deeply learnt as a historian and PhD researcher - there are very few sources that are free of bias, and very few facts or statistics that cannot be twisted and presented a dozen different ways. However, I have gained a firm belief in the value of researching all the sides of a given issue, following the references they give to their original sources, and deciding for myself which seem most and which seem less reliable.
So, over the past few months, I have been collecting links to articles, websites, and reports that might help a voter in next week's referendum to make a decision from a balanced and informed point of view. Taken individually, some of the sources are very biased indeed - but, taken together, I hope a reader can decide for themselves which elements of each to take onboard and base their decision on. Some of the sources are pretty easy to find, whilst others are ones which I came across entirely by chance, or after a bit of digging. I've split these sources into different categories and have given some comments on each of them to help you get a sense of what sort of information they might contain, and how to get to it. If you have any questions, please comment on this post or fill in the contact us form. All links are highlighted in pink.
A final caveat: I am, clearly, myself a biased source. I have tried to immerse myself in information from across the spectrum, but inevitably I'm going to have collected more sources with a 'Yes' badge attached to them than not. I have, however, tried to include both neutral and 'No' sources, and if you know of any great resource, whichever side it is on, please let me know and I will include it. Above all people should make the decision on their own, after having balanced all of the information available. This referendum is a unique and serious decision, and it deserves all of the time and thought that can be spared for it.
The problem is - as I have quickly and deeply learnt as a historian and PhD researcher - there are very few sources that are free of bias, and very few facts or statistics that cannot be twisted and presented a dozen different ways. However, I have gained a firm belief in the value of researching all the sides of a given issue, following the references they give to their original sources, and deciding for myself which seem most and which seem less reliable.
So, over the past few months, I have been collecting links to articles, websites, and reports that might help a voter in next week's referendum to make a decision from a balanced and informed point of view. Taken individually, some of the sources are very biased indeed - but, taken together, I hope a reader can decide for themselves which elements of each to take onboard and base their decision on. Some of the sources are pretty easy to find, whilst others are ones which I came across entirely by chance, or after a bit of digging. I've split these sources into different categories and have given some comments on each of them to help you get a sense of what sort of information they might contain, and how to get to it. If you have any questions, please comment on this post or fill in the contact us form. All links are highlighted in pink.
A final caveat: I am, clearly, myself a biased source. I have tried to immerse myself in information from across the spectrum, but inevitably I'm going to have collected more sources with a 'Yes' badge attached to them than not. I have, however, tried to include both neutral and 'No' sources, and if you know of any great resource, whichever side it is on, please let me know and I will include it. Above all people should make the decision on their own, after having balanced all of the information available. This referendum is a unique and serious decision, and it deserves all of the time and thought that can be spared for it.
Official Answers (Governments)
NB - Due to restrictions on government involvement in the debate at this late stage, both of these websites are effectively 'frozen', so no new information is being added to them.
The Scottish Government
This website contains, among other things, Scotland's Future, the White Paper on independence published last November, a fairly extensive page of Questions and Answers, and a collection of reports and white papers. The questions and answers section is somewhat lacking in references, but the reports section can lead you to some fairly detailed PDF documents (complete with references!) - although it takes a lot of clicking through to finally get to the PDF, hosted on the main Scottish government website.
One deeply-buried report well worth looking at is "A Consultation on an Interim Constitution for Scotland", which lays out proposals for what the written Scottish constitution could look like. These are only proposals, and the final constitution will be laid out by an autonomous constitutional convention (as laid out in the report).
HM Government
I am, of course, a biased commentator, but the HM Government web resources on independence are a little less extensive than those of the Scottish Government. They do point voters towards a quite nicely-executed interactive tool which provides information on how individuals benefit from the UK, but the statistics they provide are unreferenced.
They also have a collection of hyperlinked / referenced reports, which are a little easier to access than the Scottish Government ones.
Official Answers (Campaigns)
Yes Scotland and Better Together
Both websites are almost overwhelmingly snazzy and probably not the best place to get easy access to deeper information. Better Together features a collection of factsheets with "quotes from experts" on a number of topics, and under "The Reasons" Yes Scotland has posts on a variety of issues, and highlighting a variety of voices - mostly those of "ordinary" voters, such as 77-year-old Mary Cullens on the NHS.
Other Answers
The Wee Blue Book - This is from a very much pro-independence source, and one whose overall style may not be everybody's cup of tea - Wings Over Scotland. However, the Wee Blue Book (available in website form, as a PDF for desktop, and as a PDF for mobile devices) brings together a raft of quotes, facts, and statistics on a variety of issues, all clearly referenced and linked - so you can check the original sources.
Scotland's Decision - This ebook, with a foreword from Sir Tom Hunter, a self-declared undecided voter, and with contributions from impartial experts on sixteen questions relating to the referendum - covering issues from currency in the event of a Yes vote, to business in the event of a No.
Full Fact Scotland - This is a nice, apparently impartial page with lots of graphs, links, and discussions of some of the hairier issues relating to independence. In addition to checking their "Scottish Referendum" page, do also keep checking the home page, as not all articles relating to the referendum seem to necessarily always appear on the former - including, for example, an interesting analysis of the claim that without Scotland the rest of the UK would experience a permanent Conservative majority.
Indy Ref Answers - Another pro-Yes source, which provides answers to a selection of key questions encountered by the website creators whilst out canvassing. The level of detail and further links varies from answer to answer - around half of them feature other sources of information, in particular videos, so a good choice if you'd rather not wade through text.
Further Reading
Scottish Independence Referendum Guide - This site wears its heart on its sleeve and declares its pro-Yes sentiments on its home page, but it does provide links to Yes, No, and neutral websites. I'm not sure how recently this page has been updated so it may be missing some links.
NB - Due to restrictions on government involvement in the debate at this late stage, both of these websites are effectively 'frozen', so no new information is being added to them.
The Scottish Government
This website contains, among other things, Scotland's Future, the White Paper on independence published last November, a fairly extensive page of Questions and Answers, and a collection of reports and white papers. The questions and answers section is somewhat lacking in references, but the reports section can lead you to some fairly detailed PDF documents (complete with references!) - although it takes a lot of clicking through to finally get to the PDF, hosted on the main Scottish government website.
One deeply-buried report well worth looking at is "A Consultation on an Interim Constitution for Scotland", which lays out proposals for what the written Scottish constitution could look like. These are only proposals, and the final constitution will be laid out by an autonomous constitutional convention (as laid out in the report).
HM Government
I am, of course, a biased commentator, but the HM Government web resources on independence are a little less extensive than those of the Scottish Government. They do point voters towards a quite nicely-executed interactive tool which provides information on how individuals benefit from the UK, but the statistics they provide are unreferenced.
They also have a collection of hyperlinked / referenced reports, which are a little easier to access than the Scottish Government ones.
Official Answers (Campaigns)
Yes Scotland and Better Together
Both websites are almost overwhelmingly snazzy and probably not the best place to get easy access to deeper information. Better Together features a collection of factsheets with "quotes from experts" on a number of topics, and under "The Reasons" Yes Scotland has posts on a variety of issues, and highlighting a variety of voices - mostly those of "ordinary" voters, such as 77-year-old Mary Cullens on the NHS.
Other Answers
The Wee Blue Book - This is from a very much pro-independence source, and one whose overall style may not be everybody's cup of tea - Wings Over Scotland. However, the Wee Blue Book (available in website form, as a PDF for desktop, and as a PDF for mobile devices) brings together a raft of quotes, facts, and statistics on a variety of issues, all clearly referenced and linked - so you can check the original sources.
Scotland's Decision - This ebook, with a foreword from Sir Tom Hunter, a self-declared undecided voter, and with contributions from impartial experts on sixteen questions relating to the referendum - covering issues from currency in the event of a Yes vote, to business in the event of a No.
Full Fact Scotland - This is a nice, apparently impartial page with lots of graphs, links, and discussions of some of the hairier issues relating to independence. In addition to checking their "Scottish Referendum" page, do also keep checking the home page, as not all articles relating to the referendum seem to necessarily always appear on the former - including, for example, an interesting analysis of the claim that without Scotland the rest of the UK would experience a permanent Conservative majority.
Indy Ref Answers - Another pro-Yes source, which provides answers to a selection of key questions encountered by the website creators whilst out canvassing. The level of detail and further links varies from answer to answer - around half of them feature other sources of information, in particular videos, so a good choice if you'd rather not wade through text.
Further Reading
Scottish Independence Referendum Guide - This site wears its heart on its sleeve and declares its pro-Yes sentiments on its home page, but it does provide links to Yes, No, and neutral websites. I'm not sure how recently this page has been updated so it may be missing some links.