INDYREF TIMELINE

D YREF TIMELINE No. Peter Geoghegan looks back at the lead-up to the independence referendum

OCT: THE EDINBURGH

AGREEMENT

A rather grand name for the compromise between Alex Salmond and David Cameron which gives next month’s vote its legal basis. Under the

deal, there will be a single Yes / No question, 16 & 17-year-olds will be able to vote and the Electoral Commission will regulate.

2013

MAR: DATE SET 18 September 2014 is chosen by Alex Salmond as the date for the

referendum.

SEP: MARCH AND RALLY

FOR INDEPENDENCE A host of Scottish cultural

luminaries, including comedian

Hardeep Singh Kohli and

writer Alan Bissett, assemble on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill

calling for independence. The aftermath features a stramash about attendance i gures. The organisers said 30,000 people;

the police said 5000.

FEB: DAVID BOWIE ‘Scotland, stay with us,’ appeals David Bowie in a statement read out by supermodel Kate Moss at the Brit Awards. The

Thin White Duke’s unlikely intervention spawned endless internet memes.

FEB: CURRENCY

UNION CHAOS George Osborne, Danny Alexander

and Ed Balls

rule out a formal currency union between the rest of the UK and an independent

Scotland.

2014

NOV: WHITE PAPER PUBLISHED

At 670 pages long, Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an

Independent Scotland gives Proust and Foster Wallace a run for their money. Launched

at the Science Centre in Glasgow, the White Paper sets out the vision for an independent Scotland, including the creation of a new Scottish broadcaster.

AUG: TV DEBATES

Alex Salmond goes head to

head with Alistair Darling in round 1 on STV, followed by a second bout on the BBC.

AUG: ELECTORAL COMMISSION GUIDE

PUBLISHED

Over two and a half million leal ets are sent out to households across Scotland explaining how to register for a vote, the voting process and the arguments from both sides.

Scotland votes . . . ? 18 SEP

21 Aug–18 Sep 2014 THE LIST 25

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