All the fear, none of the hope: EU referendum campaigns should learn from Scotland

Abstract

First paragraph: Over the past four years, the UK has engaged in an existential discussion with itself. Its people have been asking profound questions about their political unions and the type of country (or countries) in which they wish to live. Scotland voted to stay in the UK in the 2014 referendum but the political landscape has changed significantly since. Now the whole UK is in the middle of an EU referendum. Yet again people (actually it is mainly just the Conservative party and the media) are discussing the economy, political autonomy and identity. The experience of the Scottish independence referendum is still fresh and its effects are still being felt (31 Conservatives were recently elected to Holyrood on an overtly “no second referendum” ticket, for example). There are lessons in the way the Scottish referendum played out for the European version, although it sadly looks like the most important ones have not yet been learnt.