Scottish University Mock Referendum Backs United Kingdom

Scottish University Mock Referendum Backs United Kingdom

Schools and colleges across Scotland are voting overwhelmingly to remain in the United Kingdom. The results from the schools and colleges mock referendum have been described as “very encouraging” by the pro-union Better Together Campaign.

It is traditional in Britain for Schools and Colleges to hold ‘mock’ elections shortly before the general election to enable young people to feel part of the democratic process. In the case of the referendum some universities are also going to the polls, even though their students are old enough to participate in the full vote.

Whilst these elections are not coordinated nationally, efforts are always made to collect the data. The full result will not be known until every educational institution has voted, but so far some major institutions have gone to the polls.

They asked their students the same question as will be asked in the full vote on 18th September 2014: Should Scotland be an independent country?

Aberdeen University: 36% Yes – 64% No

Glasgow University: 37% Yes – 63% No

Strathclyde University: 45% Yes – 55% No

Glasgow Caledonian University: 37% Yes – 63% No

Dundee University: 41% Yes – 59% No

There are some major institutions such as Edinburgh University and St Andrew’s University that have not held a vote, but the results do appear consistent across the country.

They are also backed up by a number of results from schools, which is significant because Scottish Universities have a significant percentage of English, Welsh and Northern Irish students.

Whilst all these students are perfectly entitled to vote – as is any British National with a Scottish home – they are assumed to be more pro-union than the wider Scottish population. However very few school children cross the border to be educated.

A spokesman for Better Together told Breitbart London: “As there is no national scheme these referendums are being organised at different times in different schools and colleges. So the results are coming in all the time.

“However, so far we have had a pretty wide cross section of institutions and the results have been very encouraging for us.”

The most recent national poll predicts that 37 percent will vote in favour of independence, 52 percent against. The rest either do not know or will not vote.

If Scotland votes for independence the Act of Union 1707 will be repealed. The act itself was passed by both the English and Scottish Parliaments to create one country called The Kingdom of Great Britain.  

When the Kingdom then merged with Ireland it became The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is the name of the island that is shared between England, Scotland and Wales. Ireland is the home to the Republic of Ireland, an independent nation, and Northern Ireland that remains in the UK. 

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