Poll shows university staff backing the Union
Threat to UK-wide grants a key factor in decision
THE majority of staff at Scottish universities are poised to reject independence in the referendum, a new survey shows.
The poll of more than 1000 academics and administrators by Times Higher Education found “No” voters held a 13.6 percentagepoint lead over “Yes” voters.
Nearly 55 per cent of those asked said they supported Scotland staying in the Union while 41 per cent backed independence. The remainder were undecided.
However, the survey, which was conducted last month, reveals academic staff are deeply split by discipline over how they will vote on September 18.
Those working in the field of science were far more likely to vote No than those in the arts and humanities, with greater concern amongst scientists and engineers about the future of UK-wide grants to fund their research.
There were also striking differences between universities, with 60 per cent of academics at Glasgow University intending to vote Yes compared to just 23 per cent at Dundee University. St Andrews University and Edinburgh University were also pro-Union, with only about onethird intending to vote for independence. At Aberdeen University, staff were more likely to vote “Yes” than average, despite a high number of those polled having science and engineering backgrounds. JAMES NAISMITH: Academic says independence would harm sector.
The poll also showed that those backing independence were not always sure it was in the best interests of the university sector.
Although the majority of Yes voters thought independence would be the best outcome, onequarter thought it would not make any difference or were not sure, and a handful said universities would be better off in the UK.
By contrast, No voters were much more convinced, with 96 per cent saying that remaining in the UK would be the best option for Scotland’s institutions.
Fears about losing access to UK-wide sources of research f unding l o o med large in responses from those planning to vote No.
However, many Yes voters want independence to escape what they see as an undesirable, market-driven higher education culture emanating from England.
James Naismith, Bishop Wardlaw professor of chemical biology at St Andrews University and a member of the pro-Union Academics Together, said he believed opinion on campus against independence had hardened, despite g rowing support for it elsewhere.
“The majority of academics discern that, even under the most optimistic scenarios, independence will harm universities,” he said.
However, Murray Pittock, professor of English literature at Glasgow University and a leader of the pro-independence group Academics for Yes, argued that the survey lead for No was not as large as would be expected for a group drawn from the top social classes who, as polls have shown, are more likely to be pro-Union.
He also claimed that opinion on the ground at universities was swinging towards the Yes campaign.
Murdo Macdonald, professor in the history of Scottish art at Dundee, believes the “overriding reason” for voting Yes is to “resist the American-style marketisation of higher education driven from south of the Border”.
He said: “It is ironic that Scotland is now the remaining representative of the post-war British consensus with the respect to the importance of free education.”
The survey was based on 1,058 responses from staff at Scottish universities in an online survey conducted between August 7 and 26.
DRAMATIC BACKDROP: Stirling Castle dominates a town bound up in symbolism and home to a rich mix of residents. HOME to James VI, Great Britain’s first monarch, the national monument to William Wallace, location of Robert the Bruce’s finest hour and where Billy Bremner first kicked a ball, few places are so imbued with Scots history and symbolism as Stirling.
Critics say the analogy does not hold up, but bordered by the Trossachs to the north, former mining villages and heavy industry to its south and with a densely populated middle of widely disparate social demographics, “Scotland in microcosm” does not feel a restrictive description of Stirlingshire.
Its students lend the city a sense of the cosmopolitan, its financial services industry a window into the global.
Local political swings have also mirrored much of modern Scotland, from its reputation as a Tory stronghold, most recently under hardline monetarist Michael Forsyth, to Labour and now with a heavy SNP presence and representation in Holyrood.
Despite having most councillors on the local authority, Nationalists are the opposition in Stirling, the council run by a coalition of the Tories and Labour.
The latest battle being played out in Stirling has been endlessly and clunkily compared with the bloody defeat of Edward II at Bannockburn in 1314.
Local MSP Bruce Crawford evokes some history on the campaign beat.
“He who holds Stirling holds Scotland,” he says, knocking doors in the former mining town of Fallin.
But it is the more contemporary history the SNP stalwart believes relevant.
“When Thatcher took over in 1979 Stirling was Tory, with Forsyth, until 1997 with Labour under Tony Blair. Then the constituency swung to Labour. Move on to 2007 when we took over at Holyrood and Stirling becomes SNP. We believe right now the tide of history is with us.”
On the doorsteps of Fallin, home to many who worked at the Polmaise Colliery and where locals tell you there has been a long tradition of staunch Unionism, the signs are promising for Yes.
After a door or two on the aptly named Wallace Avenue, trade unionist and long-time Labour supporter Graham McNair says he will be voting for independence.
His dislike of the Westminster Tory Government is uppermost but currency consequences do not faze him either.
“I travel around Europe in my union work and no-one really has a problem with the Euro.”
Tom and Margaret Jones have their worries. They insist they are No voters. Immigration issues don’t sit easily but it’s Mr Jones’s “pit pension” causing most concern.
“I wouldn’t vote for that Salmond. And Tam’s pension is only £80-a-week but I’d be concerned about it.”
By the time he leaves, the MSP is convinced he has a Yes.
Over in Raploch, in the shadow of Stirling Castle, pensioners Marlene and John Mathieson say three generations will vote No.
“Quite frankly, why the devil you don’t know when the devil you know is fine. Some of the people involved in the Yes campaign concern me. What are they wanting? Revolution?”
Mrs Mathieson added: “I’m just happy to be together. We’ve had the Yes people round but they don’t call now we’ve the No Thanks poster in the window.”
Labour MP Anne McGuire believes Yes could be a major blow to the Stirling economy. A number of local firms have reach into England and fear this would be cut off after independence.
“People are talking about their