Indy campaigns aren’t in check with the voters

Jobs and the state of the economy, not currency or the EU, will be the biggest concerns when Scots go to the polls in September’s independence vote.

A new opinion poll revealed that many of the issues which have dominated the campaign so far, such as EU membership or currency, are not on the radar for most ordinary voters.

The poll, funded by Scots entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, shows that three times as many voters are exercised about issues such as the health service and jobs than immigration or border controls.

In addition, only half of the 1,000 voters canvassed knew that education was the responsibility of Holyrood, while 53% didn’t know the NHS in Scotland was devolved.

Sir Tom said the poll shows politicians on both sides of the debate are prioritising issues which are not important to the hundreds of thousands of Scots who are still looking for answers on independence.

The lack of focus on “bread and butter” issues is likely to mean the great swathe of undecided voters, thought to number around one million, are unlikely to turn start moving into the Yes or No camps in any great numbers soon.

Strathclyde University’s Professor John Curtice said both the Yes and No camps have been guilty of over complicating the big issues and have so far failed to get simple campaign messages over to ordinary punters.

He said: “The areas chosen as the most important are obvious issues which people would pick regardless of the electoral event but it shows that both sides of the campaign have to paint in much brighter colours.

“They are too busy getting lost in the arcane, minute detail of the issues which can leave people behind.

“The issues may be intellectually fascinating and the chess moves from both sides are fascinating to people like me but a lot of voters get swamped by the detail.

“Can you think of one memorable campaign message that either side has got across successfully?

“This poll confirms that any attempt to get two or three clear messages over to people have so far floundered.”

The poll of 1,000 Scots, conducted last month, asked which out of a list of 17 issues was most important in deciding how they might vote.

The economy and job prospects were tied equally with 15%, followed by healthcare (11%), pensions/benefits (8%), education (8%) and then personal finances at 6%.

Immigration, EU membership and currency all scored 4% or less.

A summary of ranked importance of all issues showed healthcare as a number one priority (58%), followed by employment prospects with 48%, education at 42%, and pension/benefits at 39%.

The findings mirror a similar poll for the BBC published today which shows voters think the economy is the most important issue, well ahead of defence or EU membership.

When asked about which areas were currently devolved to the Scottish Parliament, only 50% of voters were aware that education is already a devolved power, 47% mentioned healthcare and 35% free care for the elderly.

Sir Tom has launched a new initiative aimed at getting independent assessments of the claims on both sides of the campaign carried out and then passed on to voters.

He said: “This debate is too important to leave to the politicians alone or indeed to let them determine what we should or should not be debating.

“Only 3% and 2% of those polled respectively said EU membership or currency was most important to them in deciding how to vote in the referendum yet our politicians see these issues as priorities.

“We need to refocus this debate around what’s most important to those who will vote the economy, employment prospects, education, pensions, benefits and healthcare.

“Importantly we need to provide robust, fact-based evidence in which to inform decision-making for every eligible voter.”

Sir Tom added that he had commissioned a “deep analysis” of the big issues identified by this poll and said the first area will be economy and job prospects, with researchers tasked with finding out “can Scotland deliver a robust economy capable of standing on its own two feet?”

The Scottish Government has recently launched a condensed version of its 670-page White Paper, while both Yes and No camps have recently produced slick newspapers to push their respective campaigns.

All the documents focus on the issues which the poll shows people are interested in the economy, health and education but there is clearly work to be done in getting these issues at the forefront of the referendum debate.