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MSPs face call to ‘engage and inform’ voters

MSPs  face call  to ‘engage  and inform’ voters

Lawyers have called on both sides of the independence debate to do more to engage and inform voters.

A poll for the Scottish Law Society found that, with nine months to go to the referendum, large sections of the electorate feel uninformed and believe the campaigns for both sides are not addressing the issues they care about.

The Ipsos Mori poll was carried out after the publication in December of the Scottish Government’s white paper on independence.

Just 14% of voters felt “very well informed” about the issues being debated, while 9% said they were “not at all informed”.

Some 44% said the debate so far had not been useful in helping them with which way to vote, while 40% said it had been helpful.

More than half (54%) said the debate had not covered the issues important to them, while 29% said it had.

And 67% found it difficult to decide whether the information provided was true or not.

Bruce Beveridge, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “The importance of the question facing us in September, described as the biggest for our nation in 300 years, demands a thorough and worthy debate.

“This poll shows that, with only nine months to go, many Scots still do not feel properly informed.

“Over half say the debate is not covering the issues they care about. And as many as two-thirds are finding it difficult to decide whether or not the information they are getting is true.

“The responsibility to engage people and to ensure the right questions are being asked and answered on both sides of the debate lies not just with politicians and the official referendum campaigns but also with companies and organisations.

“Civic Scotland, including the Law Society of Scotland, has to work harder to ensure people feel they can make an informed choice come September.”

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