MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – Rupert Murdoch is reconsidering his earlier pledge that the Scottish Sun will support the Yes camp and will make a final decision over the next few days, according to his statements on Twitter.
“Have to worry about some of Salmond’s allies. Far-left socialists and extreme greenies. Must change course to prosper if he wins,” Rupert Murdoch, director of News Corporation, tweeted Sunday. He added later: “SNP not talking about independence, but more welfarism, expensive greenery, etc and passing sovereignty to Brussels.”
However, during his weekend visit to Scotland in order to judge “the mood” of the nation before this week’s historic vote, Murdoch said on a stop off in a Glasgow pub that he was “considering” giving the Yes campaign the backing of the Scottish Sun, Independent reported Monday.
The long-standing issue of Scottish independence is to be settled by referendum scheduled for September 18. Initially planned by the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party as a three-option ballot (independence, independence-lite and further devolution with the remaining union), the referendum was allowed by the central British government (Agreement of October 15, 2012) to have only two options (independence, union). As a result, the majority of voters (around 60 percent would rather prefer an intermediate option of further devolution) have to make a difficult choice with no option that fully corresponds to their preferences, which makes the results of the referendum unpredictable even at this late stage.
According to the results of the latest YouGov opinion poll, the Scottish Yes side showed an eight point swing in less than a month. 47 percent of respondents would rather vote for Yes, 45 percent would rather vote for No, with the rest undecided.
If the majority votes for secession, Europe could witness the rebirth of the Scottish state on March 24, 2016.
