List of endorsements in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014
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This page lists individuals and organisations who publicly expressed an opinion regarding the
2014 Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side w ...
. Not all of the individuals listed were able to vote in the referendum, even some of those with a Scottish background.


Against independence


Political parties

;Registered political parties * Britannica *
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
** Scottish Conservatives * Labour Party * Liberal Democrats ;Non-participant political parties * Alliance for Workers' Liberty * Britain First * British National Party * Communist Party of Britain * Respect Party * Socialist Equality Party * UK Independence Party * Workers' Revolutionary Party


Campaigning groups and individuals

The following organisations and individuals registered with the Electoral Commission as supporting a No vote. * Alistair McConnachie – individual *Angus MacDonald – individual * Better Together, official campaign *Better with Scotland *Cumbria Broadband Rural and Community Projects Ltd. *Ghill Donald – individual * Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland *Let's Stay Together *No Borders Campaign *Stirlingshire for No Thanks *The Scottish Research Society *Tony George Stevenson – individual *WFS2014 Ltd


Publications

;Newspapers ;Magazines *'' The Economist'' (UK-wide) *'' The Spectator'' (UK-wide)


Businesses

*
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
, defence contractor. * BP, oil and gas company. * William Grant & Sons, distillers.


Trade unions

* Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF). * Communication Workers Union. * Community. * GMB – trade union * Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW).


Other organisations

*Academics Together. *Business Together. *Forces Together. *Lawyers Together. *LGBT Together. *NHS Together. *Rural Together. *Women Together. *Work Together.


Individuals


Politicians

;Contested elections with Scotland ;Within the rest of the United Kingdom ;International


Business people


Actors


Musicians


Sportspeople


Writers and academics


Other public figures


For independence


Political parties

;Registered political parties * Scottish Greens *
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
* Scottish Socialist Party *
Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
;Non-participant political parties * English Democrats * Green Party of England and Wales * Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) *
Socialist Party of England and Wales The Socialist Party ( cy, Plaid Sosialaidd Cymru in Wales) is a Trotskyism, Trotskyist political party in England and Wales. Founded in 1997, it had formerly been Militant tendency, Militant, an Entryism, entryist group in the Labour Party (UK), ...


Campaigning groups and individuals

The following groups and individuals registered with the Electoral Commission as supporting a Yes vote. *1001 Campaign *
Business for Scotland Business for Scotland is a business network and business and economic policy think tank consisting of and representing business people who support Scottish independence. Formation Business for Scotland was founded by six Scottish business owners ...
, a business-oriented campaign. *Christians for Independence *Farming 4 Yes *
Generation Yes Generation Yes was an campaign group in Ireland that was active in promoting the country's European Union (EU) membership and a 'Yes' vote in the campaign prior to the second referendum on the country's ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, whi ...
* Labour for Independence, members of the Scottish Labour Party who support independence. *
National Collective National Collective was a political organisation self-described as an "open and non-party ..group of artists and creatives" who support Scottish independence active from 2011 to 2015. The organisation was founded in late 2011 by Ross Colquhoun, An ...
*
Radical Independence Campaign The Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) is a grassroots organisation which advocates for Scotland to become a republic, independent of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2012 in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, in ...
*Sarah-Louise Bailey-Kelly – individual *
Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Scottish CND) is the Scottish representative body of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The Scottish CND campaigns for the abolition of British nuclear weapons to contribute to the global el ...
* Scottish Independence Convention *Spirit of Independence *Wealthy Nation *''
Wings Over Scotland ''Wings Over Scotland'' is a pro- Scottish independence blog by Scottish video game journalist Stuart Campbell. It was launched in November 2011 with the stated aim of providing a "fair and honest perspective on Scottish politics" with a pro-ind ...
'', a political website. *
Women for Independence Women for Independence is a grass-roots political organisation which seeks to improve the representation of women in public and political life throughout Scotland. Founded in 2012, the movement promotes the causes of Scottish independence and othe ...
* Yes Scotland, official campaign.


Publications

;Newspapers *'' Sunday Herald'' *''Scots Independent''


Trade unions

*Edinburgh, Lothians, Fife, Falkirk and Stirling branch of the Communications Workers Union (CWU). * Prison Officers Association, Scotland area. * National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Scotland area.


Other organisations

*Academics for Yes. *Lawyers for Yes *
Scottish Secular Society The Scottish Secular Society is a vocal secular organisation in Scotland and is based in Glasgow. It promotes the separation of church and state and educates the public on matters relating to the interface of religion and politics. The Scottis ...


Individuals


Politicians

;Contested elections with Scotland ;Within the rest of the United Kingdom ;International *
Bernard Drainville Bernard Drainville (born June 6, 1963) is a Canadian politician, television host and journalist. He was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Marie-Victorin in Longueuil from 2007 to 2016, representing the Parti Québécoi ...
, Member of the National Assembly of Quebec


Business people


Actors


Musicians


Sportspeople


Writers and academics


Other public figures


Officially endorse neither side

After the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) attempted to register with the Electoral Commission as a group supporting a "no" vote in the referendum, several organisations resigned or suspended their membership of the CBI in order to maintain their neutrality. The CBI had its registration annulled, with its director saying that the attempt to register had given the misleading impression that it was a political entity.


Political parties

*
Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and oppos ...


Publications

;Newspapers *'' Daily Record'' (Scotland) *'' Sunday Mail'' (Scotland) *'' The Independent on Sunday'' (UK-wide) *'' The Observer'' (UK-wide) *''
The Scottish Sun ''The Sun'' is a British Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, published by the News UK#News Group Newspapers Ltd, News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was found ...
'' (Scotland)


Trade unions

* Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) *
Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...
* Voice


Businesses


Other organisations


Individuals


Other opinions

A compilation of "doubters" by Better Together and journalist Simon Johnson was published by the ''
Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' on 24 March 2014. It listed individuals and organisations who have raised concerns about Scottish independence, although they have not necessarily expressed outright opposition. During the financial reporting season in early 2014, several companies (including Aggreko, Lloyds Banking Group,
Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...
, Standard Life,
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
,
Macfarlane Group Macfarlane Group PLC is a packaging company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden as a commercial stationary company in Bath Street, Glasg ...
and
Breedon Aggregates Breedon Group plc (formerly Ennstone plc) is an AIM-listed British construction materials company headquartered at Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, England. In 2016 Breedon became the UK's largest independent construction materials firm follo ...
) listed Scottish independence as an issue in their risk management sections. Businessmen, including
Sir Tom Hunter Sir Thomas Blane Hunter (born 6 May 1961) is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Sports Division Tom set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde as he was, in his own words, "unemployab ...
and
Sir Tom Farmer Sir Thomas Farmer, (born 10 July 1940) is a Scottish entrepreneur. Early life One of seven siblings in a devoutly Catholic family, in 1964 Farmer founded his own tyre retailing business which he sold in 1969 for £450,000. Farmer retired to ...
, called for more clarity in the referendum debate to best make a decision. In 2012, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) published a report called ''A Just Scotland'', which laid out "challenges for both sides of the debate", in particular calling on Better Together to "outline a practical vision of how social and economic justice can be achieved within the union". The STUC had previously refused an offer to join the Better Together campaign.


References

{{2014 Scottish independence referendum Endorsements
Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side wo ...