Church can help heal divisions in Scotland, says queen

Queen Elizabeth II has urged people of "faith and goodwill" in Scotland to work together to heal the divisions that have been created by the independence referendum, which will be put to the vote in September.

The unusual intervention by the queen into constitutional affairs came in a letter to the Church of Scotland and reflects her concern about the possible, although for now unlikely, break-up of the United Kingdom.

“So, in this important year of referendum, we pray that whatever the outcome, people of faith and people of goodwill will work together for the social good of Scotland,” she told the church’s general assembly.

“We recognise too the important role that the church can play in holding the people of Scotland together, in healing divisions and in safeguarding the interests of the most vulnerable,” she added.

The Church of Scotland, concerned about the increasingly rancorous nature of some of the debate, recently announced it will hold a service of reconciliation three days after the September 18th referendum.

Vile abuse
A Scottish couple, Colin and Christine Weir, have been the subject of sustained abuse for donating more than £3 million to fund the Yes, Scotland pro-independence campaign and the Scottish National Party.

However, the majority of the abuse has come from the pro-independence side, with people who have expressed support for the union facing often vile abuse and charges that they are traitors to Scotland.

This month, leading Scottish businessman Willie Haughey said business people who opposed independence have been subject “to terrible abuse” and have had “their heads chopped off”. Scots should not be “afraid to say what they feel”, he said.

“Certainly people who want to go with the Yes vote are not afraid to say it,” he said. “But I definitely have not seen anybody on that side being attacked the way people who are pro-union are being attacked.”

Former Labour chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling said the online abuse was targeted and was not the result of random voices of people who favoured the break-up of the union.The Yes campaign is "deliberately orchestrating" abuse online, he said, using pro-independence campaigners dubbed "cybernats". Some of the attacks, such as one unleashed on singer Susan Boyle, are quickly stopped. The fact the abuse can be turned on and off so quickly is evidence of the orchestration, said Mr Darling.

The charge is strongly denied.

Meanwhile, a recently established pro-union group, Vote No Borders, was forced to close the public comment section on its website because of the abuse directed at people who had made videos saying why they were voting No.

Yes vote slides
Two opinion polls published in Scotland yesterday offered disappointing signals for the Yes campaign.

A survey by ICM showed support for a Yes vote had dropped five points in a month to 34 per cent, with 46 per cent backing the No campaign, an increase of four points. In the other, by Panelbase, support for independence was 40 per cent, the same figure that it recorded a month ago. However, the Panelbase figures reported support for the union now stands at 47 per cent, two points up.