Scotland in Union is a pro-UK non-party grassroots campaign, which launched in March 2015 to help keep Scotland within the UK. Its supporters include prominent unionists, members of pro-UK political parties, and people with no party affiliation. It is Scotland's largest and most active pro-UK campaign, with 31,000 signed up supporters.
History
Scotland in Union launched in March 2015, with the aim of promoting Scotland's place in the UK. The group was created in the wake of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, in which 55 per cent of the electorate voted against the proposal that Scotland should become an independent country. People who had supported Better Together in the 2014 referendum set up Scotland in Union as a response to the continued, high-profile push for independence by Scottish nationalists after the referendum result. Initially, the organisation was led by its founder Alastair Cameron, a former Army captain. In January 2017, Scottish Labour's former Justice spokesperson Graeme Pearson was announced as Chief Executive. In August 2017, former Labour MP Pamela Nash took over the role.
Campaigns
Scotland in Union has campaigned via grassroots activities such as leafleting and street stalls, online presence, polling, and use of conventional media. Online, SIU maintains a , a , a and an . SIU's first major campaign was to encourage tactical voting against the Scottish National Party during the 2015 general election. In 2016, SIU made their presence felt outside the SNP conference in Glasgow, unveiling a giant billboard near the venue urging Nicola Sturgeon to “change the record” on independence and rule out another vote. In 2017 in Aberdeen, again outside the SNP conference, SIU organised an advertising van with the message ‘Referendumb' that was unveiled to awaiting press as SNP members gathered for the conference. In March 2017 SIU launched #ProjectListen in Glasgow with the aim to "rally Scotland’s No voters who are angry that their 2014 vote to remain part of the UK is now being ignored." In December 2017, SIU launched a campaign and petition to save British Transport Police in Scotland and to scrap the planned merger with Police Scotland. In September 2018, SIU launched their 'Yawn' campaign. This was a campaign aimed at people who are 'tired' of the constant constitutional debate; "SNP politicians are still campaigning for an independence referendum that Scotland does not want. Tired of this?" In March 2019, SIU launched a new campaign and petition 'Save Our Pound'.. This was in response to a new policy adopted by the SNP to ditch the pound in an independent Scotland. In October 2019, SIU launched a new campaign highlighting 'Ten Reasons Why Scotland is Stronger in the UK'. In November 2019, SIU launched an online tactical voting guide for Scottish voters in the run up to the 2019 UK General Election. This guide suggested which party voters should vote for in their constituency if their priority was to stop the SNP. In December 2019, SIU launched an online petition urging the SNP Government to 'drop their demand' for another referendum on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom. SIU has paid for polling in Scotland on several occasions, with a particular focus on the question of whether people think Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom or leave the United Kingdom. The most recent result of this remain/ leave polling, carried out by Survation in September 2019, was: 59% remain in the UK; 41% leave the UK. In March 2020 SIU suspended all campaigning in light of the COVID-19 pandemic: "All physical campaigning is suspended until further notice. If you have leaflets from Scotland in Union to deliver, please refrain from doing so until we advise otherwise." During the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign group conducted their own Scotland in Union Care Calls: "Which involved calling up supporters to see how they were coping during the lockdown. If anyone needed assistance, we were able to alert or refer them to the appropriate local or national bodies. We were also able to help with delivering groceries, or picking up prescriptions, or even just a simple chat on the phone – it all makes a difference."
Scotland in Union is funded entirely by donations from supporters. Doubt was cast on the health of the group's finances in 2018 when it emerged that the majority of its supporters had not contributed any money. In addition, its accounts showed a drop in the company's reserves between 2017-2018 to £170,000 from £313,000.
Criticisms and controversy
In 2016, Scottish National Party MP Natalie McGarry apologised and paid compensation to Scotland in Union founder, Alastair Cameron, for falsely accusing him of being a Holocaust denier, a case of mistaken identity. Cameron announced that the compensation money would be distributed to three charities: mental health charity Combat Stress, genocide awareness charity Aegis Trust and children's charity Lumos. In December 2017, Scotland in Union reported to the police and to the Information Commissioner that they had suffered a data theft. Subsequent to this incident, the Electoral Commission carried out an investigation of SIU's donations. Following the investigation, the Electoral Commission said it was “satisfied” that Scotland in Union had complied with its requirements.
