This is a transcript of episode 13 of The Conversation Weekly podcast “Scotland: why May election is crucial for independence movement, and the UK”. In this episode, as Scotland prepares to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on May 6, we explore why the question of independence from the UK is dominating the debate. And a team of researchers working with fruit flies, has discovered a biological switch that can turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain. What might that mean?
Dan Merino: Hello and welcome to The Conversation Weekly.
Gemma Ware: This week, as Scotland prepares to vote in parliamentary elections on May 6, why the question of independence is dominating the debate.
Scotland is going to the polls on May 6 for what promises to be a landmark national election. It’s the first since the Brexit referendum in June 2016, which led to Scotland (and Northern Ireland) leaving the EU against its will.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has long said this is a “material change” in the nation’s circumstances that justifies a second referendum on Scottish independence. Support for independence has been much improved ever since. Sturgeon is now using the May election to seek a mandate for a second referendum.
To help understand the machinations, we caught up with Kezia Dugdale for our podcast The Conversation Weekly. She is the director of the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow and a lecturer in public policy. She was Scottish Labour leader between 2015 and 2017. Here are some edited extracts from the conservation.
In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, as Scotland prepares to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on May 6, we explore why the question of independence from the UK is dominating the debate. And a team of researchers working with fruit flies, has discovered a biological switch that can turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain. What might that mean?
It’s been seven years since Scotland voted to remain in the UK in the 2014 independence referendum. At the time, it was billed as a once-in-a-generation vote, but now Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, argues that the UK’s Brexit from the European Union is a change significant enough to warrant a second referendum. Meanwhile, support has been growing for independence over the past few years.