National traits?

Research published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) found Scots are actually a little more right-wing than the English. Scots wrongly believe their fellow countrymen hold more Left-wing views than is actually the case. 

They were less likely to agree with statements such as “ordinary people do not get their fair share of the nation’s wealth.” Scotland more often than not promote the status quo on tax and spend. The report said: “We have not found evidence that there are significant differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK.” They added: “…there is relatively limited evidence that the Scottish electorate wants to see radical change to the system of taxation or benefits, supporting the notion that the demand for decentralisation is driven by the desire for local accountability.”

It cited research conducted for the British Social Attitudes survey that also found Scots are more “authoritarian” than the “libertarian” English as they are more likely to concur with views such as “people who break the law should be given stiffer sentences”.

Professor David Bell and David Eiser of Stirling University concluded that the SNP’s electoral success in Scotland cannot be explained by Scots having different preferences from people in the rest of the UK. Instead they said that support for greater devolution was driven by a desire for more local accountability and a belief that decisions made in Scotland were automatically better.

Scottish residents who describe themselves as British has increased “quite markedly” since 2001, from 23 per cent to 32.5 per cent. Although this remains lower than among people south of the Border (47 per cent).