Points of Divergence: Scotland Act 1978 (Part One)

[AndyC]

Discuss @RyanF 's latest article here

 

[Thande]

Good idea for an article series.

I like the 1979 result being described as Not Proven

 

[RyanF]

Good idea for an article series.

I like the 1979 result being described as Not Proven

Full credit to @AndyC for that heading!

 

[George Kearton]

Excellent article - now if only The Prince hadn't turned back at Derby!

 

[The Red]

Great article, looking forward to more!

 

[RoAwesomeFace]

A great article, however I have seen several proof-reading issues:

At the time of ratification their were anti-Union riots in major Scottish cities,[...]

Shouldn't it be "there"?

The most fervent anti-devolution campaigner for Labour Vote No was Tam Dalyell, West Lothian, though the leadership underestimated him he addressed an unprecedent number of meetings during the campaign.

Isn't an "as" or "when" or "before" missing? Also, I think "[...] Lothian. Though the leadership underestimated him(,) he addressed an unprecedented [...]" or "[...] even though the leadership underestimated him. He addressed an unprecedented [...]" would fit better.

With all the campaigns launched in January 1979, the questions of many undecided voters were would the Assembly lead to a breakup of the UK, would it mean more bureaucracy and more government, and would it cost more.

I propose changing this to: "With all the campaigns launched in January 1979, the questions of many undecided voters were: would the Assembly lead to a breakup of the UK, would it mean more bureaucracy and more government, and would it cost more?".

[...] another Mori poll [...]

Shouldn't it be "MORI" like elsewhere?

This was perhaps most significant, a poll at the end of January from System Three showed Conservative voters 39% in favour of Yes; a month later only 19% of Conservative voters were responding in favour of Yes.

This comma should be a (semi)colon.

[...] for the Yes campaigns of against the No campaign [...]

"[...] or against the No campaign(s) [...]".

 

[AndyC]

Sorry, that's my bad - I should have picked up on those. My only defence is thatbI've been really busy this last week and I throw myself on the mercy of the court (I'll update the article when I get to my laptop).

 

[OwenM]

Another question, of course is if things had gone a bit worse for Yes and it hadn't even got a majority (perhaps Taylor gets more resources?). I've seen arguments this would have been the case without the turnout threshold, but I wasn't entirely convinced.