The Herald comes out in support of No vote - in contrast to the Sunday Herald's Yes
Glasgow daily newspaper the Herald has announced that it will back a No vote in the Scottish Independence referendum ‘but only if there's more far-reaching further devolution’ - a stance which clashes with sister publication the Sunday Herald.
The call was made in the 'Herald View' column
The newspaper today (Tuesday 16 September) announced that it is against splitting the UK union despite it admitting “Scotland is already a successful country and could come to be so, in time, with independence.”
In the newspaper’s leader column, the publication came out in support of No despite the Yes campaign “awakening Scot’s slumbering desire for a better Scotland that is better, stronger and fairer".
It added that this resurgence of national pride will be the Yes campaign's legacy if the polls see a majority No vote later this week.
The Herald’s declaration came as a surprise to many as its sister publication, the Sunday Herald, came out in support of the Yes campaign in May, one of the movement's few ardent supporters in the media.
The leader said: “We keenly understand the appeal of independence. Who would not want to believe that, by putting a cross on a ballot paper, Scotland could be set on a sure path to becoming a country where poverty, inequality and unpopular governments are vanquished?
"Such a huge, irrevocable, decision about Scotland's future must be accompanied by a realistic assessment of the risks and problems associated with it, so as not inadvertently to condemn Scotland, and particularly the poorest members of our society, to a less prosperous and more unstable future."
Concluding: "We do not endorse the status quo, which has fallen drastically out of step with Scotland's needs and aspirations… [but] substantive autonomy for Scotland's parliament and government could unify Scotland. Such autonomy is not merely an aspiration: it is a demand."
With the vast majority of the media backing the No vote, the Yes campaign will be reliant upon its substantial backing on the online platform from grassroots social media campaigns. On Tuesday, Facebook announced that the Yes campaign racked up 2.05 million interactions in the last five weeks whereas No managed only 1.96 million - with firm alleging the momentum has been with Yes in the last seven days.
Last week, Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp, owner of the Scottish Sun, on Twitter hinted that his publication may come out in support of the Yes campaign - with experts claiming he could pull the stunt as late as humanly possible for maximum effect.