GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) – Across Scotland, dinner table talk is getting heated as families fight over how to vote in Scotland’s independence referendum. A generation gap has opened up, with younger voters more inclined to back independence and their elders tending to say they want to remain in the United Kingdom.
Support for the status quo is strongest among the over-60s, who are worried about the consequences breaking free would have on pensions, health-care and savings; the pro-independence movement is largely being driven by under-40s. Neck-and-neck in the polls, the rival campaigns have called on core supporters to make a last ditch attempt to swing the vote by making the debate a family affair.
The young are being urged to visit parents and grandparents to explain why they should support separation. The No camp has launched a counteroffensive by asking seniors to win young hearts and minds with their wisdom.
“I was so proud of my grandpa when he told me he was voting Yes that I burst into tears,” said Miriam Brett, 23, from Shetland and a campaigner for Generation Yes. “A Yes vote means so much to my generation. We want to let all our grandparents know that their future is secure in our hands, and with a Yes we can build a better future for ourselves and for our children.”
The No camp is trailing in every age group except the over-60s. Polls indicate more than 63 percent of that age group is expected to vote in favor of the union. As older people are more likely to be on the electoral roll, there has been a huge drive to get younger people engaged in the Yes campaign.