Everything you need to know about Scotland’s economy, its finances, independence and the impact of Brexit on Scotland in an App Believe in Scotland has put Scotland the Brief in an App to make the content easy to share with friends, family and anyone interested in Scotland’s future. The App also features notifications of new articles, videos and events, a quiz on Scotland’s economy (bet you score less than 4/10!) and it answers frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Believe in Scotland .                             &nbs ..read more

  The UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided to extend the current cap on energy prices for another three months – but that is not enough to help Scottish families who have to pay over the odds to heat their homes.  The headline figure says that this will keep average bills at £2,500 a year instead of pushing them up to £3,000. But Scots, especially in rural areas pay more and average incomes are lower – leading to soaring levels of fuel poverty. Energy Action Scotland calculates that the Scottish average bill is £1,000 more than England.  An analysis from February 2022, before t ..read more

  A poll conducted by Panelbase for Believe in Scotland of over 2,000 Scottish residents, aged 16+ conducted has shown that 56% of Scottish voters would support Scottish independence if the Scottish Government put a Wellbeing Economic Approach at the heart of its economic plans for an independent Scotland. A plan that recognises that quality of life, equality, fairness, sustainability, happiness, and health are all outcomes that should be given equal weight as it does to traditional measures such as GDP.  The same poll asked the standard Yes/No question on independence, Yes support c ..read more

  The mainstream news media is reporting that fresh vegetable shortages in British supermarkets are caused by “bad weather in Spain and Morocco”. But Brexit is a big factor – it has disrupted Britain’s supply chains and is reducing food production in the UK.  Social media is awash with photos of groaning shelves in European supermarkets with arrays of tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers and even cauliflowers –  all largely absent from many UK shops. European newspapers such as the authoritative Der Spiegel are reporting on this as purely a British issue, confirming that this is not ..read more

  A PanelBase poll conducted on behalf of Believe in Scotland has found 48% of respondents in support of Yes, the same as polls in October 2022, despite alleged ‘setbacks’ for the independence campaign. These results show that with a concentrated effort by the independence movement and the Scottish Government to put the focus back on independence, the results can be even higher and put us in a good position to hold a referendum campaign.  This poll was conducted by PanelBase, surveying more than 2,000 respondents across Scotland weighted for age, social class etc. It finds that, when ..read more

  A large scale poll by Believe in Scotland conducted by Panelbase has found a two thirds majority of support amongst Scottish voters for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU.  The poll of 2,006 people also found independence support to be at 48%. This is an increase from a similar sized recent Lord Ashcroft poll which had Yes at 44%.  It’s worth noting that Ashscroft is not a British Polling Council member and does not need to use the standard methodology and sampling processes of more credible polling operations. 48% Yes is in the ballpark of where independence support has ..read more

  On Saturday 18th February, 241 voting delegates from 126 local and national Yes groups joined the Scottish Independence Congress hosted by Believe in Scotland. This was the biggest ever meeting of Yes Group organisers. Delegates met to discuss and agree on the next steps for the Yes movement and what the strategy for achieving independence should be.  In quite a coup for Believe in Scotland the Congress delegates heard from representatives from each of the three main pro-Yes parties. Michael Russell from the SNP, Ross Greer from the Greens and Kenny MacAskill from Alba were all int ..read more

  Saturday’s Scottish Independence Congress will be the biggest ever gathering of Yes Group organisers. More than 200 delegates from around 100 Yes Groups have registered to attend the online Congress.  The growing success of this event (registration opening only two weeks ago) serves to prove that the grassroots independence campaign is getting ready for a final push to gaining Scotland’s independence – regardless of the pathway to independence chosen by the political arm of the Yes movement.  In a coup for Believe in Scotland, leadership figures from the three main independenc ..read more

  A poverty gap is opening between England and Scotland, in particular in child poverty rates, according to a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. In its annual report: “UK Poverty 2023: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK”, the charity reports that rates of child poverty are diverging between the two countries.  The report found that Scotland has a lower rate of overall poverty (18 percent) than England (22 percent) and Wales (24 percent), partly because of lower housing costs. Scotland has seen the largest fall in poverty of any area in the UK – six perc ..read more

  When Shell announced the biggest profits in its history – £32.2 billion pounds for 2022 on Thursday – the BBC morning news flagship, the ‘Today’ programme gave listeners misleading information about how much tax it is paying in the UK compared to other countries.  The show’s journalists gave the erroneous impression that the UK is getting a similar amount of tax from Shell as elsewhere – but in fact, because of the UK’s tax regime, Shell made no ‘taxable profit’ in the UK in the first three quarters of the year 2022 and paid no windfall tax at all. It may pay a small amount of wind ..read more