That is a fair question. I want to be very clear about my position: I am not against testing questions. In fact, I believe in testing questions, and the bill indicates that questions should be tested. I am against retesting in circumstances that do not require that.
Let me go back to what the Electoral Commission said in 2012 and 2013, when it tested the question that was finally used, because it is important that we clear away the myths and look at the facts. The question that the Scottish Government proposed in 2012 was:
“Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?”
The Electoral Commission’s recommendation was:
“Should Scotland be an independent country?”
In its reasoning, it says at paragraph 5.26:
“In all aspects of our question testing, one version we tested was clearly preferred by most participants. We recommend this version because it is:
• a more neutral formulation than ‘Do you agree ..?’
• it does not ask for a judgement of someone else’s view or decision
• direct
• short and simple”.
That question was used in 2014, and it has been used in opinion polls something like 56 times since then. I think that, in the past 14 months, there have been only 11 instances in which that question was not used. In our view, the question is in current use. The question met the criteria—indeed, we changed our question in order to meet those criteria. It has been tested.
Any allegation that I do not want testing is simply not true. I am entirely in favour of testing. Any new question that arises in a new referendum should, of course, be tested. The question that was used in 2014 is a question that is in current use. In such circumstances, it has been tested and therefore fits with the bill. Section 3(7) says:
“This section does not apply in relation to a question or statement if the Electoral Commission have—
(a) previously published a report setting out their views as to the intelligibility of the question or statement, or
(b) recommended the wording of the question or statement.”
That fits precisely with what we have been talking about. The position, as set out in the bill, is the one that I have taken and, at present, it is the position that I want to hold.