Scotland decision could ride on a lucky lottery ticket
|
Version 0 of 1. LONDON -- If Scotland votes to separate from the United Kingdom on Thursday, could nationalists have a lucky lottery ticket to thank? Three years ago, Colin Weir, a former television cameraman, and his wife, Christine, a former psychiatric nurse, were enjoying a night watching CSI on the telly. Before going to bed, Christine decided to check their lottery ticket numbers. She checked, and then checked again: the couple from the seaside Scottish town of Largs had just won the 161 million pound ($261 million) EuroMillions jackpot. They stayed up all night, clutching hands and watching the sunrise. Their fortunes were forever changed. So were the coffers of the nationalists campaigning for Scottish independence. Shortly after they won the lottery, Colin received a letter from Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland and head of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP). According to the Scotsman newspaper, Salmond offered his congratulations to Colin -- a lifelong advocate of an independent Scotland -- and reminded him of the time when they once worked on political broadcasts together. “Dear Colin,” he wrote. “When I was at the Open at Royal St. George’s on Friday and heard the fantastic news that a Scot had landed the Euro lottery jackpot, I did wonder if this was the same Colin Weir who helped produce SNP party political broadcasts for a young party publicity vice-convener all these years ago”. On Monday, the Electoral Commission published figures that showed the Weirs were the biggest donors to the “Yes Scotland” campaign group over the past nine months, gifting a total of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) -- or 67 percent of all reportable donations over that time. (Donations or loans exceeding 7,500 pounds ($12,000) have to be declared by the campaign groups.) It’s not exactly clear how much money they have donated overall. Earlier this year, the Daily Telegraph estimated the figure was about 4 million pounds ($6.5 million). The couple have declined media interviews, but they elaborated on their decision to donate in a letter to the Scotsman. “As lifelong supporters of independence, it would be strange if we did not support the Yes Scotland campaign. So that is what we have done, nothing more and nothing less. No one bullied or targeted us,” they wrote. The letter continued: “The people of Scotland are not gullible. They aren’t going to vote based on how much money we have given to a particular campaign – they will make their decision based on being well-informed. That’s why we made the donations we did, to ensure there was the chance of an informed debate. Beyond that, it’s up to the voting public to decide, not us – we only have two votes.” The Weirs’ donations over the past nine months equal that of J.K. Rowling, the single largest donor to the “Better Together” campaign that supports Scotland staying in the union. The "Harry Potter" author, who has lived in Scotland for more than two decades, described her reasons for donating in a long statement, saying that if Scotland walks away “there will be no going back. This separation will not be quick and clean: it will take microsurgery to disentangle three centuries of close interdependence, after which we will have to deal with three bitter neighbours.” While the Weirs have kept a low profile over the course of the campaign, Rowling has been duelling with “Yes” supporters on Twitter, arguing “It isn't scaremongering to say 'be careful, that bridge looks like it's going to collapse'." https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/509787717795065856 https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/509791508841902082 https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/509794378165260288 https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/509590125622603776 |