Twenty-five years of data shows how link between identity and views on Scottish independence has grown stronger

Shoppers on Edinburgh's famous Victoria Street. Shutterstock/Ssisabal

When the Labour government established the Scottish parliament in 1999, it hoped the new institution would demonstrate that Scotland’s distinctive needs and aspirations could be addressed within the framework of the UK. Consequently, the theory went, support for independence would melt away.

However, the project was not without its risks. As a symbol of Scotland’s distinctiveness, the parliament might foster people’s sense of Scottish identity rather than the British identity that helps bind the four parts of the UK together.