Despite proudly carrying a ‘yes badge’ in 2014, Ross Newton would vote against Scottish independence given a second referendum on the matter.

The 27-year-old engagement officer for Our Scottish Future said the referendum was the first time he felt “really energised” by a political event.

“There was an optimism, there was a sense that we could do this, and I thought it was a shortcut for a fairer and equal country,” he said.

However, after that energy “dissipated”, he said he realised he may have viewed the issue through a “very narrow prism”.

Mr Newton said paying more attention to the Scottish Government’s performance as well as finding himself advocating to stay within the European Union highlighted issues he had not previously considered while advocating for independence.

“I was more receptive to other opinions once I was out of the heat of the moment,” he said.

“I became more aware of real failings and our domestic performance – such as what was happening with education and the NHS.

“I thought actually we do have powers, and I have always been a big supporter of devolution, so once you start questioning the performance of the SNP, that was a chink into the armour of independence.”

This article is part of our coverage of the social attitudes survey - read more: 

Once the Brexit vote came around, he found himself making arguments for staying in a union that he had previously dismissed in the 2014 independence campaign.

This saw him asking himself: “How could I advocate to leave one union while advocating to stay in another union?”

And the pandemic solidified his opinion that we need more cooperation between the two governments rather than more separation.

Speaking on the response to Covid-19, he said: “I think it has shown just how much power Holyrood actually has.

“We saw obviously, the way it diverged from the rest of the UK in the pandemic response. I think it is a good reminder that we have a lot of power to get on with a lot of issues.

“Also, it shows, that the way the world is moving – whether that’s geopolitics happening in Europe or future pandemics – is that the solutions to these things are based on deeper cooperation. 

“These issues now transcend nation-states, they require everyone to work together.

“The pandemic was obviously handled through each country’s health boards but it was a UK-wide effort in strength, security and scale to secure all of these things.”

The 27-year-old emphasised that he still believes the UK needs reform, such as scrapping the House of Lords.

He said: “I get the frustration a lot of people have with the union. It doesn’t make it easy to argue my case when you’ve got the current government which is why I think it has to be based on reforming Britain.

“I think what we are feeling across Britain right now is this sense starting to permeate that power isn’t working right in the UK. There is a wider desire for change.”

However, he believes that for real change and reform “it has to be Britain-wide not just Scotland specific”.