What’s gone so badly wrong? All we have to go on so far is anecdote but there seems to be a mixture of cock-up and anti-government sentiment. There are complaints of returning the census via the online form and then weeks later receiving angry letters reminding you to fill it out – suggesting the IT may have failed. Trust in the SNP government is undoubtedly a factor too. Some who ascribe sinister motives to a government that has increasingly been criticised for secretive and anti-democratic actions are flatly refusing to share their information. Certain women’s groups are unhappy over the inclusion of questions that allow respondents to self-identify their gender. Legal academic Scott Wortley says the design of many questions has ‘alienated’ people. Was this alienation avoidable?

Want to see the benefits of being part of the UK? – Defence Matters