Petition Limit independence referendum to once every 20 years

The government should limit the frequency of repetition for referendum questions on independence to a minimum period of once every 20 years.

Holding a referendum on key points of our constitution is a valuable part of UK democracy. In the lead up to a vote both direct and indirect costs are incurred however. As an occasional activity this is a completely reasonable price to pay for democratic decision-making. Frequent repetition of the same or a similar question when unsuccessful is not reasonable however because of the cost.

Costs include organising the referendum, the opportunity cost of politicians and others paying attention to the campaigns and finally the uncertainty and speculation that the vote creates. Some impacts of uncertainty and speculation are that governments may suspend investment while waiting for the result and fluctuations in things like company share values and money markets will also slow or prevent growth for the whole UK.