Scots identity linked to accent

More than 1,500 people living in Scotland were surveyed

Scottish identity has more to do with a person's accent and place of birth than their race, according to new research.

A survey of more than 1,500 people found most believed that having the right accent made you Scottish - not the colour of your skin.

Nine out of 10 people surveyed said a non-white person who spoke with a local accent could claim to be Scottish.

But fewer than half said they would view someone born in England as a Scot, even if they had a Scottish accent.

The results of the study will be the subject of a seminar at Edinburgh University on Friday.

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It also found 11% of those asked would regard a non-white person as Scottish if they were both born south of the border and spoke with an English accent.

That figure rose to 15% for a white person.

Professor David McCrone, one of the authors of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, said it showed that identity was not a "fixed badge".

"Our various studies show that identity is a set of flexible claims made in context and varying according to circumstances," he said.

The survey of over-18s was carried out by the Scottish Centre for Social Research as part of a series of studies into national identity at the Institute of Governance at Edinburgh University.