Scottish Temperance & No Licence Union (temperance association: 1922-c1924: Scotland)

The Scottish Temperance & No Licence Union was a politically neutral temperance association formed on 3 April 1922 through the amalgamation of the Scottish Temperance League and the Scottish Permissive Bill & Temperance Association , both of which were Glasgow-based temperance groups. Discussion regarding the Union had begun in 1920 following the veto polls campaign encouraging the electorate of a district the right to decide by majority vote such issues as limitation of licence and local prohibition under the Temperance (Scotland) Act of 1913. The National Citizens Council were also invited to participate in these talks. The purpose of the amalgamation was partly to combine the promotion of legislative change undertaken by the Scottish Permissive Bill & Temperance Association and the propaganda and educational campaigns of the Scottish Temperance League. The National Citizens Council believed that these two activities should remain separate and declined to join.

The new Union had offices at 226 West George Street, Glasgow, previously the offices of the Scottish Temperance League. The objectives of the Union were to promote abstinence from intoxicating beverages; to work for the entire suppression of the traffic of intoxicating beverages by the will and vote of people; and to promote progressive and oppose reactionary legislation and assist enforcement of the law dealing with liquor traffic. Membership was open to all members of the predecessor associations and sympathisers of the temperance movement.

The Union was governed by 36 directors with 12 directors being nominated by each of the 2 predecessor institutions in the first instance. A further 12 were elected by the new directors but open elections were to be held at the first annual general meeting. The directors had the power to appoint committees for finance, publicity, legislation, advocacy and a Ladies Auxiliary. The Ladies Auxiliary was to continue the work of the Scottish Permissive Bill & Temperance Association Ladies Auxiliary.

One of the first acts of the Union was to publish a manifesto in local Scottish newspapers that lead to the affiliation of a number of temperance groups. Soon after the Union's formation, it again approached the National Citizens Council to discuss a possible merger. A conference was arranged for December 1922 with a neutral chairman to discuss the merger, but it is unclear as to whether a merger ever took place.

By 1924 , it appears that further Scottish temperance organisations had merged with the Scottish Temperance & No Licence Union to become the Scottish Temperance Alliance .

From the guide to the Records of the Scottish Temperance & No Licence Union, temperance organisation, Glasgow, Scotland, 1922, (Glasgow University Archive Services)