Scotland - A country of United Kingdom. The place which the witnessed us the XXth COMMONWEALTH GAMES now showing and creating a history by say NO TO INDEPENDENCE. Yes, a country of population about three and half millions peoples, well civilized and developed country says no to independence.
Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence. With the results in from all 32 council areas, the "No" side won with 2,001,926 votes over 1,617,989 for "Yes". Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and urged the unionist parties to deliver on more powers. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was delighted the UK
would remain together and that commitments on extra powers would be
honoured "in full".
Mr Cameron said the three main unionist parties at
Westminster would now follow through with their pledge of more powers
for the Scottish Parliament. He announced that Lord Smith of Kelvin
who led Glasgow's staging of the Commonwealth Games, would oversee the
process to take forward the commitments, with new powers over tax,
spending and welfare to be agreed by November, and draft legislation
published by January.
Scottish Referendum Results
The prime minister also acknowledged that the people of
England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over their
affairs. And he promised a solution to the West Lothian question - the
fact that Scottish MPs can vote on English issues at Westminster, and
not the other way round.
In other developments:
- US President Barack Obama welcomed Scots' decision to stay in
the UK. "Through debate, discussion, and passionate yet peaceful
deliberations, they reminded the world of Scotland's enormous
contributions to the UK and the world," he said.
- Police Scotland said Thursday's vote "passed off smoothly" with
just six arrests across the country mainly for alleged breaches of the
peace and assaults.
- Share price rose as Scotland voted against independence.
- Polling officials said they were investigating 10 cases of suspected electoral fraud at polling stations in Glasgow.
- Royal Bank of Scotland said it would keep its headquarters in Scotland following the "No" vote.
- Wales's First Minister Carwyn has called for more funding for his country after Scotland voted to stay in the Union.
- Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said a vote on the future of Northern Ireland's border was not necessary following Scotland's 'No' vote.
- Scotland rejected independence by 55% to 45%
The result became a mathematical certainty at 06:08, as the returning officer in Fife announced a comfortable No vote.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Salmond said he accepted the defeat and called for national unity. He told supporters: "The unionist parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers to Scotland. "Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course -
as a reminder, we have been promised a second reading of a Scotland Bill
by March 27 next year.
The margin of victory for the Better Together campaign - 55% to
45% - was greater by about 3% than that anticipated by the final
opinion polls. The winning total needed was 1,852,828.
Speaking in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said the result was decisive.
He said: "Now the debate has been settled for a generation, or as Alex Salmond has said: 'Perhaps for a lifetime'.
"So there can be no disputes, no re-runs; we have heard the will of the Scottish people."
The prime minister also spoke of the implications for the other nations of the UK.
"In Wales there are proposals to give the Welsh Government and
Assembly more powers and I want Wales to be at the heart of the debate
on how to make the United Kingdom work for all our nations," he said.
"In Northern Ireland, we must work to ensure that the devolved institutions function effectively."
Mr Cameron said "millions of voices of England must also be heard".
"The question of English votes for English laws, the
so-called West Lothian question, requires a decisive answer so just as
Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues
on tax, spending and welfare, so too England as well as Wales and
Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these issues.
"And all this must take place in tandem with and at the same pace as the settlement for Scotland."
Constitutional revolution in Scotland
Analysis by Andrew Marr, What started as a vote on whether Scotland would leave the UK
has ended with an extraordinary constitutional revolution announced
outside Downing Street by the Prime Minister.
It throws down the gauntlet to the Labour Party, and hints
that we are going to see very big change coming and it had better come
quickly.
We always used to be told that if you laid all the economists
in the world end to end they still wouldn't reach a conclusion and I
think that could be said often about parliamentary committees and
inquiries and commissions.
Well, it can't happen this time because it's not taking place
in a sealed room with the Westminster parties, the old smug consensus,
getting round an argument with each other as before.
This is really taking place in a huge glass house, being
watched by all the Scottish voters and by millions of people around the
UK. What the Scottish shock has done is produce a constitutional
revolution on a very, very tight timetable. Possibly the most exciting
political story in my lifetime.
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| Pro-independence supporters console one another in Edinburgh |
Following his appointment by the prime minister, Lord Smith of
Kelvin said he had begun work to oversee the process of delivering more
powers for the Scottish Parliament. He said: "There is an appetite for change and a strengthening
of the powers for the Scottish Parliament. This is backed by all the
main political parties.
"My role is to create a process through which we can channel that energy into real action.
"This won't be a drawn out process; I have started work today
and will present what I hope will be unifying recommendations on 30th
November."
Lord Kelvin said there would be an opportunity for "everyone to have their say".
He promised to engage with all political parties, trade
unions, businesses or voluntary organisations and listen to "ideas and
thoughts" from ordinary people.
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| No supporters celebrate after their decisive victory |
Alistair Darling, who led the Better Together campaign, said
the people of Scotland had "chosen unity over division and positive
change rather than needless separation".
"It is a momentous result for Scotland and also for the United Kingdom as a whole," he said.
Mr Darling said the result had "reaffirmed all that we have
in common and the bonds that tie us together", adding: "Let them never
be broken."
"As we celebrate, let us also listen," he said.
"No" campaigners were jubilant as the scale of the result became known
Many "Yes" supporters were visibly upset by the result
Across Scotland, the "No" vote had a majority in 28 of the country's 32 local authority areas.
Dundee was the first area to back independence. On a turnout of 78.8%, "Yes" polled 53,620 votes to the "No" campaign's 39,880.
The other three areas were all clustered in Labour's traditional west of Scotland heartland. Glasgow, Scotland's largest council area and the third
largest city in Britain, voted in favour of independence by 194,779 to
169,347, although turnout was lower than in other areas at 75%.
West Dunbartonshire also gave its backing to independence,
voting 54% to 46% in favour, with North Lanarkshire completing the "Yes"
quartet by 51% to 49%.
In Scotland's 28 other local authority areas, it was a night of huge disappointment for the pro-independence movement.
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| A man walks past a discarded "Yes" campaign paper hat on the Royal Mile ain Edinburgh |
Hoped-for breakthroughs in other traditional Labour
strongholds such as South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and across Ayrshire
never materialised.
Edinburgh, the nation's capital, clearly rejected
independence by 194,638 to 123,927 votes, while Aberdeen City voted "No"
by a margin of more than 20,000 votes.
Royal relief
Royal correspondent Nick Witchell at Balmoral. It seems very remote and cut off but of course the Royal Family has been following this minutely. Reaction - one word, relief. Relief that's it's over, relief that Scotland has decided what it has. The Queen undoubtedly, privately would have felt immense sadness had the United Kingdom been split up.
Relief too for her officials who had been starting to contemplate some very tricky constitutional issues.
Once all the politicians have said what they wish to say, I
think this afternoon it is expected that the Queen will issue a short
written statement. It seems logical to surmise that after this really quite
divisive campaign she will concentrate on the vote, the decision that
Scotland has taken, and express the hope that Scotland will now move on.
