Scots To Remain With Great Britain As Voters Reject Independence In Referendum
Voters in Scotland rejected independence from Britain in a referendum that had threatened to break up the 307-year union between them, according to projections by the BBC and Sky News early Friday.
By Sadho Ram — 19 Sep 2014, 01:45 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
The 307-year old union between Scotland and Britain is safe as voters have rejected independence from Britain in a referendum
Declarations from around Scotland were placed on a wall at the Edinburgh counting centre.
Image via bbcimg.co.ukBefore dawn after a night of counting that showed a steady trend in favor of maintaining the union, Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy head of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, effectively conceded defeat for the “yes” campaign that had pressed for secession. “Like thousands of others across the country I’ve put my heart and soul into this campaign and there is a real sense of disappointment that we’ve fallen narrowly short of securing a yes vote,” Ms. Sturgeon told BBC television.
nytimes.com
A total of 32 local authority are being tallied up, and although the key constituency of Glasgow voted for independence, it was not by a particularly large margin, in a near-fatal blow to the Yes camp. A final outcome is announced early Friday morning local time, but with Edinburgh voting No but a huge margin, there is little doubting victory for the Better Together campaign.
time.com
Pubs across the country were staying open throughout the night with customers both anxious and excited to see whether the 307-year-strong union would be consigned to the history books. Greg Waddell, a doctor working in Glasgow, tells TIME that he voted Yes “because disempowerment breeds dependency; because the current extent of social inequality in Scotland demeans every one of its people.”
time.com
Voters were asked a single yes/no question - but some ballot papers were spoiled.
Image via bbcimg.co.ukAlthough the result is a deep disappointment to the enthusiastic pro-independence movement, call for it has forced Britain into granting substantial new power to the Scottish Parliament
Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, and voters, sounded off after casting their ballots.
Image via nyt.comAs the vote approached, the margin between the two camps narrowed to a few percentage points, and at one point, the “yes” campaign seemed to have the momentum. That was enough to alarm Britain’s political leaders from the three main parties in the Westminster Parliament in London. In a rare show of unity, they promised to extend significant new powers of taxation to Scotland, while maintaining a formula for public spending that many English voters saw as favoring Scots with a higher per-capita contribution.
nytimes.com
While the outcome headed off the huge economic, political and military imponderables that would have flowed from a vote for independence, it also presaged a looser, more federal UK
The passion of the campaign also left Scots divided, and Mr. Salmond was expected to call later on Friday for reconciliation after a vibrant exercise in democracy that had episodes of harshness and even intimidation.
nytimes.com
Many questions regarding what a truly independent Scotland would look like remain unanswered, including over currency, health care, defense and E.U. membership. Spain’s Prime Minister is one of several European leaders who would not support Scotland’s application to the bloc, as the Iberian nation is unwilling to fan separatist campaigns of its own.
time.com