LIVE: Scottish Independence Referendum Results UPDATE: NO Result declared, 55 To 45 -- Official Scots reject independence - Guardian Here’s the start of our new Guardian splash. It’s by Severin Carrell, Nick Watt and Libby Brooks. Scotland stepped back from the brink of ending the 307-year-old union with England and Wales and was on track to remain part of the United Kingdom by a comfortable margin. With more than half of Scotland’s local authorities having declared including the major cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, an estimated 55% of voters were expected to reject Alex Salmond’s prospectus for independence. But the Yes campaign scored a handful of notable successes, succeeding in the largest city of Glasgow by 53% to 47%, winning 54% in West Dunbartonshire and a convincing 57% win in Dundee. The no camp won victories in their strongholds of East Lothian, Orkney, and Shetland, but also in areas that could have gone to the yes campaign, including Falkirk, Inverclyde, Eilean Siar and Clackmannanshire. Stirling, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway and Midlothian also voted no. Yet that result raises the risk of further turmoil, with Tories in Westminster threatening to revolt against David Cameron’s late and potentially vital vow to quickly increase the Scottish parliament’s powers while protecting its spending. David Cameron and the Queen will both move to calm tensions when they deliver statements on Friday. The prime minister will seek early on Friday, in the words of one cabinet minister, to “cement in” the No vote by outlining how he will deliver the deepening of Scotland’s devolution settlement, including handing greater powers over tax and welfare, to Holyrood. The Queen, who has monitored the referendum with interest, will make a written statement on Friday afternoon. It is understood that her remarks will focus on reconciliation. The prime minister wants to move fast to show that the three main UK party leaders will live up to their commitments made during the referendum campaign to deliver what Gordon Brown called Home Rule within the UK. Ministers believe it is important to move quickly to avoid a repeat of the 1980 referendum in Quebec. ~gw
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 04:03:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015