|
Scots
reject
independence
in
historic
vote
By JILL
LAWLESS
and
DANICA
KIRKA
Associated
Press
EDINBURGH,
Scotland
(AP) --
Scottish
voters
have
resoundingly
rejected
independence,
deciding
to
remain
part of
the
United
Kingdom
after a
historic
referendum
that
shook
the
country
to its
core.
The
decision
prevented
a
rupture
of a
307-year
union
with
England,
bringing
a huge
sigh of
relief
to
Britain's
economic
and
political
establishment,
including
Prime
Minister
David
Cameron,
who
faced
calls
for his
resignation
if
Scotland
had
broken
away.
The vote
on
Thursday
- 55
percent
against
independence
to 45
percent
in favor
- saw an
unprecedented
turnout
of just
under 85
percent.
"We have
chosen
unity
over
division,"
Alistair
Darling,
head of
the No
campaign,
said
early
Friday
in
Glasgow.
"Today
is a
momentous
day for
Scotland
and the
United
Kingdom
as a
whole."
Independence
leader
Alex
Salmond's
impassioned
plea to
launch a
new
nation
fell
short,
with
Scots
choosing
instead
the
security
of
remaining
in union
with
England,
Wales
and
Northern
Ireland.
Still,
the
result
establishes
a whole
new
political
dynamic
in the
United
Kingdom,
with
Cameron
appearing
outside
No. 10
Downing
Street
to
pledge
more
powers
for
regional
governments.
Even in
conceding,
Salmond
struck
an
upbeat
tone.
"This
has been
a
triumph
for the
democratic
process
and for
participation
in
politics,"
he said
to
cheering
supporters.
The
pound
hit a
two-year
high
against
the euro
and a
two-week
high
against
the U.S.
dollar
as
markets
shrugged
off
recent
anxiety
about a
possible
vote for
independence.
In early
Asian
trading,
the
pound
jumped
nearly
0.8
percent
to
$1.6525
against
the U.S.
dollar
before
falling
back
slightly.
Britain's
main
stock
index
opened
higher.
A
much-relieved
Cameron
promised
to live
up to
earlier
promises
to give
Scotland
new
powers
on
taxes,
spending
and
welfare.
He said
the new
plans
will be
agreed
upon by
November,
with
draft
legislation
by
January.
But he
also
said
change
was
coming
to other
parts of
the
country
amid the
watershed
vote.
"Just as
the
people
of
Scotland
will
have
more
power
over
their
affairs,
so it
follows
that the
people
of
England,
Wales
and
Northern
Ireland
must
have a
bigger
say over
theirs,"
Cameron
said.
"The
rights
of these
voters
need to
be
respected,
preserved
and
enhanced
as
well."
The No
campaign
won the
capital
city,
Edinburgh,
by a
margin
of 61
percent
to 38
percent
and
triumphed
by 59
percent
to 41
percent
in
Aberdeen,
the
country's
oil
center.
The Yes
campaign
won
Glasgow,
Scotland's
biggest
city,
but it
was not
enough.
As dawn
broke to
lead-gray
skies
over
Scotland's
largest
city,
the
dream of
independence
that had
seemed
so
tantalizingly
close
evaporated
in the
soft
drizzle.
George
Square,
the
rallying
point
for
thousands
of Yes
supporters
in the
final
days of
the
campaign,
was
littered
with
placards
and
debris
of a
campaign
in which
many had
invested
more
than two
years of
their
lives.
"I had
never
voted
before
or got
involved
with
politics
in any
way but
this
time I
thought
my vote
would
count
for
something,"
said
truck
driver
Calum
Noble,
25, as
his
voice
cracked
with
emotion.
"I
wanted a
better
country
but it's
all been
for
nothing.
I don't
believe
we will
get any
of the
things
the
London
politicians
promised."
But
popular
opinion
on a
leafy
residential
street
in
Edinburgh's
west end
told a
different
tale.
Young
and old
sat by
their
televisions
waiting
for news
in a
half
dozen
homes.
Nearly
all said
they had
voted
No.
"Just
because
I'm not
out in
the
street
in a
kilt
screaming
how
Scottish
I am,
that
doesn't
mean I'm
not a
proud
Scot. I
am. And
a proud
Brit.
That's
the
point
the Yes
side
doesn't
respect,"
said Ger
Robertson,
47, who
chose
instead
to
celebrate
Scotland's
verdict
in his
living
room
with a
dram of
his
favorite
single-malt
whisky.
Salmond
had
argued
that
Scots
could go
it alone
because
of its
extensive
oil
reserves
and high
levels
of
ingenuity
and
education.
He said
Scotland
would
flourish
alone,
free of
interference
from any
London-based
government.
Many saw
it as a
"heads
versus
hearts"
campaign,
with
cautious
older
Scots
concluding
that
independence
would be
too
risky
financially,
while
younger
ones
were
enamored
with the
idea of
building
their
own
country.
The
result
saved
Cameron
from a
historic
defeat
and also
helped
opposition
chief Ed
Miliband
by
keeping
his many
Labour
Party
lawmakers
in
Scotland
in
place.
Labour
would
have
found it
much
harder
to win a
national
election
in 2015
without
that
support
from
Scotland.
Former
Prime
Minister
Gordon
Brown, a
Scot,
returned
to
prominence
with a
dramatic
barnstorming
campaign
in
support
of the
union in
the
final
days
before
the
referendum
vote.
Brown
argued
passionately
that
Scots
could be
devoted
to
Scotland
but
still
proud of
their
place in
the
U.K.,
rejecting
the
argument
that
independence
was the
patriotic
choice.
"There
is not a
cemetery
in
Europe
that
does not
have
Scots,
English,
Welsh
and
Irish
lined
side by
side,"
Brown
said
before
the
vote.
"We not
only won
these
wars
together,
we built
the
peace
together.
What we
have
built
together
by
sacrificing
and
sharing,
let no
narrow
nationalism
split
asunder."
For his
part,
Cameron
- aware
that his
Conservative
Party is
widely
loathed
in
Scotland
- begged
voters
not to
use a
vote for
independence
as a way
to bash
the
Tories.
The vote
against
independence
keeps
the
United
Kingdom
from
losing a
substantial
part of
its
territory
and oil
reserves
and
prevents
it from
having
to find
a new
base for
its
nuclear
arsenal,
now
housed
in
Scotland.
It had
also
faced a
possible
loss of
influence
within
international
institutions
including
the
28-nation
European
Union,
NATO and
the
United
Nations.
The
decision
also
means
Britain
can
avoid a
prolonged
period
of
financial
insecurity
that had
been
predicted
by some
if
Scotland
broke
away.
"This
has been
a long,
hard
fight
and both
sides
have
campaigned
fiercely,"
said
Norma
Austin
Hart, a
Labour
Party
member
of
Edinburgh
City
Council.
"This
has not
been
like a
normal
election
campaign.
There
have
been
debates
in town
halls
and
school
halls
and
church
halls.
"It's
been so
intense,"
she
said.
"But the
people
of
Scotland
have
decided." |