Scotland's Referendum: A Clear-Cut No

SCOTLAND’S REFERENDUM:

A CLEAR-CUT NO

  

The victory of the pro-Union vote in Scotland’s referendum was no landslide, but contrary to some grimmer analysis, it was no close-call either. A quick look at the map of Scotland offers a picture of a solid Scotland-wide preference for the Union:

The referendum map of Scotland.

in “BBC NEWS” at http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29255449

“NO” prevailed in no less than 28 out of 32 Scottish councils, including in such important urban areas as Edinburgh and Aberdeen, although the biggest council, Glasgow, voted “YES”.

Even more important than the council-to-council vote, was of course the overall vote, and that was clear: the “NO” camp WON with a 10.6% edge (55.3%-44.7%) over the “YES” vote.

There were 2,001,926 “NO” votes versus 1,617,989 “YES” votes, roughly a 400.000 vote-gap.

The vote.

in “THE GUARDIAN” at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2014/sep/18/-sp-scottish-independence-referendum-results-in-full

The voter turnout was an impressive exercise in political and civic participation in the democratic process: 85% of the eligible population voted: 3.6 million people. There were 2,001,926 “NO” votes versus 1,617,989 “YES” votes, roughly a 400.000 vote-gap.

Quoting both David Cameron and Alex Salmond this should be “a vote for a lifetime”. Case closed.

RELATED POST:

“YES! IT’S NO!!!”, 19/09/2014 at

http://tempos-interessantes.blogspot.pt/2014/09/yes-its-no.html

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YES! It's NO!!!

YES!
IT’S NO!!!

Those of you who know me are aware that I am an Anglophile, I am a Britphile. Well, a UKphile, too. So, although I was confident that good sense and the “NO” would prevail, yesterday was a bit of a long night. Today is a bright new day!

The Union Jack bounces back!

The Union was saved! Thank God for that, because I regard the United Kingdom as a successful politic, economic, social and cultural country with unique characteristics and a glorious History. Plus, the United Kingdom is the birthplace of modern day Democracy.

Of course, she is far from being perfect (none is) but it is my conviction that the UK plays a significant and mostly positive role in International Relations in the world and, specially, in Europe, where it is the stalwart against the smothering and over-powered European bureaucratic apparatus.

The United Kingdom weathered the storm and keeps on flying.

in “THE ECONOMIST” at www.economist.com

Now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will move forward to a constitutional reform promised by Prime-Minister David Cameron. An Union less-centralised in Westminster, with more power devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and, yes, to England will hopefully prove to be the true legacy of the Scottish referendum: a more politically balanced country, with a stronger role for its four nations, but still an Union!