English politicians are breathing a sigh of relief as the Scots vote remain part of the United Kingdom by a substantial margin:
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 said the commitments on extra powers would be honoured.
Mr Cameron said the three main unionist parties at Westminster would now follow through with their pledge of more powers for the Scottish Parliament.
“We will ensure that those commitments are honoured in full,” he said.
After dismissing the possibility that the Scots would vote for independence until late polls suggested a much closer decision that had been anticipated, party leaders responded with ineffectual panic.
Early analysis suggests that the old, the young, and the Highland and Island Scots voted for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom. Speculation on the Highland and Island Scots is that they preferred a seat of government far away in London to one closer at hand in Edinburgh.
Thank heavens. I was worried that our local haggis shipments would be interrupted.
Steve
After dismissing the possibility that the Scots would vote for independence until late polls suggested a much closer decision that had been anticipated, party leaders responded with ineffectual panic.
…reminds me of all the speculation being generated in lieu of the fast-approaching midterms. Now, there is talk of an “October Surprise,” which will upset the political apple cart. Politics = drama….
Supposedly, some of the post-election Scottish analysis alluded to a backlash from young people. Ironically, the voting age had recently been changed, allowing 16-17 year olds to participate in this particular election. The thinking was that this younger demographic would be more inclined to register a “yes” vote for independence from the UK. It’s the same kind of political tactics employed here by dems, in order to activate or make it easier for targeted factions to turn out and vote, presumably for them.
However, many of the Scottish youth live in outlying areas, and look forward to going to London for work, being there is so little employment around them in their home communities. Consequently, such a group would have less motivation to cast a vote splitting them off from the UK. In line with that factor, the “yes” vote apparently was concentrated in the big city of Glasgow, while the smaller towns etc. is where the vast majority of “no” votes were cast.
I kind of enjoy it when raw, political calculations go awry!
Yeah, but they still have great golf courses.
Steve: Tell me who your smuggler is, please! Haggis is still banned from legal import into the US because it contains lung. USDA and Customs be damned! Give me my haggis, and not that “vegetarian” crap.