Advertisement

Scotland rejects independence: As it happened

Scots have made their voice heard – they will continue to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Votes were counted on Friday following a referendum on independence from the UK, and results are now out for all 32 council areas - the "No" group has won the referendum with 55.30% votes. The "Yes" campaign finished with 44.70%.

Edinburgh: Scots have made their voice heard – they will continue to remain a part of the United Kingdom.

Votes were counted on Friday following a referendum on independence from the UK, and results are now out for all 32 council areas - the "No" group has won the referendum with 55.30% votes. The "Yes" campaign finished with 44.70%.

The "No" campaign polled a total of 2,001,926 votes, while "Yes" got 1,617,989. A total of 1,852,828 votes were needed for victory in the referendum. The national turnout in the referendum was 84.59%.

Live updates:

  • Queen Elizabeth II urged her subjects in the United Kingdom on Friday to come together "in a spirit of mutual respect and support" after Scots voted against independence following a divisive and heated campaign.
  • The last result is also out. Highland has voted “No” for independence. “Yes” received 78,069 votes (47%), while the “No”camp got 87,739 votes (53%).
  • Royal Bank of Scotland says its headquarters would stay in Scotland following the "No" vote.
  • The pound is at a two-year high against the euro and a two-week high against the US dollar, following Scotland's vote against independence.
  • Labour leader Ed Miliband says, "Our United Kingdom is stronger today than it was yesterday."
  • UK Prime Minister David Cameron is making an address now:

"The people of Scotland have spoken and it is a clear result. They have kept our country of four nations together and like millions of other people I am delighted."

"It is time for our United Kingdom to come together and move forward. There can be no disputes. No re-runs. We have heard the settled will of the Scottish people."

 

 

"It was right that we respected the SNP's majority in Holyrood and gave the Scottish people the right to have their say.”

"We have delivered on devolution and we will do so in the next Parliament. We will ensure that those commitments are honoured in full," Cameron says, while announcing that Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, will oversee the process of further devolution.

 

  • Downing Street says PM Cameron will make a "significant statement" that will set out his direction of travel on English devolution.
  • No campaign leader Alistair Darling says: "The people have spoken. We have chosen unity over division. This is a momentous day for Scotland. To those who supported us and the great team of volunteers. All of you. I want to say thanks from the bottom of my heart."
  • UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Friday that he wanted the coalition government to deliver new powers to Scotland, adding Scots' rejection of independence was a signal for wider constitutional reform across all of Britain.

"I’m absolutely delighted the Scottish people have taken this momentous decision to safeguard our family of nations for future generations. We must now deliver on time and in full the radical package of newly devolved powers to Scotland. This referendum marks not only a new chapter for Scotland within the UK but also wider constitutional reform across the Union," Clegg said in a statement.

  • Scottish pro-independence leader and First Minister Alex Salmond concedes defeat. He is speaking now:

"I accept verdict of the people and call on all of Scotland to follow suit. Our referendum was an agreed and consented process. Scotland has decided No at this stage to become an independent country and I accept that verdict."

Salmond adds: "I think the process by which we have made our decision as a nation reflects enormous credit upon Scotland. A turnout of 86% is one of the highest of the democratic world, in any election or any referendum in history... We have touched sections of the community who have never been touched before by politics. These communities have touched us... I don't think that will ever be allowed to go back to business as usual in politics again."

He concludes by saying: "We shall go forward as one nation."

  • Moray votes against independence in Scotland's referendum.
  • UK Prime Minister David Cameron says he will make a statement at about 7:00 am local time (11:30 am IST). 
  • Fife also votes “No” in Scotland's independence referendum.
  • Scotland's capital city Edinburgh has rejected the call for independence from the UK convincingly. As per final results from the capital, “No” received 61.1% votes compared to 38.9% for “Yes”. The turnout here was 84.4%.
  • Argyll & Bute and Aberdeenshire have voted “No” in Scotland's independence referendum.
  • The BBC predicts win for “No” votes in Scotland's independence referendum.
  • Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond is likely to make an appearance at the Dynamic Earth centre in Edinburgh soon, reports UK press.
  • Deputy First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has conceded defeat, reports British media. “There isn’t a yes vote tonight. We will be deeply disappointed but I have also been exhilarated by this campaign. I think that there are two clear messages coming out of it; firstly the people of Scotland have clearly found their voice. Secondly with over one million voting for independence at this stage, there’s a big appetite for change. What we are not seeing, emphatically not, is any kind of endorsement of the status quo,” the Guardian quoted Sturgeon as saying. Sturgeon separately told the BBC that the projected result is "a deep personal and political disappointment".
  • Both East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire have voted for “No” in Scotland's independence referendum.
  • Perth & Kinross also votes “No”. “Yes” votes - 41,475 (39.8%); “No” votes - 62,714 (60.2%)
  • ​While South Lanarkshire has voted against independence, voters in North Lanarkshire have polled in favour of breaking away from the UK.
  • East Dunbartonshire also votes against independence.

  • East Renfrewshire, Dumfries & Galloway and Angus reject independence, decide to stay in the United Kingdom.
  • West Lothian votes “No” in Scotland's referendum. “Yes” votes – 44.8%; “No” – 55.2%.
  • North Ayrshire has voted against independence from the UK. So has Scottish Borders.
  • Big result out! Glasgow votes for independence from United Kingdom. The “Yes” group polled 194,779 or 53.5% of the total votes, as against 169,347 (46.5%) for the “No”. Turnout in Scotland's largest city was 75%.
  • The Queen is also likely to release a written statement later this afternoon, after the final result has been announced.
  • Prime Minister David Cameron will address the UK live after a final Scotland decision is out today.
  • Aberdeen City, the largest of the councils to have declared the result so far, has voted against independence with “No” votes ahead of “Yes”by a margin of over 20,000 votes.
  • The final result will only be formally announced when all the results from 32 local counts are in. Either side only needs 50 percent plus one vote of the total turnout to win.
  • West Dunbartonshire also voted for independence.
  • Dundee however supported independence with 53,620 “Yes” votes to 39,880 “No”.

  • Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Midlothian, Stirling, Falkirk and East Lothian have also voted against independence.
  • In Renfrewshire, 62,067 votes were polled in favour of "No" while 55,466 for "Yes".
  • Inverclyde voted in favour of union with a victory margin of just 86 votes.
  • The first results were declared in Clackmannanshire where "No" votes won by about 2,600 votes.
  • As per the BBC, results in 12 council areas have been declared and Scots in 10 of them have voted against breaking away from the UK.
  • Scotland appears to have voted against independence from the United Kingdom, early referendum results showed on Friday.