I wasn't really following the run up in Scotland for yesterday's vote, but I leaned toward independence for the Scots - I could've been associating their situation with America's decision to cut loose from the English monarchy back in 1776. But Scotland's 307-year union with England was quite a different story and the pro-union supporters are celebrating - shall we say 'royally' - today.Erlanger and Cowell at the NY Times headline Scotland's rejection of independence:
EDINBURGH
— Voters in Scotland decisively rejected independence from the United
Kingdom in a referendum that had threatened to break up the 307-year
union, but also appeared to open the way for a looser, more federal
Britain.
With
results tallied by early Friday from all 32 voting districts, the “no”
campaign won 55.3 percent of the vote while the pro-independence side
won 44.7 percent. The margin was greater than forecast by virtually all
pre-election polls.
The outcome was a deep disappointment for the vocal, enthusiastic pro-independence movement led by the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond,
who had seen an opportunity to make a centuries-old nationalist dream a
reality and had forced the three main British parties into panicked
promises that they would grant substantial new power to the Scottish
Parliament.
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