Scots Reject Independence From Britain in Historic Vote
With a sweeping majority far wider than had been forecast, voters in Scotland rejected independence from Britain in a referendum that had threatened to break up their 307-year union, according to an official count Friday from almost all voting areas.
The outcome came as a bitter blow to those who had campaigned with mounting passion in a hard-fought campaign spanning two years but reaching back into centuries of shared history. The result also showed the depth of Scottish support for secession, with 45 percent of voters backing the creation of a sovereign state.
While opinion surveys before the vote had forecast a contest too close to call, the “no’’ campaign opposed to independence secured some 55 per cent of the ballots, according to near-complete results, swinging the United Kingdom back from what pro-independence campaigners had depicted as the cusp of a historic breakup with incalculable consequences for Britain’s place in the world.
“The people of Scotland have spoken, and it is a clear result,’’ Prime Minister David Cameron said, speaking outside No. 10 Downing St. in London. “They have kept our country of four nations together. As I said during the campaign it would have broken my heart to see our United Kingdom come to an end.’’
The prime minister spoke shortly after Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party and first minister of Scotland, who led the campaign for secession, conceded defeat in an address to cheering supporters.
“I accept the verdict of the people,’’ he said. “And I call on all the people of Scotland to accept the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland.’’
Salmond stressed that, even though the anti-independence campaign had prevailed, some 1.6 million Scottish residents had voted to end the union, providing what he termed a “substantial’’ bloc of support to press for new powers promised by political leaders in London.
Leaders of Britain’s three main parties, shocked by the strong showing of the independence campaign, had scrambled to offer Scots more devolved powers if they remained part of the United Kingdom.
Before dawn after a night of counting that showed a steady trend in favor of maintaining the union, Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy head of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, effectively conceded defeat.
“Like thousands of others across the country I’ve put my heart and soul into this campaign, and there is a real sense of disappointment that we’ve fallen narrowly short of securing a yes vote,’’ Sturgeon told BBC television.
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