Saturday, September 20, 2014

Scottish Referendum on Independence: What Next?



After an historic vote on Independence, in which almost 85% of the electorate participated, Scotland will remain in the United Kingdom. Good news for many; expected, but unwelcome, news for others. While the run-up the the referendum was terribly exciting, what happens next - from a constitutional perspective - may be even more interesting. David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, promised to devolve more powers (commonly called Devo-Max) to the Scottish Parliament if Scotland voted No. See a timetable for this process in a Better Together Leaflet here. What makes this promise interesting from a constitutional perspective is that the devolution of power to Scotland may be coupled with a reworking of government to allow more powers to the rest of the country. Read more about nationwide change here and here.

Read insight on the vote from four historians, including Karin Bowie of Glasgow University, at BBC History magazine here.

Analysis from Irvine Welsh at The Guardian here.

Follow relevant Scottish politics from The Scotsman, The Herald, The Guardian, and the BBC.

For those of you interested in what the #VoteYes movement is up to after their defeat, search Twitter for #the45 or the #new45. The number 45 is a reference to the percentage of people who voted for Independence; 1745 is the year of the final Jacobite Uprising, known as "the '45".

I am sure that those who voted No, but are worried that the devolution of powers may not occur as promised are also active on Twitter, but if they have a catchy hashtag I don't know about it.


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