BBC News Special Scotland Decides

You are watching BBC News live in Holyrood on the day

So Scotland has voted No to independence.

The First Minister Alex Salmond has admitted defeat calling on all

David Cameron said he was delighted and the debate was now settled

He insisted the promises for Scotland will be delivered "in full"

and promised a bigger say for ALL parts of the UK saying millions of

Alistair Darling said it was a momentous day for Scotland `

But he also said there is a need to listen to the "cry for change".

What an amazing day and what an amazing night

Here are the 32 council areas that became the battleground.

Let me take you through what happened hour`by`hour, so the first

councils to come in at 1.00am, just after, Clackmannanshire and Orkney.

Already, the No camp are starting to take a lead, a small one,

Then we have island councils ` Shetland, Eileanan Siar ` and again

the No camp, just slightly ahead, still waiting for the first council

Between 3.00am and 4.00am we had Inverclyde and Dundee.

Dundee did say Yes and you can see the Yes camp

Falkirk and Stirling, between 4.00am and 4.30am saw the Noes go into a

Between 4.30am and 5.00am we got the result from the biggest council

in Scotland, from Glasgow, a huge number of votes, which took

the tallies all the way down this balcony to here, but not far enough

to put the Yeses in the lead, the Noes, were still in the lead.

So between 5.00am and 6.00am, when South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire

came in, the BBC was able to forecast the result would be No.

And at 6.10am, Fife Council declared.

And the Noes crossed the winning line. Fife is a big council

and this took them past the winning line, the Yeses had no hope of

winning and to add insult to injury, Moray and the Highlands voted No.

So the final result in terms of numbers of votes, we can see now.

No go past two million votes ` 2,001,926.

The number of voters who rejected the idea of Scotland leaving the UK.

Jeremy Vine with how the night unfolded, so that stream of No

announcements saw Alex Salmond concede defeat. For the First

Minister this independence campaign has gone on much longer than the two

years in which the referendum was announced. Andrew Kerr reports.

This young lad became a young man with a plan. Alex Salmond signed up

to the Scottish National Party at St Andrew's University, a student with

a keen sense of Scottish history. He became a man with a key role in

Scotland's modern story. A rising star in the party, he ended up being

expelled for being part of the 79 Group, a left`wing faction. It

didn't take long to bounce back. Mr Salmond was on his way to

Westminster. In 1988, Nigel Lawson's Budget was interrupted. I big to

move that Mr Salmond be suspended from the service of the House. The

stunt paved the way for a successful leadership bid in 1990. Years of

managing the party then followed. Scottish politics came to the fore.

Political rivals joined sides. A good result for Alex Salmond.

Something is changing in Scotland. Two years later, he led the SNP into

the first Scottish Parliament elections. The voters didn't buy a

penny for Scotland, disappointment for the SNP. After a lacklustre

time, the leader stepped down in 2000. I will miss the job. I really

can't begin to explain how much I enjoy this aspect and how much I

enjoy politics. It wasn't for long. The men in grey kilts came to take

John Swinney away and in an Aberdeen hotel in 2004, Mr Salmond announced

he was standing again. Today, I'm launching my candidacy to be the

First Minister of Scotland. He had an inkling that Labour were in

decline, that there would be a chance in 2007. Mr Salmond was back

in the game. Alex Salmond MP ` 75.76% of the vote. There was a

chance, fast forward to May 2007 and a win by one seat, Mr Salmond

addressed the party faithful. I heard a rumour. I think we won the

election! The trials and tribulations of being in power then

followed. The release of the Lockerbie bomber caused

international outrage. The national conversation that sewed the seeds of

the future referendum ` Scotland liked what it saw and gave the SNP

another chance in 2011. A stunning success. The crowning glory at the

time for the master strategist. This is not just a victory for a single

political party, it is a victory for a society of people and a nation. A

majority Government meant a referendum. The Edinburgh agreement

sealed the deal. London and Edinburgh would abide by the result.

The very substantial gain that Scotland now has is that we have an

agreed process to hold this referendum. I'm honoured to announce

that on Thursday 18th September, 2014, we will hold Scotland's

referendum, a historic day. The people will decide Scotland's

future. A dream come true or too much too soon? Now, with the

authority of his Scottish Government behind him, he campaigned hard for

independence. This referendum is about the future of Scotland and the

future of Scotland should be in the hands of the people of Scotland. The

proverbial Marmite politician ` love him or loathe him, or respect his

achievements. Little did that young man with a plan know that he would

set a date of destiny for the people of Scotland.

A fascinating portrait of Alex Salmond there.

Let's cross over to Aberdeen, where we can speak to Joanna Gosling.

Everybody that you speak to hear has a strong queue one way or the other.

The turnout here was 87%. That reflects the turnout across

Scotland. It is an extraordinary level of engagement. Let's take a

look at one of the local papers, which does tell the story. Here in

Aberdeen, the No phot was just ahead of the average No phot across the

population, 60% voted No. Let's talk to two people who have strong

feelings either way. Rees, you are from Glasgow. Tell us why you feel

it should have been a Yes. I just felt Scotland should have been able

to stand on its own two feet. The No voters one, and I will not be

better. There was concern during the campaign that whatever happens it

showed how divided this nation potentially was. That is correct.

Hopefully, we will come together again. The majority of the vote

wanted No. Hopefully we can move on from this and be a better nation

together. Why did you vote No? I think the change would have been far

too much. I am a proud Scot, proud to be British and I think Scotland

as a nation as it is without any change, I like it. When Gordon Brown

came in at the end and said the patriotically to do was to vote No,

did that affect you? There was a message at certain stages that the

proud Scot would say Yes. I think Gordon Brown did a fantastic job in

those last couple of days, getting the message across about staying

together. As a country, the UK is much stronger together. Were you

thinking that your head or your heart? I just thought it would be

queued for Scotland to have a change. This will change things, no

matter what. It will change the country as a whole. I think it would

have been better if Scotland got it, but it didn't and that is it.

Hopefully, we can move on and both sides can come together to see

Scotland stand up and be counted. You are a young voter. In terms of

engaging year in politics, what has the effect been? I didn't really

bother about politics up until now. It just shows you how big this was

to the whole of Scotland, how much it meant to the people. What will

friends and family be talking about now? Has been the subject of

discussion? Friends, family, work colleagues, that divide has been

interesting. Now it is over, the next thing is to figure out what

happens next to make the changes that are required to give the extra

powers to Scotland. Thank you both very much. Everybody that you talk

to here has a strong feeling. 55% voted No.

The ramifications are enormous for the entire country. Let's head to

Westminster. Good afternoon, Matthew.

As soon as the result came in, the question turned to what next? The

Prime Minister was quick to fill that gap. He was in Downing Street

early this morning talking about laying out a fair settlement for

people in Scotland and a fairer settlement for the rest of the UK.

That is crucial because it involves huge constitutional change. Let's

talk to Liam Fox. You said already today that change is unavoidable.

What change do you foresee? There are three elements. First, what

powers will be devolved additionally the Scotland? You have a debate

about whether just the Housing Benefit orders go right away up to

immigration policy? The second question is, how do we deal with the

English question? It is clear that you can't get the settlement for

Scotland that doesn't deal with the English question. It is outrageous

that you have Scottish MPs who can vote on health and education in

their own constituencies, but they can in any other English

constituency. The third is what will the financial settlement be like.

You spoke about... Do you share the concerns that you heard earlier

expressed by Owen Patterson, he was talking about rash promises being

made in the final days that undermine the union? I spoke to a

number of voters in Glasgow yesterday who said that they would

have voted for independence except that the offer had been made that

offered them greater devolution. I would guess we will find out from

the political academics exactly what that influence was. Whatever it is,

that is what the position is that we find ourselves in now. What powers

will now be devolved and how does it best fit in the wider settlement? We

are now talking for the first time properly about a UK wide

settlement. The previous devolution settlement was lopsided. It gave

Scotland changes at the expense of England but the English question was

never really dealt with by politicians. There is this Barnett

formula that allocates funding, it is about ?1600 more per head in

Scotland than it is in England. There is some unhappiness expressed

that the three leaders lock themselves into that. Does it need

to be looked at again? There is the block grant, then there is the

Barnett formula. It does get very complicated. I think we need to look

at funding across the United Kingdom. I think we need to look at

Battersea hire deals with genuine social deprivation. I don't mind if

Scotland gets more money if it is on the basis of need. What my

colleagues object to is that money is given on the basis of

nationality, irrespective of need. If he can get a better way of

distributing money across the better fits the picture of need, that would

be an advantage. Coming back to the constitutional changes and the rest

of the UK, how difficult will it be to get cross`party agreement and

what happens if that is not what is arrived at by February, which is

incredibly quick? The Prime Minister wants to give those powers to

Scotland and make progress on the rest of the UK, as well. If the

other parties decide to stop progress over party political

reasons, I think that would be quite obvious. Is their self`interest from

the Conservatives about the amount of Labour MPs? It may be to the

advantage of the Conservatives, but that is what will need to happen.

The Labour Party seem to want to maintain a position just so that

they can get electoral advantage. Can I press you slightly on that, if

you can't get agreement by February, doesn't mean the various changes for

Scotland that have been promised across`the`board grind to a halt? I

think that we need to simply say to everybody involved, everybody will

have to give and take on this. If we do want to get crossed UK

settlements, then everybody will have to be reasonable and fair.

Ultimately, the electorate will be able to judge if they believe that

politicians have acted in the national interest or not. Liam Fox,

thank you for taking time to speak to us. Plenty of reaction raging

around Westminster, but this is a campaign that has been fought in

Scotland's, here in Westminster, and also online. Anita McVeigh has been

looking at what has been going on over social media.

At its peak, the hash tag about the independence referendum was

appearing ?2500 per minute. Looking at this map, you can get the sense

of the spread of interest over what has been happening in Scotland. They

have identified the places in the world where people have been

tweeting about the referendum and the result is, of course.

That of course is reflecting on the huge domestic ramifications and

abroad of this vote. To keep joining in the conversation with us here.

Details are below. Let us just catch up with the

weather. This is the Indian summer I have been reading about!

All the action is really further south, some really powerful

thunderstorms. Some of us were woken up last night by the thunder and

lightning. There has been some torrential rain, causing issues in

some places. These storms are heading northwards, but losing some

of their power. It is relatively dry further north, but cloudy. Some

dampness heading into the North West of Scotland. Along the eastern

coastal areas, Edinburgh included, it is grey and murky and rather

cool. In the South, we will see the showers get going again, with some

thunderstorms, as a result of the high temperatures. That is a recipe

for thunderstorms breaking out, as they will to impart some southern

England, and they could turn quite nasty as we head into the night in

the southern counties, and eastern England. It will be Maggie and humid

in the south. In the far north`west of Scotland, temperatures would dip

down to single figures under clearing skies. Tomorrow, welcome

sunshine for Scotland and Northern Ireland. For England and we are, a

cloudy start. The overnight storms will hang on for a time. They will

not be as potent as they have been. The North.

As this front pushes its way southwards, if introduces much

clearer air. The sun will come out and that will make all the

difference. A much, much better second`half of the weekend. The

high`pressure hills in and it will be a nice day on Sunday, showers

very isolated. All of us will be dry with some sunshine. Temperature is

not as high as they have been in the South, about where we should be at

this time of year. The sun up this weekend, the showers will ease, the

cloud will lift and it will turn fresher and we will see some

sunshine by Sunday. Scotland stays:

its voters say no to independence and choose to remain part

of the United Kingdom. The margin of victory is wider than

some had predicted ` 55% of voters rejected independence.

David Cameron is delighted. We now have a chance,

a great opportunity, to change the way the British people are governed

and change it for the better. Disappointment in the yes camp,

but Alex Salmond says he accepts The Unionist parties made vows

late in the campaign Scotland will expect these

to be honoured. I'm Gavin Esler in Holyrood on the

day Scotland decided its destiny. As Scotland now looks to the future,

we'll have all the reaction to I am live in Westminster for more

reaction and analysis from politicians of all shades throughout

this afternoon. As Scotland now looks to the future,

we'll have all the reaction to the referendum result and what it

means for the UK as a whole. Hello and welcome to the Holyrood

parliament here in Edinburgh. The people of Scotland have spoken,

and the answer is no. By a wider margin than many people

had predicted, Scotland has voted to Early this morning, the head

of the Yes campaign, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond,

admitted defeat, calling on all David Cameron says the debate is now

settled for a generation, but has promised a new and fair devolution

settlement for all parts of the UK. With all councils now declared,

the No campaign took 55% of the More than 3.5 million people

voted on this historic occasion. Only four council areas voted yes,

though that included Scotland's largest city Glasgow,

and a Yes win in Dundee. 28 council areas voted no `

here are some of them, including Edinburgh, Fife and Alex Salmond's

own constituency of Aberdeenshire. This afternoon, we'll have all the

reaction to the referendum results and will discuss the political

consequences here in Scotland and in the rest of the UK, where there are

now calls for more power to be given by Westminster to other parts

of the country. Our first report is from our Political Correspondent

Iain Watson on the results. This is the moment it became

official. Scotland had said no to independence. Yes ` the number of

votes, 1 million, 617th thousand 989. No, the number of votes, 2

million, 1926. Even before the final result was formally declared, it had

become obvious on Alex Salmond's face. But the referendum wasn't just

about the politicians. Millions of people had invested their hopes,

dreams, fears and nightmares, in a campaign which had become intense

over the past two weeks, and had lasted for the past two years.

Somewhere it later, that is appointed, many, quite simply

exhausted. Whatever his heartfelt, Alex Salmond put a brave face on the

result when he arrived in the Scottish capital. Thank you to

Scotland for 1.6 million votes for Scottish independence. But he told

his supporters to reconcile themselves to defeat. Accent that

verdict of the people, and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in

accepting the Democratic verdict of the people of Scotland.

When he became Scotland's first ever First Minister 15 years ago, the

late Donald Dewar believed a devolved Scottish parliament would

consign the SNP's ambitions to history. It did not quite work out

like that. Four out of ten voters here in Scotland have voted for

independence. But senior figures in today's Labour Party are stressing

that a No vote doesn't mean no change. The leader of the Better

Together campaign said he would listen to the campaigns of those who

haven't voted for him. As we celebrate, let us also listen. More

than 85% of the Scottish population has voted, people who were

disengaged from politics have turned out in large numbers. And the Prime

Minister promised more devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern

Ireland, and make clear he felt the question of independence had been

decisively answered. Now, the debate has been settled for a generation.

Or, as Alex Salmond has said, perhaps for a lifetime. So there can

be no disputes, no reruns, we have heard the settled will of the

Scottish people. The first result set the tone of the night. The Yes

campaign had been hoping for success in Clackmannanshire in Central

Scotland, but the majority of voters he rejected independence. No call on

19,000... 19,036. The Yes campaigners were given a boost,

which seemed became a consolation prize. Most voters in Scotland's

biggest city, Glasgow, opted for an independent Scotland. Jaaskelainen

194,000. No: 169,300 and 47. They shouted yes, but they have

spent the campaign saying no. At the celebrations, it became clear most

voters had embraced the union, and decided to keep the UK United.

I am joined by John Swinney, Scotland's finance minister. The

miseries and is from your point of view and the result. You fought a

heck of a campaign. I you proud? Yell No very much so. Looking at

this even a few weeks back, we were over 20 points adrift in the opinion

polls. We got them very, very close. We got one opinion poll to

51`49 in our favour, with the settling on 52`48. Ultimately, we

got a result which I think we can be proud of. We got 1.6 million

citizens to vote positively for independence to secure Scotland's

huge in Scotland's hands. It wasn't enough to get us over the line, I

readily accept, and I was a disappointment indeed. But it was a

triumph of democracy, because so many of our people voted yesterday,

and that isn't good to celebrate. Can we took a bit about where we go

from here? The Prime Minister has said this is the settled will of the

Scottish people, at least for a generation or many years. View may

dispute that, but that is what David Cameron said. To what extent are you

going to be part of the discussions at a party, as to where devolution

moves now? We have made it quite clear this morning in response to

what the Prime Minister has said that the Scottish Government and SNP

will be participants in the process of securing those additional powers.

That is important, because we had a referendum yesterday which engaged

the public enormously and, although we got 1.6 million voters, we did

not get enough to win. 2 million voters voted for no, but they voted

for additional powers, because that was what was offered by the other UK

parties. Devo max, or some definition of that? They voted for

some new powers, that was promised to the voters of Scotland. I spoke

to people in the latter stages of the campaign who were thinking of

voting Yes, but they opted to clearly vote No in the referendum to

secure those additional powers, so it is absolutely vital for everybody

involved, those who voted Yes and those who voted No, that we secure

those powers, and crucially, we secure those powers as they were

promised, as a swift, speedy transfer of responsibilities, which

is exactly the basis on which they were promised by the other parties.

Willie Scottish National Party play a constructive part in the

discussions, or will you sit back and hear what Westminster have to

say, and say that is good enough not enough? We have welcomed the point

of Roberts `` the appointment of Robert Smith. We know him well, and

we invited him to chair the Commonwealth Games organisation

committee, at which he did a fabulous job. We know him well, and

we're happy to participate in the process. I stress that the

importance of this is to satisfy the aspirations of both sides of the

debate, and this is a day where we should be moving together, we should

be moving on from the referendum and recognising that we have all voted

to strengthen our Parliament just behind us here, and to strengthen

that with significant powers that could tackle the issues that people

were concerned about in the referendum.

Do you have any sense that Alex Salmond is contemplating his future,

that he might think now is the time, perhaps, to move on? Alex Salmond

has been at the heart of building the Scottish National Party to what

it is today, the force of government in Scotland.

We have another 18 months of our mandate from the people of Scotland

to undertake in this term, and Alex has been at the heart of that, and I

think you will be at the heart of it moving forward. He also has under

his belt significant achievements. There were times in my political

life where I think we would have stretched it if we thought we could

get 1.6 million people to both independence, and we did that

yesterday, and Alex Salmond at that. Thank you much for joining us.

Well, as we said, more than 3.5 million people voted.

An unprecedented turnout of just under 85 percent, the highest

So how are the people of Scotland feeling today?

Our Scotland correspondent James Cook has been out and

A grey dawn of Edinburgh, a black day for supporters of independence.

They had come here for a victory party, but it's never got started,

and instead, results from across the country left them in despair,

dismay, and disbelief. Scotland has thrown away a real opportunity here.

A chance in a lifetime, and they've thrown it away. I don't think people

have thought this through. I think they have just been scared by Better

Together's scares, and haven't seen the opportunity. I don't know when

we are going to get the next gen. This is a really bad day for

Scotland. Through the tears, there is anger

here as well, with many blaming the media, in particular, the BBC, for

the result. It was always one`sided. How can

people possibly make up their mind if they only get one side of the

story? It is disgusting. I am absolutely disgusted with the

British state and the media. Absolutely disgusted. Their

opponents dismay is overdone, suggesting that Scotland will now

have the best of both worlds, more for Edinburgh within the United

Kingdom. I think delight and relief will stop I stayed up all night, or

at least till three o'clock in the morning to watch. It was very

exciting, but there were obviously issues we have to sort out, and

hopefully we can work together. Even Alex Salmond is probably secretly

quite happy that he is getting all these powers. So, a good result all

round, I think. This result has opened wounds which

will take time to heal, and while one question has been answered,

another remains. What is the settled will of the people in this restless,

divided Scotland? And that is, is a good question bash

what is the settled will of the people of Scotland? Our assistant

political editor is in Glasgow, perhaps with some answers. Norman.

Thank you very much. Life is pretty much returning to normal here in

Glasgow. I guess people paying heed to the message that they've got to

move on, they've got to put the sort of bitterness of the campaign behind

them, but this is a city that voted Yes, one of the few places in

Scotland. I have corralled some of those who took part in the vote,

Craig, Julianne and Adam. Craig, what did you vote, and what is your

take on the outcome? I voted Yes, and I'm be is the disappointed with

the outcome, but I'm optimistic now that Westminster will deliver on its

about, and we will get more powers. And is this really settled for a

generation? I think this really depends on what happens next with

Westminster. I think if they deliver on the bow, it will be settled, and

if not, I think we will be back doing this again in pretty short

order. Why did you do and why? I voted No, and that was because I

believe in Scottish and British. My dad is American, and I have family

everywhere, and I think that I didn't want to be separated from

them. United we stand, divided we fall, that type of thing, so I think

I made the right decision, and I'm happy with that. We've surprised

with the scale of the win, because all the polls seem to suggest it was

going to be really close. In the end, it wasn't so close. That's the

thing, when I was looking a few days ago at the YouGov polls, I was

pretty scared in case yes work going to get it, and then there was a

miraculous turnaround, which is good in my favour, obviously, and a lot

of others. I think it is a great thing. Adam, what did you do, and

took me through your thinking. I voted Yes, said that because I

believe that this country could do a heck of a lot more if the powers

belong to the people that vote here. In 2010, the SNP won a

landslide. I was too young to vote. People were happy up and down the

country. Even in this referendum, so many people have said to themselves

that they like this government, they are just not fully ready for it. I

believe the moment, this country can do anything with independence. Let

me ask you the question I asked great. The fingers is still

something to be resolved? Vertically, I think it will not

happen again for another 20, 30 years, but if you ask anyone in the

street, this is not settle for a long time. You will probably see,

George Square is jumping with people celebrating around it, so I think it

is going to take a couple of years to settle people politically. ``

politically, I think it's a subtle. Thank you for your views. The views

of some people in Glasgow. You get the sense that there was some

bitterness in the campaign, but my sense is there is a view now that

that does happen to be set to one side, and people, whatever their

views, by and large are getting on with life and moving on.

If it had been yes, the business of dividing the UK would have started

this morning, with Scotland taking full powers over tax, pensions,

public borrowing, international relations, defence and intelligence.

Scotland could even have changed its own time zone.

And most of the powers that were to be assumed by Holyrood for the time

What it doesn't mean, though, is a return to the status quo.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Better Together promised substantial

change, and the SNP will certainly hold them to that commitment.

So, here are two powers which look set to be further

At the moment, the Scottish government can vary the level

of income tax by up to 3p, though it has never used these powers.

And under the 2012 Scotland Act, they'll have further scope to

But faced with the threat of independence,

the three main Westminster parties agreed to go even further.

The Tories and the Lib Dems want to give Holyrood complete control

in the setting of personal income`tax rates, with negotiations

We might also see more powers over VAT, on air`transport duty,

perhaps also the power to change inheritance tax and capital gains.

What about that other power, over here, Social Security and benefits?

Labour would like to fully devolve housing`benefits policy,

Alex Salmond promised that with independence

the Scottish government would scrap the so`called bedroom tax, and that

may still be the case, if the Scottish government can fund it.

Nicola Sturgeon said this morning they want more on welfare,

So it seems likely they will push for more than has

So, when is all this going to happen?

We can show you Gordon Brown's timeline here.

Negotiation through October, a white paper by the end of November.

Draft legislation appearing here, somewhere near the end of January.

A second reading of the bill before the end of this Parliament,

which does look a tight deadline in mind of the dissent now brewing

Some Tory backbenchers want a federal UK,

The beginnings of what could be a huge constitutional wrangle.

And, let me leave you with one last thought.

It's this date at the end of the timeline, 2017, and the Tories'

What happens if the UK votes to leave?

The pro`Europe lobby in Scotland says that would renew calls for

In other words, the union might look the same right

Indeed it is. A lot of the action will continue to

be here in Edinburgh, but there is plenty going on in Westminster, the

leaders of the three big parties try to figure out the way ahead.

It has been a busy day from just after 7am, when the Prime Minister

was addressing the media. We will speak to Sadiq Khan in a moment, but

first, Boris Johnson. What do you make of the result? I am absolutely

thrilled that the country I grew up in is entire and intact. This

morning and this afternoon, it is wonderful, because there was a time

it looked like it might be a lot closer than it turned out to be.

What we need to do now is everybody to call off, simmer down, and then

try to sort out some of these promises that have been made to

Scotland, but in a way that is totally fair to England, London and

the rest of the country. I am sure that can be done, but what you

cannot do... It is interesting you say we need to simmer down first.

Peter Hennesey said the same thing, and his fear was that we were

rushing straight into the next stage. The constitution needs an

element of calmness and planning. Do you think there is too much of a

rush? The timetable does not need to be unnecessarily protracted, the

issues are clear, there is no time like the present if you are going to

make good on the promises. But what you cannot do, I think, is come up

with a solution that has loads of Scottish MPs hanging around, still

nominally representing Scotland, but not able to vote on any matters that

affect Scotland, but only on things that affect England, which is not

there area of representation. That is a problem that has to be sorted

out, and my feeling is that the Labour Party is running away from

trying to address that, because they know it would have bad consequences

for their representation in Westminster. They are trying to kick

this off. That will not work. He said there was a reckoning to be

had, is that the reckoning you are talking about, exactly that question

you raise? That is right, we need to work out how to make sense of the

promises that have been made to the Scots, the financial promises, the

perpetuation of the Barnett formula, in such a way that does not

disadvantage the rest of the country, and that does not make a

nonsense of democracy at Westminster. I am not necessarily

saying it cannot be done, but we need to do it in a careful way. The

difficulty, though, and it is obvious, because politicians have

grappled with this problem, the Prime Minister has linked the two

things very much together, more powers for the Scottish Parliament,

and some sort of agreement about what happens in the rest of the UK.

Is that sensible? What happens if they can't get agreement on the

second part? If they cannot get agreement on the second part, I

assumed the first part does not proceed either. What the Prime

Minister said is that the two things go together. That is right. The

Barnett formula is all very well, but even Lord Barnett himself said

it was no longer equitable that he would want it `` no longer

equitable, he would want it changed.

This needs looking at. It is interesting what you said at the

start of the answer. You said the first part will not go ahead if the

second part does not, because that is what Alex Salmond had said

towards the tail end of the campaign, after these extra powers

were talked about, that it will simply never happen. You are saying

potentially the same thing. I think that the Prime Minister was right in

what he said this morning, which is that the two things have to go in

tandem. You cannot have further devolution, further awards of

powers, fiscal devolution to Scotland, without looking at the

implications of that for our Parliament at Westminster. You

cannot have Scottish MPs sitting in judgement over budgets for England

when they no longer... When budgetary questions have been wholly

devolved to Scotland. We will leave it there.

Let's pick up with that fundamental point that we heard from the London

mayor with Sadiq Khan. Boris Johnson saying two or three times in that

interview that, fundamentally, that has to be addressed, the Scottish

MPs who would effectively be making decisions about English matters. The

three leaders of the mainstream parties before the referendum agreed

on the devo max options. Within an hour of the results being officially

announced, the Prime Minister gave a petty and partisan response without

consulting the other party leaders,... It is the elite again

imposing on the public their solutions to the challenges raised

by the public. The campaign in Scotland has been fantastic,

infectious, record turnout, and we are in danger of learning the wrong

lessons from David Cameron and Boris Johnson. You would have a situation

where more powers were given to Scotland, the Scottish Parliament,

and no change to what happens here in England, and you think that is

fair? That is not what I am saying. We need to devolve power to England

and change the way this place works. There is anti`Westminster mood all

around the UK. That means a people's convention, where people

lead, and we need to start now. We need to make sure more powers

devolved to cities and regions in England. We need to change the way

Westminster works, including the second chamber, including codified

in `` prettifying the constitution. You talk in generalities there.

Let's turn to the specifics of the question, the West Lothian question,

that has been raised here, the focus is on it, what are you saying should

be done? You need to keep the integrity of the UK. That means

looking at how we devolve more powers to English MPs, English

regions, town halls, cities and other parts of England. Also in

Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is demand for more

powers, more responsibility, budgets, accountability. I wonder if

you have sidestepped this, because it would be difficult for you to

Govan if you won a general election when 41 of the MPs from Scotland

were not allowed to take part in a vote on English decisions. I wonder

if that is the root cause of your resistance. The decision of the

promise to Scotland was made by the leaders of the work done by the

three main parties. Within an hour of the results being officially

announced, David Cameron announced a fait accompli,... Frank Field said

earlier, unless the leadership changed its position, you were in

danger of losing a lot of seats at the general election. What he wants

to do is to see a leader of a political party being consensual,

getting people involved, learning the right lessons about the

disillusionment around the country. Trade unions, faith groups, citizens

signing a constitution, rather than elite politicians in Westminster.

First Boris Johnson, density can't, what chance they will get some sort

of agreement on the constitutional matters for the rest of the UK by

the February timeline that the Prime Minister outlined? Listening to

that, you have to think this does not bode well for that kind of

timetable, the kind of ambitious proposals they are trying to get to

the bottom of. We have gone rapidly from the three main Westminster

parties working together towards the no vote, and they are now bickering

and fighting over what happens next. We have no agreement yet across the

parties. Firstly about what powers the Scottish parliament will get, we

have proposals from Gordon Brown, which has infuriated English

Conservatives, who say they have not even been consulted over any of

this, these generous promises, they have not been asked about them, and

it has left England in a poor position. David Cameron is mindful,

he has got UKIP snapping at his heels, he and Nigel Farage will be

fighting to prove they are the voice of England in the coming month. No

agreement about how English devolution might look. We know that

the Labour Party are looking at devolution to the cities, the

Liberal Democrats might look at regional government. They seem to be

ruling out an English parliament, but then we have talked of English

days in the parliament here at Westminster. No agreement. Sadiq

Khan throwing in the House of Lords, as if they do not have enough on

their plate, wrestling with the West Lothian question, which has been

rumbling around for decades. The idea that this could be sorted out

by Burns night seems farcical. Plenty more from me in the coming

minute. Welcome back, if you have just

joined us, to Hollywood. When we talked during the campaign, there

was a point when it seemed as if the tide was flowing in the way of the

yes campaign. What turned it back? I think a couple of things. One was

the alarm created not just among the politicians but among the public

that this might just happen, and that created a chance for people to

reconsider the decision perhaps devote Yes. I think the second part

was when all the companies with no axe to grind, the markets as well,

they reacted, and you can see on your screens the visual

representation of the reaction to the polls, so the combination of

those two things I think just forced people to stand upright and

reconsider their decision. Where do you go from here? There is a very

ambitious timetable, and it is against the backdrop of the May 2015

general election as well, so the politics don't just suddenly stops

the arty leaders can get together. What is actually doable, do you

think? I think we aren't a unique position. We have got all political

parties in Scotland, for the first time in the same room. I think that,

combined with the creative energy from this referendum will allow us

to come up with really good solutions. We have to meet technical

work, for myself, I asked Ming Campbell to write a report three

years ago, published two years ago. Labour and the Tories have done the

same, and I'm sure the SNP have been doing work inside government about

what is feasible and practical. I think that technical work having

been done, we can quickly move to the political solution that is

necessary in order to create a sustainable solution for Scotland.

But, as you argue during this campaign, Scotland is not isolated

from the rest of the United Kingdom, and there are political pressures on

MPs up and down England, including some from UKIP, people who wants to

be MPs. So the idea that perhaps you're going to solve the West

Lothian question, you're going to figure out what Scottish MPs' role

that Westminster, and so on, in a few months, is going to be very

tricky, and perhaps impossible? I think this is fantastic, that there

is no doubt that Britain will never be the same again. We're going to

have ripple reverberating right across the UK. I'm hoping we can see

that federal solution that the Liberal Democrats have argued for

four long time, and Gordon Brown, and even Michael Forsyth is talking

about that. Who would have believed that whenever the happening? I think

that shows we're going to get change. The real difference here is,

you don't have to do everything at exact with the same time. We can go

at our own pace when we are ready. Scotland is ready to move forward.

The discussion has been started, triggered by this referendum about

all those things, all those aspects in England. We have heard from

Wales. They want more as well. The creative energy created by this

massive turnout, I think change Britain for good. That is a good

thing. Thank you very much. As you may have

noticed, the weather in Scotland are somewhat changeable, particularly at

this time of year. The skies are extremely great. John Hammond will

tell me whether I should put my coat back on all whether I can leave it

off. John. Qubits to hand, for sure! Yes, a

changeable sort of day. Even more changeable further south across the

UK. We have seen some violent thunderstorms earlier on today. That

clutch of storms has been moving northward through parts of Wales,

the Midlands, into northern England. Potentially some more developing

later on in the South. Mostly grey and cool. This evening, some nasties

dons again developing across southern counties, pushing into part

of the Midlands and East Anglia. And Iggy position of these blogs

literally. It gives you a sense of the potential for nasty storms. Met

Office warnings in place. Much cooler and fresher across parts of

north`west Scotland in particular, where temperatures could dip down

into single figures. A completely different day tomorrow across

Scotland and Northern Ireland. It will be a nice day, some sunshine.

England and Wales Cricket Board plenty of cloud around, some rain

across eastern counties, and we could dip down into single figures.

A completely different day tomorrow across Scotland and Northern

Ireland. It will be a nice day, some sunshine. England and Wales Cricket

Board plenty of cloud around, some rain across eastern counties, and

because as we are going to see today. Still quite muddy in the

south. Fresher in the North with some sunshine, and that fresher air

will reach all of us as we go through the weekend.

Hello, and good afternoon from Holyrood. This is BBC Newsline in

Holyrood on the day Scotland decided. The main elements so far:

Scotland's voters reject independence, choosing to remain

part of the United Kingdom. The margin of victory is wider than

some had predicted. 55% of voters say No. David Cameron is delighted.

We now have a chance, a great opportunity, to change the way the

British people are governed and change it for the better.

Disappointment in the Yes camp. Alex Salmond accepts the will of the

people, but will hold Westminster to its campaign pledge.

Those parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers to

Scotland. Scotland will expect these to be honoured.

As Scotland now looks to the future, we will have all the reaction to the

result, and what it means for the UK as a whole.

Now, for a summary of the rest of the news today, let's go to Tim.

Thank you very much indeed. Forensics officers are still

searching the house of the Latvian builder wanted in connection with

the disappearance of 14`year`olds Alice Gross in west London. He was

sentenced to seven years in 1998 for murdering his wife, and last seen a

week after Alice vanished. Our Home Affairs Committee and how this.

They have been searching the home of this man for five days now. He

failed to return home two weeks ago, leaving his passport and phone

behind. Police have recovered large objects from the flat he shared with

his partner. They included a bike. He is a suspect, because on the day

Alice went missing, she crossed this bridge in Brentford, West London,

and 15 minutes later, so did he. He rode a red Mountain bike. Police

believe that pass crossed. In 1998, he was jailed for murdering his

wife, and according to reports from Latvia, carrying her body in Wood

lands. He was accused, but not charged, with indecently assaulting

a 14`year`old girl in 2009. He regularly cycled to a building job

along the towpath where Alice went missing. As a Latvian EU citizen, he

currently has the right to work here, despite his murder conviction.

Only evidence he poses a serious and present risk would allow Britain to

prevent his entry. But his emergence as a suspect means the investigation

has entered a new phase. Continuing to search for Alice, but also

searching for him across Europe. French jets have carried out their

first strike against Islamic State militants in Iraq. President

Hollande says planes attacked and IS depot in north`east Iraq. He said

there would be more raids in the coming days. French action follows

more than 170 US air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since

mid`August. 25 suspected illegal immigrant had

been found in the back of a lorry in Dover. Police in Kent say it man was

arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.

Ambulance crews are still at the scene.

The jocks company GlaxoSmithKline has been fined nearly ?300 million

for paying out brides in China. Prosecutors in Beijing claims staff

at GSK's Chinese unit systematically bribed doctors and hospital

officials to use their products. The company's former head of Chinese

operations Mark Reilly has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Faxes neckline, which asked for the court hearing to be held in secret,

says it fully access to the facts. Britain has pledged to provide 700

new hospital beds in Sierra Leone to help fight Ebola. More than 2000

people have died in the epidemic so far, and Sierra Leone has the gun a

three`day countrywide curfew to limit its spread.

UEFA has announced that Wembley Stadium will host the final of Euro

2020. The London venue beat off competition from a Munich arena, the

only other contender. Euro 2020 will be held in 13 cities, with Wembley

also playing host to the tournament's semifinals.

That is a summary of the other new so far today. Let's go back to the

main story, to Edinburgh, and to Gavin.

Thank you very much. Scotland has voted no to independence, and the

First Minister Alex Salmond has admitted defeat, calling on all of

Scotland to accept the result. David Cameron said he was delighted and

the debate was now settled for a generation. He insisted that

promises for Scotland will be delivered in full, promising a

bigger say for all part of the UK, saying millions of voices in England

must now be heard. Alistair Darling said it was the moment is David

Scotland and an endorsement for the union. He also said there was a need

to listen to the cry for change. Let's go over to Cardiff now and to

our colleague there. This cry for change, as it's been heard in

Cardiff, and what would it mean for the people of Wales, do you think?

Well, people here were listening to David Cameron, certainly, when he

spoke at Downing Street this morning, saying he wanted Wales at

the centre of a debate over the UK's future constitution. However,

that call was not applauded, because many people here are cynical about

what exactly would be on offer. According to Labour's First Minister

for Wales, the Prime Minister had almost sleepwalk into one disaster,

and was in danger of doing so again, entering into sending like a

three`month debate over what the future settlement would be. His call

is for a constitution conversation, something Ed Miliband has also

talked about, which would look at the whole UK, equal partners around

the table, discussing how power could go to each and every one.

However, Carwyn Jones knows that is not really on the cards at the

moment. One of the sticking point, really, is division within the

Labour Party, because while everyone was Better Together last week,

singing from one hymn sheet, there was a vow made to the people of

Scotland and the Barnett Formula would be retained. However, Welsh

Labour hear what it's changed, because they claim Wales is

underfunded to the June of about ?300 billion per year. This morning,

Carwyn Jones not quite admitting defeat on that one, but accepting

Scotland's people have made a decision, and now governments are

bound by that decision, whoever wins the election in May.

Thank you very much for joining us from the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

Joining me now from Glasgow is Len McDougall, campaign director from

Better Together. Congratulations, you fought a tough campaign, and one

in the end. Yes, we are delighted. I merrily

because, for the people of Scotland, in our view, this means a better

life for millions of us, better opportunities and broader horizons

for people here in Scotland. Anything for me, I am also happy

that there is a message sent to the wider world that actually, you don't

need to choose between diversity and division, you don't need to choose

between your own self`interest and the shared interest you can have

with other people, because I think all of us in this campaign were

very, very conscious that the world was watching the decision that

Scotland made last night, and we are just delighted that it is No, that

it is decisive, and also that there was such an extraordinary turnout to

make this decision in Scotland, with, in some places, near 100%. It

has been an extraordinary 24 hours. That was indeed an extraordinary

turnout. Was there a moment where you had a wobble in the campaign?

That poll which put the Yes camp ahead, people were saying, you are

not getting the troops out, you are not doing a positive enough message.

Was there some rethinking a couple of weeks ago? I think the poll was

certainly a really important moment in the campaign, and I think it was

important because the two different sides reacted to it in two very

different ways. For us, we use it to give our message impetus, to say to

people that there was a clear timetable for the powers that we

were offering within the United Kingdom to highlight the very real

risks and that came to light with the market reaction and reaction of

companies, employers, retailers, to the poll, but I think the way that

Yes reacted to that poll baffle us on our side of the campaign. Rather

than talking about issues or framing the conversation and the debate that

people were having, they started to hold street parties and celebrations

and Alex Salmond was behaving like it was going to be a correlation, so

I think it was important. `` a coronation. While those numbers were

happening in the public polls, we ourselves were talking to 100,000

people a day at one point, in that period of the campaign. We just did

not feel that that movement that there wasn't some of those polls was

happening on the ground, but I know that the pollsters will examine what

they found over the course of this campaign. But for us, as we say, I

think the poll was an important moment, because it helps to really

crystallise and clarify the decision for voters, and I think last night,

that worked for us and went our way. Thank you very much for joining us.

Blair McDougall from Better Together.

A lot of events going on in Westminster, a lot of opinions

there. Let's talk to Matthew again. Thank you once again. Let's take a

look at some of those constitutional issues that have been thrown up,

especially when we heard from the Prime Minister at the start of the

day in Downing Street. Let's talk to a professor of government at Kings

College London who is here with me again. Thank you for your time. How

surprised I use that we're making these significant constitutional

changes, the way we are over the last seven or eight days? The

Scottish referendum rate is a huge number of constitutional issues, but

this is not the way to resolve them, to make up the constitution on

the hoof, a promise to the Scots here, something for the English

there. A constitution needs a lot of thought. It is not just for

Christmas, it is for life. Giving it is being made up on the hoof?

Apparently, Gordon Brown, he said that the person to whom the

constitution has been outsourced were not discussed in Cabinet, and

they were not discussed by MPs. It is worth numbering that the majority

of MPs representing this constituencies. Now we have

proposals being thrown around without real consideration. This is

not how to do it. You describe it to me as a Pandora's box. Once you open

the lid, which is what you think has been done, what comes out? Well?

Well, the Scottish referendum was intended to end the debate. It has

the debate, because it is about how this will be delivered. It is

beginning a debating which was previously quiet. Now, John Redwood

has asked, who speaks for England? What is England going to have when

Scotland gets its goodies, perhaps Wales and Northern Ireland as well?

Is it clear where we end up down this path two I believe we ought to

end up in the proper constitution which tells us how we should do

constitutional change. Perhaps before that, we should have a

constitutional convention, and it is worth remembering that 2015 is the

800 anniversary of Magna Carta. Perhaps that is a good time to

start. In terms of the pace of this, one commentator described it as the

Dangerous Dogs Act for devolution. Are they worried about how quick

they are trying to do this? You cannot create a constitution

overnight. If you look at the oldest written constitution, the American,

that was bought out very carefully by leading politicians, who will

also great thinkers, James Maddison, Alexander Hamilton. If you do it

like a piece of Elastoplast, it comes unstuck very quickly. Let's go

to the city. So much concern and focus on the way the vote was going

to go, what has been the reaction so far today? The city got the result

it wanted and that it had expected. This is a graph of the Sterling

versus the euros. That Spike was the YouGov poll that came out at 10pm

and put the no vote in the lead. That is the first Council, which

voted no. It has been wearing off, the relief rally, through the day.

One piece of news, RBS had contingency plans to move their

legal home from north of the border to south, but they can no go in the

bin, or at least in the bottom drawer for the foreseeable future.

Despite opinion polls last week, the market thought this was an odds`on

vote for no. What we have seen today is relief, but not exactly euphoria.

Mines are now turning to the complexities you were talking about.

Although the existential question has been and said, what about the

devolution powers? Bullet make business in the UK more

complicated? People's mind are turning to that, not to mention the

general election and a possible referendum over the EU. This one is

out of the way, now the markets have something else to worry about. I

started by speaking to the Harvard professor of economics, who thought

that the nervousness would last more long term, because in his view,

there would be worried about future investment, because perhaps other

countries would look at the situation and think, perhaps they

will be back with this independent `` independence question later. I

think people think this has been buried now for at least 15 to 20

years. There is optimism amongst the business leaders I have spoken to

that decisions in the UK that might have been on hold might now go

ahead. For the international markets, it is less important

possibly where the business is done, whether in Wales, Northern Ireland

or Scotland, and how the regulations breakdown, it is less important in

the international community than it might be to UK based ones.

We will look at what is happening on social media, because this campaign

has been fought so much on social media. That in a moment.

News from Washington, the first reaction from the White House to the

decisive result of last night. The White House says they welcomed the

result of the referendum and congratulate the people of Scotland

in the democratic exercise that they have carried out, and they go on to

say that they have no closer ally than the UK, and they look forward

to continuing with that close liaison, faced with some of the

international issues that are of the moment. The first thoughts from the

White House, we will get more from Washington later.

I mentioned social media, there has been so much focus on that through

the course of the last few months in the lead up to yesterday.

Hello, I'm Annita McVeigh, welcome to the social hub, where we

bring you the latest reaction on social media to Scotland's

An opportunity to reflect a more humorous response to the campaign.

These are some of the images which have appeared on Twitter and

Facebook. This one inspired by Braveheart, nearly 800 retweets. It

depends whether you are looking at it from the Hollywood perspective or

the Hollywood perspective. `` Holyrood perspective. This one says,

thank you, Gordon. Saviour of the union. Here is the Queen, this

photograph dug out from a previous royal visit. With the caption,

update my status, still Queen of Scotland. This photo is doing the

rounds on Facebook. It says, Scotland went from being it's

compensated to in a relationship. Have a look at this, definitely an

and finally. It has gone final, she is happy the union is staying

together. The referendum campaign and the result has been inspiring

all sorts of creativity. Keep sending us your thoughts, pictures,

anything you want to say. You can join in the conversation

at bbc.co.uk/haveyoursay That last picture was fabulous, we

should add it to what we are about to show.

Now, with all the results declared and Scotland rejecting independence,

let's look back at the highs and lows of the night.

The BBC forecast is that Scotland has voted no to independence.

I accept the verdict of the people. I call on all of Scotland to follow

suit and accept the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland.

We have heard the will of the Scottish people.

Just some of the memorable images from the last 24 hours will stop we

will be back with Gavin at Holyrood in a moment, because in the hours

since we had the declaration, much reaction with Gavin, but we will

have plenty more from here at Westminster in the coming minute. We

will speak to the Conservative backbencher Verna Jenkin, with some

interesting views about how constitutional change should affect

England, talking about a federal system, a First Minister for England

as well as a Prime Minister for UK affairs. We will speak to him here

after 3pm. 20 more reaction coming up in the next few minutes, stay

with us on BBC News. I noticed the sun is out there, it

might not be for much longer. Stormy skies, that could set the scene,

more storms to add to the ones we have seen earlier today. Some

violent downpours as we move through the night, into the early hours,

into the part of the West Country. They caused some serious problems in

places. They have been moving northwards. All the while, the

northern half of the UK has been relatively quiet. A lot of clout,

grey and misty for some. Some brightness for Northern Ireland.

Again, along the north seacoast, it is gloomy, grey and cold. The

showers have been drifting north. Some more heavy storms developing.

Very hit and miss, but the potential is there in the atmosphere to

develop some really nasty storms again as we go through the latter

part of the afternoon, into the evening, drifting north, do not take

the position of the storms to literary, it just shows you the

potential. Another humid, muggy night across southern areas. As the

sky clears across the North West of Scotland, it will turn colder. We

will have a different day tomorrow. Much writer, sunnier for many parts

of Scotland and Northern Ireland. For England and Wales, a lot of

clout, the overnight storms drifting into the North Sea. A few more sharp

showers, though not as potent as today. Still muggy in the South. A

transformation in conditions along the eastern coastal areas. Gloomy

and misty for several days now, but at the cold weather front tracks

down across the country, clearer and behind it, with low humidity, so

welcome sunshine for the eastern coastal areas, at long last. The

cold weather front will clear out of the way as we get to Sunday. For

most of us, Sunday is looking lovely, with a bit of fair weather

clout, plenty of sunshine. The wind will be like. The temperatures are

where they should be for this time of year, but the nights will turn

cold. It will turn fresher, plenty of sunshine developing later on this

weekend. I am back with more detail in half an hour.

's Scotland stays as photos reject independent, choosing to remain part

of the United Kingdom. 55% of voters say no, David Cameron is delighted.

We now have a chance, a great opportunity, to change the way the

British people are governed and change it for the better. Alex

Salmond urges the yes camp to stay upbeat, but accepts the will of the

people, saying he will hold Westminster to its campaign pledge.

Unionist parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers

to Scotland. Scotland will expect these to be honoured. They have just

been scared by together macro. This is a really bad day for Scotland. I

stayed up all night to watch, it was very exciting. But there are issues

we have got to sort out and hopefully we can work together. I am

Gavin Esler in Hollywood on the day Scotland decided its destiny.

Scotland now looks the future, we have all the reaction to the result

and it means to the UK as a whole. `` and what it means.

Hello and good afternoon from Edinburgh. The people of Scotland

have spoken, the answer is no. By the wider margin than many had

predicted, Scotland has voted to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Early this morning ahead of the Yes campaign, the Scottish First

Minister Alex Salmond admitted defeat, calling on all of Scotland

to accept the result. David Cameron says the debate is settled for a

generation, but he has promised eight new devolution settlement for

all parts of the UK. `` promised and new. Turnout was a record 84.6%,

more than three and a half million people voted on this historic

occasion. Only four council areas voted yes, though it included the

largest city, Glasgow. There was a Yes win in Dundee. 28 council areas

voted No. Alex Salmond's own constituency Aberdeenshire among

them. This afternoon we have all the beer action to the referendum result

and discuss the potential consequences in Scotland and the

rest of the UK. There are calls for more power to be given to other

parts of the country. Our first report is from Iain Watson on the

results. This is the moment it became official. Scotland had said

no to independence. Yes, the number of votes, 1,617,000, 989. No ` 2

million 9126. It had become obvious on Alex Salmond's face what the

result was. It was not just about the politicians, millions of people

's interest of their hopes, fears, dreams and nightmares in a campaign

that become tense over the past few weeks, but had lasted two years.

Many were quite simply exhausted. Whatever his heartfelt, Alex Salmond

put a brave face on the result when he arrived in the Scottish capital.

Thank you to Scotland for 1.6 million votes for Scottish

independence. But he told his supporters to reconcile themselves

to defeat. I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of

Scotland to follow suit in accepting the Democratic verdict of the people

of Scotland. When he became Scotland's first ever First Minister

15 years ago, this man believed the Scottish parliament would consign

the MP's ambitions to history. Four out of ten voters in Scotland have

voted for independence. Figures in today's Labour Party stressed that

No does not mean no change. The leader of the better together

campaign said they would listen to the concerns of those who had not

voted for them. As we celebrate let us also listen. More than 85% of the

Scottish population has voted. People who were disengaged in

politics have turned out in large numbers. And the Prime Minister

promised more devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern

Ireland, but made clear he felt the question of independence had been

decisively answered. Now the debate has been settled for a generation.

As Alex Salmond has read, perhaps for a lifetime. `` has been settled.

We have heard the will of the Scottish people. The first result

set the tone of the night, the yes campaign had been hoping for success

in Clackmannanshire in central Scotland, but the majority of voters

here rejected independence. No, 19,036. The Yes campaigners were

given a boost that soon became a consolation prize when most voters

in Glasgow, the biggest city, opted for an independent Scotland. Yes,

194,000. No, 169,347. They shouted Yes, but had spent the campaign

saying no. There were celebrations when it became clear most voters had

embraced the union. And decided to keep the UK United will stop as we

said, more than three and a half million people voted, an

unprecedented turnout of around 85%, the highest for any UK election

since 1951. How are the people of Scotland feeling today? James Cook

has been out and about finding out. The grey dawn over Edinburgh, a

black day for supporters of independence, they had come here for

a victory party, but it never got started. Instead results from across

the country left them in despair, dismay and disbelief. Scotland has

thrown away a real opportunity here. The chance in a lifetime. They have

thrown it away. I don't think people have thought this through, they have

been scared by better together scares and have not seen the

opportunity. I don't know when we will get the next chance, this is a

really bad day for Scotland. Through the tears there is anger as well,

many blaming the media, in particular the BBC, for the result.

It was always one`sided, how can people possibly make up their mind

if they only get one side of the story? It is disgusting, I am

disgusted with the British state and the media. Their opponents think the

dismay is overdone, suggesting Scotland will now have the best of

both worlds will stop more powers for Edinburgh within the United

Kingdom. I stayed up all night, at least from 3am, to watch. It was

very exciting. There are issues we have got to sort out and hopefully

we can work together. Even Alex Salmond is secretly quite happy he

is getting all of these powers. This fault has opened wounds that will

take time to heal and while one question has been answered, another

remains: What is the settled will of the people in this restless, divided

Scotland? Let's go to the heart of Glasgow and Norman Smith. Norman?

Here in Glasgow you sense the waters are beginning to settle after last

night's vote, everybody seems to have accepted the result and the

political leaders have all agreed that this is now settled for a

generation. Maybe even longer. The reason it is settled, it seems, is

because there was a very clear silent majority, people who did not

come out with posters, put badges on, come and talk to us in the

media, who did go to the polls. In the privacy of the polling booth,

they expressed their support for the union. That silent majority seemed

to have swung it decisively in favour of retaining the union. The

other thing that may have led to the really decisive result is the Labour

vote, which it appears did not fall apart, as was feared earlier in the

campaign, when there was real anxiety the Labour vote might

succumb to Alex Salmond's idea that an independent Scotland might be

more socially progressive and just. We saw a huge fight back in the

latter part of the campaign, Gordon Brown brought to the fore. It seems,

when you look at the results, in places like Clackmannanshire, those

core, traditional Labour areas, that last gasp effort by the Labour Party

appears to have shored up their vote. Those two factors seem to be

the key components that have delivered this quite sizeable and

decisive win for the No side. That said, though the referendum is over,

the aftermath and what follows in terms of devolution, both for

Scotland and the rest of the UK, is only just beginning. It may indeed

be a very complicated and difficult process. Perhaps not devolving

powers to Scotland, but in synchronising that with the

devolution of powers to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Because

there has been a remarkable lack of preparation putting in place the

sort of stepping stones that might lead the way to greater devolution

for the rest of the UK. Yet Mr Cameron says he wants the process to

go ahead with the same timetable as Scottish devolution, meaning he

would want some sort of package to be up there in a White Paper, draft

legislation, by January. That is in order to Leitch `` inordinately

ambitious. Parliament does not come back until January after Christmas,

you are talking about 6`8 weeks to come up with a master plan for the

rest of the UK. And on top of that we know constitutional reform is

very often the graveyard of innumerable politicians. Think of

repeated attempts to carry through house of Lords reform. The

alternative vote. You have to say, the process from here on in looks

very difficult, very complex and it is hard to see how it is going to be

completed on anything like the timetable set out by the Prime

Minister. Norman, thank you, we will pick up on that point, the way

ahead. Alan Teller, writer and commentator and Yes campaigner. And

Sarah, Labour MP on the better together side. We had the Val, the

promise from the three party leaders, and a timetable. `` a

vowel. All of us want plans for the UK. The huge turnout we had in the

vote was a vote for change, while we are committed to devolution for

Scotland, it is part of the UK. Much of what we were campaigning for when

I talk to colleagues in Liverpool, London, there is an aspiration

across the country, Wales, for making devolution embedded and

changing and strengthening it. Double devolution is definitely the

way ahead. Do you see Scotland as a catalyst for change in the rest of

the UK? I was not aware we were campaigning for that at the time, I

thought Scottish independence was the issue. We seem to have done

others favours along the way. Which is a wonderful altruistic Scottish

manner. What I am interested in is not just the devolution of

parliament in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, what will Westminster be

like? What type of parliament? Who will be in it, what part will

Scottish MPs play? What will they discuss? Will it be worth MPs going

there four days a week? If they will only discuss foreign affairs,

defence etc? It sounds more like Chatham house. A lot to be discussed

about what kind of place Westminster will be. There are big ticket

issues. One of our arguments was, why leave the rest of the UK and ask

for a currency union? Those big macroeconomic issues, the pooling

and sharing of resources across the UK, they are fundamental to our

future. It is one of the reasons got voted in such huge numbers to stay

part of the UK. We are proud of the things we have done in the UK and

there is a lot to be proud of, the aid budget, the fact we have worked

together to create shared institutions and values. We want the

best of both words, our own Parliament, our own sake, on all of

the big issues of the day that matter. `` best of both worlds. Is

that not perhaps one of the things, I know from some no voters, they

resented team Westminster and team Scotland, which might have seemed

like a good slogan, but it suggested the 59 MPs that Scotland have at

Westminster have no silly and see, when we had Gordon Brown as Prime

Minister. Peshmerga have no validity. It is not quite true. ``

have no validity. Here we were, given these powers, promised powers

in the last week or so of the campaign. We have been discussing

Scotland's future, the big paper, for virtually a year and a half,

suddenly we get this thrust upon us from three parties who themselves

cannot agree on what these powers should be. This has been a big

problem for the electorate, they have been promised these powers,

they like the sound of them, but have no way of knowing if they will

be delivered and what they are. Lord Smith of Kelvin, who has been tasked

with trying to... Good man. Everybody seems to agree he is a

good man. He has said over the past few weeks we have seen the campaign

generated huge amount of political energy in every part of Scotland.

They have seen the campaign generated huge amount of political

energy in every part of Scotland. There is the main political parties.

My role is to create a process through which we can channel that

energy into real action. It won't be a drawn`out process and he hopes to

provide those unifying recommendations by the 30th of

November. He has made a run for his own back.

Gordon Brown pushed it onto the agenda and said, here is the

timetable, but actually the three main Westminster parties had

published comprehensive plans over six months ago, saying how we wanted

devolution to develop. We need to pull together some of the

differences between us. Powers on welfare, more responsibility on

income tax, on top of the additional tax powers we have already agreed,

and things like devolving housing benefit, devolving to local

authorities. There might be a different kind of team Scotland,

which Lord Smith might pull together? Everybody hoped there

would be one anyway. That was the packed people had made between

themselves, irrespective of how the vote went, Scotland had to bind

together. It will be a tricky thing to do. In appointing Lord Smith, he

is one guy who is capable, he is bright, personable, and somebody who

can get things done on time. From Ed Miliband, he has been saying that he

will not sign up to the Prime Minister's plan to get more power to

the Scottish Parliament at the same time as getting the powerful English

MPs. He says, while accepting the need for reform, he wants a process

of debate on the English question to begin before the general election,

but he has called for a convention to finalise that later, after the

election. It is a big job, modernising Britain, taking it into

the 21st`century. We are indifferent of the queue, a massive democratic

mandate, it was not as small a margin as people thought, and for

all of us, we want to get on with those powers, and the big issue is,

how do we use them? A big campaign for more social justice. We need to

secure the powers, and start using them. That is the point at which we

will hopefully be able to work together and take the team Scotland

approach across all parties. With that news coming in from Ed

Miliband, let's go back to Matthew in when Spitzer `` in Westminster.

We were getting a flavour of the breaking news from Sadiq Khan about

15 or 20 minutes ago. Our political correspondent telling us that Ed

Miliband is signalling he will not sign up to the Prime Minister's plan

to give more powers to the Scottish Parliament at the same time as

trying to agree the new powers for English MPs. The Prime Minister at

the start of the day signalling that the two things would run in tandem.

That is just developing from Ed Miliband. That go back to Downing

Street. We are halfway through the day, and dare I say it, it looks

like it is starting to unravel. We have gone quickly from the three

Westminster parties pulling together, desperate to get the no

vote, and now we have reverted to the bickering. David Cameron has

been under intense pressure from his own backbenchers and from some

normally loyal ministers, upset that so much has been promised to

Scotland and they have not been consulted, so he came up with the

idea of a twin track approach, more powers for Scotland, but we must

look at English votes for English laws. That can be seen as a big trap

set for Ed Miliband, a Labour Party have the most number of Scottish

MPs, they will not want to take powers away from them. Ed Miliband

will not allow this moment to be used for narrow party political

advantage. He is suggesting a constitutional convention. The

timetable is not exactly speedy, he is talking about this happening in

the autumn of 2015, after the general election in May. He is

trying to split these things, he says that the Westminster Parliament

must deliver on its promise to Scotland, regardless of any other

promises that David Cameron may be making to appease his backbenchers.

You talked about the potential trap that the Labour Party see, but there

are dangers both ways for Ed Miliband. If he is seen by Scottish

voters as being a block to the additional powers, perhaps he will

be punished at the general election. Yes, he is in a difficult position,

because of the mathematics in this. He cannot be seen to be blocking

those powers going to Scotland, the Labour Party have not done so well

there in recent years, they need to claw back their heartlands in

Scotland, but he has to be seen to be talking to the English voters as

well, to the millions of Ingush voters that could also propel him

into Downing Street, next May. He wants to point out it was never on

the cards originally, the promises given to Scotland about getting more

powers, that was nothing to do with English votes for English laws, this

has been brought up by Tory MPs and by the Prime Minister. He will say

these are two separate matters. He is not saying he will ignore the

issue, but he wants to defer it until after the next election.

Very interesting. Let's continue the conversation. You were hearing what

I was saying, Ed Miliband trying to separate these two things. Your

immediate thoughts? They do go together. Most MPs in England will

want them to go together, including quite a lot of Labour Party MPs. I

can see it is more difficult for the Labour Party, because their power

base at Westminster is based on the influence that Scottish MPs have on

English affairs. You say it goes together, that we have had a

two`year campaign, new powers offered up in the last week of

campaigning, and the Prime Minister bolting on what he did today to run

in tandem. Is that sensible? Yes, because as one Labour and people did

today, `` one Labour MP put it today, the West Lothian question has

been riding away ever since devolution started in 1997. This

referendum has woken up English constituencies to the strawberry

business that Scottish MPs can vote on schools and hospitals in

constituencies like mine, but I cannot vote in their constituencies,

and those Scottish MPs can't vote on those things in their own

constituencies. This is a taxation, which is why the link is important,

are we to have another Scottish Chancellor resenting a budget to the

House of Commons on which Scottish MPs are going to vote but said the

tax rates of my constituents in England but not in his own

constituency? That is a nonsense. What we want is a fair and equitable

settle for each part of the UK, based on the principle of what is

good enough for Scotland should be the same... I heard you talking

earlier about federalism, how far can you take this? Instead of having

an English Parliament, we make this the English Parliament for two days

of the week, you have only English MPs in this Parliament, dealing with

the English stuff, and on the other two days a week, we have the whole

of the UK, dealing with UK business. I heard you say earlier that could

lead to a First Minister for England and a Prime Minister for the UK.

Does that make practical sense? If it is good enough for Scotland, it

is good enough for England, it is about equalising the settlement. If

we do not get this right now, and have an even settlement across the

UK, we will have another bust up with Alex Salmond in Edinburgh about

this kind of thing, and it will result in another referendum in

Scotland, which will be more difficult to win for the union a

second time. This is a last chance saloon for the union, we won by a

much narrower margin than we thought, he said, we will accept

this at this stage, we are on a journey. He is planning another row

about the powers. If Ed Miliband is going to derail the promises that

were made to transfer more powers to the Scottish Parliament, he is

playing fast and loose with the union. He is talking about doing it

at a separate stage. The change you outlined, that is colossal

constitutionally. Does it make sense to be talking about doing that by

February? What we can do, which is simple, and can be done in this

building by changing our standing orders, the rules of procedure, they

can change those so that, unless an MP is voting on matters that

directly affect his or her own constituency, he does not vote on

those things. That means English MPs would vote on English legislation,

which does not affect Scotland, and vice versa.

The arguments are raging here, plenty more from here later.

We will pick up some of those arguments.

Can I put to you what has been said to me up and down Scotland by people

who voted on either side, in various ways, they said Westminster

represents a failed state. Modern Britain is a failed state and has to

change. You agree it is that dramatic? Yes. Westminster has

failed, not just for Scotland, but also for England. The failure is on

the behalf of both the left and right. The left promised to save the

poor from their lot through the state, but the state is

dysfunctional. The right promised to save everybody from poverty by

creating mass prosperity, and it has only created wealth at the very top.

Neither of the offers of work. Also, there is great confusion, the West

Lothian question and evolution are mutually contradictory. ``

evolution. If we go with the West Lothian question, that extends the

role of Westminster and London. It is the will of MPs, and MPs are

under the control of the party whip. All it would be is extending the

writ of the Prime Minister over England. Parts of England,

Liverpool, Manchester, Sunderland, feel just as distant from

Westminster as those in Scotland do. There is an enormous contradiction

that I do not think has been picked up. The West Lothian question and

the answer proposed by the PM is massive centralisation, but

evolution is localisation. The real answer to the question is mass, city

`based devolution to city regions and two counties, to all parts of

the UK. So that the issues like education, welfare, transport,

police, emergency services should not be decided by Westminster, they

should be decided by places like Greater Manchester, Liverpool city

region, Sheffield city region. Then, you dissolve the issue of the West

Lothian question, because Scottish MPs are not voting on those issues,

it is the local authorities in the city regions. That is a very

interesting point. Can I put to you a point which goes like this, people

in Scotland and the parties in Scotland and civil societies in

Scotland have been thinking about this for decades, so it is possible

to move ahead quickly with a timetable for what Scotland would

like. The difficulty will be what England would like, because you have

just explained that complexity, and also the fact that lots of people in

England have not become engaged in the debate like people in Scotland

have, because they have not had to think about it. What people in

England want is localism, power to shape their incomes for themselves

around education, health, skills. You wander around the north, it

looks abandoned, people are desperate. The cities are empty.

They are constructive for populations two or three times as

big as they currently have. The best people leave for London. The point

about West Lothian is neither here nor there, it is an extension of the

failed model we have. What we believe is full devolution to city

regions in the first instance, and then to the other regions, including

county councils, later. For the first time, they have to have real

and full powers, including rights over taxation, the ability to vary

income tax, to retain property taxes, and to be subject to direct

elections. We believe in elected assemblies. We do not disagree

believe in the London model, because that cannot integrate public

services in London, it is quite ineffective. What we need are the

restoration of citystate. Citystate in our neglected peripheries, and

all the four corners of the kingdom, are the only thing that can turn

around the fortunes of the great English cities. The West Lothian

question is a hidden, covert attempt for further Westminster control, but

nobody wants that in the North of England, it is a nonstarter. The

real way is to give top`down powers to localities, give them full

powers. We believe in the principle of proportional parity, what is

given to Scotland should also be given to city regions. We believe

that if the Democratic, economic and social cancer to the problems that

confront Britain. `` social answer. One of the people who voted yes were

desperate, they said, we have been abandoned by a philosophy that says

we cannot do anything about globalisation, give up. Rightly,

they said, we are not going to suffer. English people feel the

same. What will work for them if the restoration of city state democracy,

not the continued fool of Westminster. `` the continued rule.

Now, we know the result, what happens next?

Christian Fraser. If it had been yes, the business of dividing the UK

would have started this morning, Scotland taking full powers over all

of this lot, tax, pensions, public debt, Social Security, international

relations, defence. It could have issued its own passport, Scotland

could even have changed its own time zone. The people chose Noel and most

of the powers that were to be assumed by Holyrood for the time

being at least will remain in the Prime Minister's hands. It does not

mean a return to the status quo, in the final weeks of the campaign

Better Together promised substantial change and the SNP will certainly

hold them to that commitment. Here are two powers that look set to be

further devolved, tax and social security. The Scottish Government

can vary the level of income tax by up to 3p, though it has never used

these powers. Under the 2012 Scotland act they will have further

scope to adjust rates by 2016. Faced with the threat of independence, the

three main Westminster parties agree to go even further. Tories and Lib

Dems want to give Holyrood complete control in the setting of personal

income tax rates, negotiations to start in the coming weeks. We might

see more powers over VAT on air transport U T, perhaps also the

power to change inheritance tax and capital gains. `` transport duty.

What about Social Security and benefits? Labour would like to

devolve housing benefit policy and the Tories are minded to agree. Alex

Salmond promised with independence the Scottish Government would scrap

the so`called bedroom tax and maybe it will still be the case if the

Scottish Government can fund it. Nicola Sturgeon said this morning

they want more on welfare, new job`creating powers. Expect over the

next few weeks Scottish MPs to press for even more. When is this going to

happen? We can show you Gordon Brown's timeline. This now looks

extremely ambitious, we would have lots of negotiation to October, a

White Paper by the end of November. First draft of the bill around the

end of January, then a second reading of the bill before the end

of this Parliament, which, as I say, looks a type headline in mind of the

dissent that is brewing in Conservative ranks of some Tory

backbenchers want a federal UK with more powers for England. As you have

heard, Labour is not as keen. The beginnings of what could be a huge

constitutional wrangle. Let me leave you with one last thought: It is

this date at the end, anti`17. The Tories proposed referendum on

Europe. What happens if the UK votes to leave? The pro`Europe lobby in

Scotland says it would renew calls for another independence referendum,

in other words, the union might look the same right now, but this is only