BBC News Special Scotland Decides

CHEERING No to independence: Scotland makes

its decision and chooses to remain part of the UK. 55% of voters said

no to that question, " should Scotland be an independent country?"

Turnout was at a record high. Alex Salmond urges Yes supporters not to

be downhearted and hailed the record turnout in the referendum as a

triumph of the democratic process. We started well and on the distance,

we have followed short. But let us look at the distance we have

travelled and have confidence that the movement is abroad in Scotland

that will take this nation forward and we shall go forward as one

nation. After the promises made during the campaign, the result of

the referendum needs major changes that the way Scotland, England,

Wales and Northern Ireland are governed. To those who voted for

independence, we hear you. We now have a chance, a great opportunity

to change the way the British people are governed and change it for the

better. I am Gavin Esler in Holyrood on the day Scotland decided its

destiny. We will have all the reaction here, across Scotland and

the rest of the UK. The answer is no but that does not

mean no change. We will look at what happens next.

Hello and a very good morning from Holyrood. The people of Scotland

have spoken. They have voted no to ending more than 300 years of union

in the UK. First Minister Alex Salmond has conceded 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

promised a new and fair devolution settlement for all parts of the UK.

He said millions of voices in England must now be heard. Here are

the results in detail, with all council is now declared. The No

campaign got 55% of the vote against 45% per the Yes camp. Turnout was a

record 86.4%, with over 3.5 million people turning out to cast their

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

although that included Scotland's largest city, Glasgow and a win in

Dundee. All 28 other areas voted no, including Edinburgh, ice and Alex

Salmond's own constituency of Aberdeenshire. Iain Watson watch as

the results came in. -- Fife. They are shouting yes but they have spent

most of this campaign saying no. With all the results now in,

supporters of Better Together celebrated Scotland rejecting

independence. Their mood was in stark contrast to his, the leader of

the Yes campaign, Alex Salmond, about to concede defeat as he left

Aberdeenshire. By the time he had arrived in Edinburgh, the brave face

was back. He decided to accentuate the positive. Thank you to Scotland

for 1.6 million votes for Scottish independence. He called on his

supporters to accept defeat. I accept the verdict of the people. I

call on all of Scotland to follow suit and except the democratic

verdict of the people of Scotland. -- and accept. The leader of the

Better Together campaign declared that a no vote did not mean no

change. 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. In Downing Street, the

Prime Minister promised more devolution for Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland but said 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. There can be no

disputes, no reruns. We have heard the settled will of the Scottish

people. But he suggested as a prize of more devolution for Scotland,

Scottish MPs might have fewer rights at Westminster. We have heard the

voice of Scotland and now the millions of voices of England must

also be heard. The question of English votes for Inga Shores, the

so-called West Lothian question -- English laws, requires a decisive

answer. The first council to declare, Clackmannanshire in central

Scotland, set the tone with a majority rejecting independence. No,

19,036. CHEERING And the voters in Highland, the last

council to give a result, gave the same answer. No, 87,739. The Yes

campaign got the consolation of winning in Glasgow, Scotland's

largest city. Yes, 194,000. No, 169,347. Turnout has been high, from

75% in Glasgow to more than 90% in sterling. There were high spirits at

the No campaign when they heard a majority of voters I decided to

embrace the union and voted for Scotland to stay in the UK.

About 20 minutes ago, the chief accounting officer, Mary Pitcaithly,

delivered the final official declaration.

The total number of votes cast in favour of each answer to the

referendum question, for the whole of Scotland is as follows. Yes,

number of votes, 1,617,989. No, number of votes, 2,001,926. There

were 3429 rejected papers. The reasons for rejection are as

follows. Want of an official Mark, 16 papers. Voting in favour of both

answers, 691 papers. Writing or mark by which the voter could be

identified, 168 papers. An marked or void for uncertainty, 2554 papers.

Mary Pitcaithly, who admitted before the vote she was slightly nervous it

would go without a hitch and indeed it did. As expected, there has been

a huge amount of reaction here in Scotland, across the UK and abroad

to the result. The mayor London, Boris Johnson said the outcome was a

great day for Britain and a fantastic day for British

democracy. Ukip leader Nigel Farage writes to Scottish MPs, asking them

not to vote on English issues, which is something we will hear about a

lot during the course of today. NATO Secretary General said he is

confident the UK will continue to play a leading role in keeping the

alliance strong following the result. So how did we get to this

result? Jeremy Vine has taken a closer look.

Yes on 45%, no of 55%, a clear 10% margin for the No campaign, wider

than anything the polls were telling us in the fortnight running up to

this dramatic day and night of voting and counting. Let me show you

the map of Scotland after this result. We have coloured in the

areas where the No campaign won the vote in red. You can see the four

areas where the Yes campaign was ahead, Glasgow and surrounding

areas, Dundee in the north-east. But largely, the map is coloured in red.

If I take you back to the 32 council areas in which the voting was

counted, you can see it is awash with red with so many councils,

looking for the four green ones and if I order them, we will find them.

Glasgow, the biggest, and North Lanarkshire, another big council. It

was not enough. Edinburgh, five, South Lanarkshire and Aberdeenshire,

the other huge councils went with no. The first results we had came in

on the smaller councils like Clackmannanshire, Shetland, Orkney

all coming in early in the evening and all going with no. It was quite

some time before Dundee city became the first yes. After this

extraordinary night, I can show you a spread of these council areas. No

on this side and yes on this side. It illustrates, we won't call it a

whitewash, this margin, but it is certainly a very convincing victory

for those who argued that Scotland should stay in the UK. Look at these

four councils, the yes votes. Dundee, West Dumbarton share,

Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, the only four out of 32. Rundown with

me, and you can see the other councils, you can see the margins

increasing as you come down here, until we get to the councils which

voted no most decisively. Scottish Borders, Dumfries Galloway,

conservative leaning, on the border with England, Orkney and Shetland,

the island councils. This was convincing, as you can see, in the

end, only four council areas going with the arguments of those who said

Scotland should leave the UK. Let's have a look at what the

newspapers are saying. Most of them, perhaps all the ones I've got, went

to bed before we got the final result but we got a nod as to how it

was going to go. The Scotsman has, "the nation speaks". The Times has,

"no camper digs victory". -- camp predicts victory. This will be one

of the themes of today, "now we must pull together". There will be a

church service of reconciliation over the weekend. " Churchmen and

leaders call for the nation to unite". The interesting thing will

be discussing the future devolution package whether Alex Salmond and the

SNP will be part of it, or if they wait to see what Westminster comes

up with and then agrees or reject it. The Daily Mail has Andy Murray

facing a backlash for supporting Yes. But the main headline is, "a

new dawn for Scotland". The daily record has a picture of a young

child, perhaps not surprisingly, whose future will be determined by

this vote. The daily Star says, "reunited we stand". And the sun has

a man holding a placard saying, "the beginning is night". We're not sure

if he has inside information but Norman Smith might have. Your

thoughts about the result first. I am at the rally that the Labour

Party are holding, a very relieved Labour Party, after their vote held

up much better than expected in some of the West Coast constituencies. Ed

Miliband will be coming in any moment now. APPLAUSE

His message we understand will be recognising that the Scottish people

have voted but also, he will be stressing that in the constitutional

changes that are now going to take place, they must be driven by the

people and not by the politicians. It has to be a grass-roots change.

It cannot be Westminster simply imposing change on the Scottish

people. That will be part of his message today. Presumably also they

will be paying tribute to Gordon Brown's contribution, rather late in

the day, some people thought, but he made what many believe was one of

the greatest beaches of his life in the past week. -- greatest speeches.

There is no doubt that Gordon Brown's intervention was pivotal

insuring up the Labour vote. I went to a few of his rallies and it was

extraordinary, the way he galvanised and motivated Labour Party support.

There was a worry that because Alex Salmond had sought to present the

SNP and independence as opening up the option of a more socially just

Scotland, that might lead to a haemorrhaging in Labour support.

Gordon Brown was brought in in the latter stages of the campaign, and

you sense that really started to reverse it, solidifying the Labour

vote with a much more traditional message. I suspect he will be viewed

as one of the savers of the union, certainly one of the people who

managed to stop many Labour voters going to the SNP. This is Joanna

Lamont. Just to say, firstly, thank you everyone, very much for

everything you have done to get us as secure as a result as we got

yesterday. -- as secure a result. Duminy people to mention but all the

politicians all know how much they did to deliver this result. I

particularly want to thank all of our activists. We have done a

fantastic job over a huge amount of time, under the greatest pressure,

to make sure that our message of why Scotland should vote no got out into

all beginning at ease. I particularly want to thank our young

activists because they were absolutely in the front line. We

know how difficult and divisive this debate was but right through all of

this, you carried yourselves with dignity, pride, passion but never

became partisan. It is that sense of commitment that we need to take

forward into the next few years. I also know this was a huge job for

Scottish Labour. We agreed to work with other parties but much of this

campaign was driven by the Scottish Labour Party. As well as that, we

were blessed that we came together as a Labour family from right across

the UK, to make that case. We were strengthened by the solidarity and

community am across our movement, -- right across our movement, giving

expression to the solidarity we see in the UK. It was our unity and our

strength and I want to thank everyone of you for coming and

supporting us in this huge campaign. Yesterday. Everybody in this country

voted for Scotland. It was not a No win or a Yes loss. It was the

democratically decided position of the people of Scotland that we would

stand united in the United Kingdom. That is what the people have decided

and that is what we need to work with. We know it was a challenge. We

know that people tested these arguments back and forwards, and

when we look at this result, we know that it is time to celebrate the

strength and energy of our campaign. But we also know it is a time of

reflection, because it did divide our communities. There are people

across Scotland now who are hurting, who have fought hard campaign as we

did, but were on a different side. In this coming period, we must

ensure that we conduct this debate in as respectable away as possible

and in a way that reaches out to people, who are asking the same

questions as asked but are coming to a different conclusion. This is a

time to savour but not to be triumphalist. It is a time to

reflect, to lick our wounds, to realise there are challenges but not

to despair, because Scotland has made a decision. I have to also

recognise in this position that we have got to, we should recognise the

achievement of Alex Salmond, his lifetime passion getting to a point

where this decision was made democratically, with a massive

turnout and a massive engagement of the people of Scotland. We know that

he and Nicola Sturgeon carried that campaign and drove that campaign and

we understand that they will be hurting today. I raise to them both

this commitment and this challenge, that in this next period, we need to

come together. We understand, all of us, the importance of change in

Scotland. We only need to look at what happened in Glasgow, to know

that when people were voting yesterday, they were voting for

change. Not just words, not just promises, but change absolutely

delivered. That change will come all the better, all the stronger, if we

draw on the energy and excitement and passion that people displayed

over the last period, regardless of whether they were voting Yes or No.

Our challenge will be to reach out, will be to open out our thinking

beyond ourselves, way beyond politicians to people who understand

the challenges that they face in the real world. This is my absolute

commitment as the Labour Party leader. We are not retreating to

barracks. We are not moving back to speak simply amongst ourselves. You

are not hanging up your trainers, you are out there campaigning,

meeting and critically listening to people about the change that they

desire and the change that we can deliver. That is the challenge for

all of us in the next period, to draw on that energy and make it real

for people. It is fitting, I think, that we are here in the Emirates

building, this fantastic building, created and built by the Labour

Council for the people of Glasgow, but borrowed by the Commonwealth

Games. It is fitting because when six weeks ago, the people of the

world look to Scotland, they saw an open, modern, out with looking,

passionate but not partisan Glasgow and Scotland. We have all been

troubled in the last period, but when the world was looking at

Scotland and looking at Glasgow in the last period, they saw division,

they saw rancour and also energy and hope. They saw all of these things.

The challenge is, if at the time of the Commonwealth Games we were able

to come together, we were able to celebrate and be passionate without

being partisan, we can do that again. We can deliver change, we

will deliver the powers to the Scottish parliament that will give

its strength. But we will also sustain our stability of the United

Kingdom. We also know that politics and Scotland will never be the same

again. We will all be charged with taking the energy of the last

period, and making that political change in the way that we work and

campaign, and the way that we listen to people. This place is a symbol of

a modern, alt would looking Scotland and a country yearning for change.

We are critical in delivering that and I look forward over the next

period, when we have all rested, when we have all recognised that the

decision has been made, how do we deliver the powers but also, how

would we make the Scottish parliament and Scottish politics and

the debates through all the political institutions be about

people's real lives? I know we will rise to that challenge. We have

achieved immense things together. We have won a political argument but we

know there are many still to be persuaded. As we carry ourselves

forward proudly in what is being achieved, we also have the humility

to know that people were responding to a feeling that politics was not

about them. Yesterday, politics was about the people and we must make

sure that the Labour Party drives that forward in the coming period.

Can I thank you all very much for all you have done. We know this is

only the beginning of the next and exciting stage of creating and

delivering change that the people in this country want.

APPLAUSE And with that, can I now ask

Alistair Darling to speak to us. We know the immense challenge he has

risen to two coming to, heading up Better Together, making the case for

Scotland being strong in the United Kingdom and showing that leadership

and the passion and commitment, making that case, working with

others, a living embodiment of what you can do when you cooperate with

others when you have common aims. We are immensely grateful to you for

what you have done and I know how much we all appreciate what you have

delivered for us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you. Last night, we made history. The vote by the Scottish

people last night, to say that our future lies in staying with the

United Kingdom, has settle this question for a generation. All my

adult life, the question has been around us, whether we should break

away, whether we should stay part of the United Kingdom. At 6:10am this

morning, that question was answered emphatically. 2 million people have

voted to say we are Better Together as part of the United Kingdom. We

have changed Scotland and we have changed the United Kingdom and we

must hold on but for the good of the people we represent. People are

desperate for change, change in the constitutional arrangements where we

have a strong Scottish Parliament but also people want to see the

world in which they live change. They want better jobs, they want

more jobs. They want is a key funding for the health service, they

want a better education for their children and above all opportunities

for their children and grandchildren. We believe we can do

that in Scotland but we do it best by working with the rest of the

United Kingdom. It is not just constitutions we should be concerned

with. Although we have made a clear commitment to the people of Scotland

to strengthen the powers of the Scottish Parliament and we must

deliver on that. One of the strength I think of the last couple of years

as Johann has said, is that we have shown that we can work with other

parties, and critically, work with many people of no party at all. One

of the encouraging things about last night was not only the fact that the

turnout was in the high 80s and some parts of Scotland 90% of the

electorate voted, but people were engaged in this argument in a way I

have not seen throughout my political life. It does demonstrate

to me two things. As I say, we can work with other political parties

when we agree with them. We disagree and will have to argue some points

but when we agree we should work with each other. Also, if you have a

popular cause, a good case to make, then you can accuse people which is

something I think all the political parties of this country have to

learn -- end use people. We can ensure that what we saw last night

was not a one-off but perhaps it is the start of invigorating politics,

not just in Scotland but throughout the United Kingdom. That brings me

to the final point I want to make. Yes, we work together and the three

political parties have entered into an agreement to strengthen the

legislation of the Scottish Parliament. We must see that

implemented on the timescale that was agreed. But of course, we do

have differences with the other political parties on many issues. In

just nine months time, this country will go to a general election to

choose a government for the next five years. Every single one of us

need to be out there hungry for that change, showing that we can

demonstrate to people that the change they need for jobs, to make

sure we can improve people's standards of living, that we can

provide the opportunities that we need in the future, all of those

things are absolutely necessary. I'm sure that the enthusiasm that all of

you have shown, not just over the last 24 hours, but frankly over the

last 24 months, you can keep it going for the next nine months, at

least, as we move towards the general election. I believe that not

only can we win the next election, but we will win the next election. I

will play my part in that. I welcome Ed Miliband to speak to us. Thank

you. APPLAUSE

Friends, I want to start off by paying the warmest tribute to

Alistair Darling because after the 2010 general election, he could have

taken the easy way out. He could have decided to take a step

back. He didn't because he cared about his country. He played one of

the most important roles in keeping this country together. Alistair,

thank you. Thank you for what you did.

APPLAUSE And I also want to thank every

member of Team Labour for what they did. I want to thank Johann Lamont

for the brilliant work she has done. I want to thank Margaret Curran,

Anna Sarwar, Jim Murphy, Gordon Brown, Douglas Alexander, every

person who played that role in this campaign, let us applaud them today,

friends. APPLAUSE

There is another set of people I want to thank even more than that

and that is you. This would not have happened without you. Thank you for

the street stalls, thank you for the phone banking. Thank you for the

leaflets. Thank you for pounding the streets in rain and shine. Friends,

you will be able to tell your children and your grandchildren,

that you helped keep our country together, and historic achievement

and let us acknowledge it today. What was this a vote for? This was a

vote for solidarity and social justice. This was a vote for our

National Health Service. This was a vote for our welfare state. This was

a vote for No because we know that we are Better Together. I want to

say something also today, as Alistair acknowledge it and Johann

did as well, to all of the people who voted yes, this Labour Party is

determined to show over the coming years, that we can be the vehicle

for your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations, for a better life for

you, a better life for Scotland and a better life for the whole of the

United Kingdom. Friends. Whether people voted No or Yes in this

referendum, let's be absolutely clear. This was a vote for change.

Change does not end today, change begins today. We know our country

needs to change. We know our country needs to change in the way that it

is governed and in who it is governed for. As Alistair said, we

will deliver on stronger powers, for a stronger Scottish parliament, a

stronger Scotland and I know that all party leaders will meet their

commitments to deliver on that promise.

APPLAUSE And we will also meet the desire for

change. Across England, across Wales, across the whole of the

United Kingdom, devolution is not just a good idea for Scotland and

Wales, it is a good idea for England and indeed Northern Ireland as it

already is as well. It is also the case, friends, that we must meet the

thirst for change in reforming the whole of our country in who it works

for. What I heard from people as I went around this campaign was I

heard people talking about yes, stronger powers for Scotland, but I

also heard people saying, how can my life get better? How can my son or

daughter get a job? How can we deal with in security at work? How can we

build a better future for our children and grandchildren? We know

those were the questions people were asking. They were not just asking

questions about the Constitution and the way our politics works. They

were asking whether our country works for them and they were telling

us, they were not just telling us this in Scotland, they were telling

us throughout our country, that our country only works for a tiny elite

few at the top and this Labour Party knows that must change and we will

change it. APPLAUSE

Friends, the last few weeks have been about keeping our country

together. The last few months, the two years of this campaign, too. The

next eight months are about how we change our country together. You

know, we need a party that can speak for the whole of the UK. For every

party, every part of the UK, every set of people in the UK. There is a

party that can do that, friends. That is the Labour Party. That is

our party. And this is our responsibility in the months ahead.

Let us be able to tell our children, our grandchildren, that we

did not just keep our country together, we changed our country

together. That is our mission. That can be arid achievement. Thank you

so much for what you did. Now let's go on and show the people of the

whole UK how we intend to change our country. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE Ed Miliband at the Labour rally in

Gaza, as Johann Lamont, for Scottish Labour put it, "we have won but we

must not be triumphalist Rosebud. Norman Smith joins us from the

rally. The word that most rock me in all of that was change, change

begins now. This is not the end of a process but the beginning of one.

What did you think? Yes, Gavin, Ed Miliband said there was a first for

change, not just in Scotland but throughout the UK, and not just

constitutional change, he was talking about political and economic

change, in effect, trying to say that Labour is the vehicle for the

kind of change... As Mr Miliband leaves the rally, he was trying to

argue that Labour is the vehicle for much broader change than simply

devolving more powers to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In a

way, it is more ambitious than the already very ambitious statement by

David Cameron. Trying to seize the moment, to position the Labour Party

to ride what Ed Miliband says is a first the change throughout the UK.

-- first for change. -- thirst for change. Let's go to Joanna Gosling

in Aberdeen. What are people saying about the result there? Yell at road

is interesting because everybody went to bed last night with

uncertainty and now they have woken with certainty which has been

welcomed in particular by business leaders in this oil and gas rich

city, one of Scotland's's economic powerhouses. Around 50% of the oil

and gas firms were saying that the impact of the Scottish referendum

was affecting investment and planning to their companies. They

will be glad the uncertainty is over this morning. There are reports that

people were delaying moving house as a result of the uncertainty. Let's

take a closer look at the result in Aberdeen and across Aberdeenshire.

It is a more marked a no vote than the national average. Aberdeen city

voted by 41% for independence, 59% voting no. The turnout was high, as

it was in many areas, 82% in the city. Across Aberdeenshire more

broadly, Alex Salmond's constituency, 40% voted no and 60%

voted -- 40% voted yes and 60% voted no with an 87% turnout. Let's touch

base with a couple of voters, one voting each way so let's see how

they are feeling. Patricia voted no and Paul voted yes. How are you

feeling this morning? Quite relieved. It was a worrying case

that the Yes vote came through. Did you ever waver? No, I was going to

vote no throughout. I felt that we were too weak to stand alone and I

was quite happy to be in a united country. Paul, were you strongly

going to vote yes throughout? I was swaying between most of the time

because I'm from North Wales but I have lived if the nine years and I

have 2 Scottish children. My father-in-law persuaded me to vote

yes. He is living abroad now but I basically gave him my vote. A bit of

peer pressure, family pressure, was that an issue? You also work in the

oil industry. Just up there. In the industry, they were all saying no.

Yesterday, everyone was saying no. I decided to vote yes. Did you discuss

it openly with your colleagues or feel pressure from them? A bit of

pressure but I did not tell them how I was voting. A few of them knew.

What about you? Did it divide friends and family? Were you all

united? Friends and family were all united as No but some work

colleagues were not sure which way to go. I would not say it divide us.

I feel we are sensible enough to respect other people's opinions.

Incredible turnout and a lot of votes don't see that. Have you whizz

beanie gauged with politics? Has this galvanised you? No, I haven't.

I am fiercely Scottish and I would love it if Scotland could have stood

alone but I think it would be too hard. Thank you for joining us.

Reflecting the views of a nation. Overall, the result was 55% in

favour of remaining part of the union. Back to Gavin.

Joanna from Aberdeen. Good morning if you are just joining us. I'm

Gavin Esler, live in Hollywood on the day Scotland decided. CHEERING

No to independence: Scotland makes its decision and chooses to remain

part of the UK. 55% of voters said no to the question, "should Scotland

be an independent country?" Turnout was at a record high. Alex Salmond

urges Yes supporters not to be downhearted and hailed the turnout

as a triumph of the democratic process. Let us not dwell on the

distance we have fallen short. Let us dwell on the distance we have

travelled and have confidence that the movement is abroad in Scotland

that will take this nation forward and we shall go forward as one

nation. Thank you Ray much. -- very much. After the promises made during

the campaign, the result of the referendum means major changes to

the way Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are governed. We

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

British people are governed and change it for the better.

Good morning from Holyrood. This result is something which not only

resounds across Scotland but has major implications for the way all

of us are governed, throughout the UK. That means the debate is already

engaged at Westminster. Matthew Amroliwala joins me from there now.

It is going to be a very busy few months between now and the general

election as people try to make sense of where we go next.

Good morning, it really is, an avalanche of political questions to

consider this morning. Interesting the former cabinet minister, Owen

Paterson, is calling for Parliament to be recalled, just in the last

before while. Let's go straight to Downing Street and our political

correspondence, Vicky Young. You can almost sense the relief coming from

number ten. That's right, the stakes were in friendly high for all of the

Westminster parties but most of all for the man who sat behind this

door, stayed up all night, David Cameron, watching the results coming

in. Of course, the more decisive nature of the result means that he

could come out here, defend the position of holding the referendum

in the first place, that the question was asked and he now says

it has been dealt with, possibly for a generation or a lifetime. Of

course, that journey has finished. He feels he has dealt with the

question but of course, he is immediately suggesting an avalanche

of other questions about what happens to the way the UK is

governed. Yes, he was straight on to that with a blizzard of

constitutional changes ahead. It is almost like opening Pandora's box.

It is and many people have spoken about this as the awakening of the

English question. We have already had the former Cabinet minister,

Owen Paterson, saying that these are rash promises made to Scotland

without Parliament being asked about it. He says they are an fair to the

rest of the UK, particularly England. He wants Parliament to be

recalled immediately to discuss it. It does not look like that will

happen. But we now have another timetable. We knew there would be

one for Scottish devolution. Now William Hague, the Leader of the

Commons, has said those two things will be tied together and they are

trying to sort out what people call the English question, the fact

Scottish MPs can come to Westminster and vote on what happens in English

schools or Welsh schools, even though they themselves cannot vote

in what happens in their own Scottish schools. Many ministers I

have spoken to now say that this is going to have to be dealt with. But

as you say, it is a very complicated thing. What we are getting now is

certainly the Conservatives and Ukip, who are snapping at their

heels, as we heard from Nigel Farage this morning, both of them vying to

be the voice of England. That sets up my next guest worry well, talking

about Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, who is with me

this morning Westminster. Good morning. Your thoughts on the

decisive vote last night? I'm pleased, despite the bungling

attempts of the Westminster class to put everybody fit in Scotland, at

the last minute, with a few panic measures, they managed to get a no

vote. I am pleased the UK has held together. Mr Cameron will be very

pleased because otherwise he would have been forced to resign. Do you

support the promises made late in the day, in the final week by the

three leaders? No, I don't. We should have offered devo-max, access

to the devolution genie was out of the bottle and then talking about

the new constitution settlement to the entire UK. Are you against the

timing of the announcement or the giving of more powers? We heard from

Vicky Young that Owen Paterson's description of rash promises made at

the last moment. They were rash promises in one sense because what

the three leaders said was that they would continue with the Barnett

formula, by which money is divvied up among the citizens of the UK. A

lot more money is spent per head in Scotland than in England. I don't

think that promise can hold. When it comes to giving more powers to

Scotland, nobody for the last 18 years has thought about England.

England has been quiet for a long time and now deserves a voice. The

Prime Minister addressed it right there in Downing Street, saying

English voices need to be heard as part of the equation and the

constitutional changes. What needs to happen, do you think? We need to

have a constitutional convention, established as quickly as possible,

so we have firm proposals are moving towards a federal UK, where everyone

feels they have a fair voice and they are paying their fair share. Be

more specific. This is a vexed question. It has puzzled politicians

the decades. -- for decades. The timetable outlined by David Cameron

is very fast to get the answers. It shows you how panicked he was. The

question has not even been debated in Cabinet, William Hague admitted

that this morning. It is playing catch up at the last minute. Mr

Cameron is very scared of how English voters will see the promises

made towards the end of the campaign. One way to start the

process is if all 59 Scottish MP said today that in the interests of

making it a very union they would promise between now and the next

election not to take part in debates on votes on issues which affect only

England. You wrote a letter and sent it to MPs this morning. In terms of

the politics of all of that, would it not be a mistake if part of the

thinking here was in one sense a trap for Labour? They have large

representation from Scotland in terms of Westminster MPs. I

understand and Ed Miliband has said that all parts of the UK must have

devolution. That is fine, but will he promised that his 41 Scottish MPs

will not take part in debates and vote in the House of Commons between

now and the next general election? Unless the Labour Party are prepared

to do that, frankly, those who want a fair, proper English voice will

not take him seriously. What about the way the whole campaign

absolutely lit up? You have spoken for years about disengagement. We

saw rigs actually the opposite, there, didn't we? -- exactly the

opposite. You broke it goes to show that if people can see elections

actually matter and they can see different arguments on both sides,

they will turn up to vote. One reason is for the falling turnout is

that the main parties have become so similar in the last couple of

decades and many of the big decisions that affect the economy

and our lives are made somewhere else. Is this the end of it? Alex

Salmond acknowledged the vote in his acceptance speech, but stared at

this stage, an interesting flaws, people have rejected independence.

The if you believe in separation, you will believe in it until the day

you die, I suppose. In his case, I have no doubt of that. But the idea

of Scottish separation has effectively gone for a generation.

We have an urgent job to sort out a fair constitutional framework. Mr

Cameron saying William Hague is in charge of a committee who will give

a report in a few weeks is not good enough. Let's have an open,

constitutional convention, do it properly. Thank you for joining us.

Just a flavour of what has been opened up from what we have heard

already from the Prime Minister. 20 more from here coming up. Back to

Gavin. Indeed, and for a bit more of a

flavour of what has been opened up, we heard from Owen Paterson and we

have just heard from Nigel Farage, another Conservative backbencher,

surge of Howarth, has tweeted, " major constitutional changes must

not be rushed, because appeasing Scottish nationalism has brought us

to the brink of disaster". People across Scotland have been

reacting to the news. Here is what some workers in Glasgow had to say.

I think it has to be accepted. Personally, I was a Yes but we have

to embrace it, indigenous and new citizens of Scotland, take it

together and go forward. There will be change. There has got to be

change management handled carefully by Westminster and interact with

that and go forward into Scotland and re-industrialise Scotland,

perhaps? That could be on the agenda. Delighted we have kept the

UK and delighted we have kept the pound. That is the most important

thing, the most important thing for business anyway? Was that your main

concern, the main thing that informed your decision to vote No?

It was, yes. Mostly from customers, the feedback and suppliers, what

they were wanting. They were wanting to know how they would get paid. We

did not know what the currency was. A little bit disappointed because I

am a yes vote and I think Scotland should be governed by ourselves. We

have the resources. I do not know why the majority of people have not

voted yes. I am disappointed. Common sense has prevailed. Personally, I

do not think there is any need to break up the union. For Alex Salmond

to avoid every major question, that pertains to our future and not

answer it properly, ceases to amaze me.

The thoughts of some workers in Glasgow. It has been a long

campaign. It has gone on to two years. For me, the most striking

comment of the campaign was a man in Shetland who when I asked him whose

oil is it? He said it was the oil companies' oil. He was making the

point that world economic factors and globalisation play a really big

part in his judgement at least and perhaps the judgement of many other

people in Scotland. For some thoughts about how this is going

down in the business community, we can go to Simon Jack in the city of

London. Thank you. As expected, the

financial markets have given the result and the Sterling is up, the

pound is up, the stock market is up. You can tell the story of the night

by looking at the value of the pound. That Spike was the YouGov

poll coming out at ten o'clock last night. This bike was when

Clackmannanshire voted No. It was thought it could have gone either

way. -- this Spike. The contingency plans that RBS had put in place to

move south of the border, they can go in the bin now. The RBS price is

up 4%, a big jump on opening this morning. We can get the thoughts of

Alec Stewart, a fund manager here at Schroders. A lot of uncertainty has

been swept away. -- Alex Stewart. There is still some political

uncertainty under devolution and what form that will take, but it is

not the break-up of the UK that we are talking about which would have

been much more difficult to quantify. This Pandora's box that

Matthew was referring to all of devolution and a lot of regions

wanting their share of extra powers, does that matter to the UK as a

whole or as long as the union stays together, it does not matter and the

entirety stays the same? It matters in some ways. We have a general

election coming up next year. We are not talking about big questions on

currency, EU membership and so on at this stage and the potential of a

split up of a country which would have been hard to quantify. On the

EU membership idea, some people thought if it was a Yes vote, it

would have been more likely that the UK would have exited the European

Union. What do you think? That was our view that it would have been

more likely that the Conservatives would have got in and they would

have offered a referendum. This would be bad for UKIP as well. The

governor of the Bank of England has said in his previous report, he

pointed to the referendum and said one of the external shocks which

could have happened before raising interest rates. What is the path for

him? We believe interest rates will rise in the first half of next

year. The Bank of England have said they are looking at it. They said

uncertainty over the Scottish referendum was one reason for

potentially holding back at the moment. It is not just here in the

UK that this result is having resonance, also Spanish bonds. There

are a lot of separatist movements around the world who were looking at

this as a blueprint to look at how separatist forces in their own

country would work. Absolutely. The Spanish were saying that any surge

in independence would be bad for Europe and we have seen the rallying

in Spanish bonds. The stock market is up two thirds of a percent.

Simon, thank you. There has also been some reaction from one of the

most respected is Miss figures in Scotland, Sir Ian Wood, who made an

intervention fairly late in the campaign to say there was perhaps

not as much oil as some on the Yes side were claiming -- the most

respected figures. He said: I strongly believe this is in the

strongest interests of our children and grandchildren. The UK government

must now deliver on their undertakings on the wider devolved

responsibilities to the Scottish Parliament and elsewhere.

For more business reaction, I'm joined by Sir Mike Rake of the CBI

in central London. How do think this will go down across the UK? I think

businesses are really happy that this has occurred. Common sense has

asserted itself and we will remain the single market, one currency, one

set of principles. Are you concerned that the changes that go ahead means

that the government will be involved in all kinds of constitutional

things internally and then thinking perhaps about another referendum and

where the UK should remain in the European Union? The most important

thing is focusing to make sure this recovery is started and is

accompanied by increased investment, productivity and wages.

We do not want to see too much destruction for political reasons

but we understand the devolution debate has to take place. We support

local city initiatives and we think if there is to be a referendum on

the European Union, we need to be clear up front to make sure it is a

referendum based on the facts, the issues, the importance of the

European Union to jobs and investment in this country.

Underpinning everything you have been saying and businesses have been

saying up and down the country, they do not like uncertainty. The

uncertainties we think were being understated in terms of the costs,

the length of time it would take to get resolution on the currency,

membership of the European Union, disruption to trade, pensions and

many other schemes and systems. That was causing real concern to

business. We felt in the CBI that many of the benefits were being

overstated in terms of the economy, jobs and growth. Thank you for

joining us. Nick Witchel is at Balmoral for us.

That is where the Queen is currently staying. I understand some people

were up all night and having a look at what was on the television? I can

certainly tell you that many of her senior officials were up all night

and one must assume that they would have been briefing her and keeping

her fully informed of the progress and the results. I think in common

with many people in these parts, she will be feeling pleased that it is

all over. Privately, I'm sure she's feeling enormous relief that

Scotland has taken the decision that it has. I think she would have felt

a profound sadness of the United Kingdom had broken up. She might

have found that rather difficult to have coped with but she would have

accepted the result. In terms of today, she and her officials would

want the politicians to say what they want to say. They want the dust

to settle but we do expect later today, perhaps this afternoon, a

short written statement that logically I imagine will focus on

the fact this has been Scotland's position, a decision for the people

of Scotland as the Palace has said several times, but perhaps logically

expressing the hope that after this divisive campaign, that Scotland

will be allowed to move on and move beyond this decision in the best

interests of Scotland. It was interesting that a sentence or even

half a sentence uttered by Her Majesty the Queen at church that

effectively people should vote sensibly, was interpreted up and

down this country in all kinds of different ways? Yes, I think a great

deal of thought went into that one sentence where she urged people to

think very carefully about the future. I do say that there may have

been some embers of her family who had been urging her to say more. She

has a very shrewd sense of where the line is, beyond which it is improper

and unacceptable for a constitutional monarch who is above

the political fray to go. I think some thought went into what she did

say, a politically neutral remark which was uttered, but did catch

people's imagination but neither side felt affronted by. That was her

only observation, her only contribution in the days leading up

to this vote. Thank you for joining us from Balmoral.

With all the results declared and Scotland rejecting independence, we

are going to have a look back now at the highs and lows of a very

interesting night, and night which will go down in history.

It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take Scotland's

future into Scotland's hands. Yes, 194,000 779.

CHEERING The BBC's forecast now is that

Scotland has voted No to independence. No, 194,000... 638.

Scotland has by majority, decided not at this stage, to become an

independent country. I accept that verdict of the people.

People who were disengaged from politics have turned out in large

numbers. Just as the people of Scotland will

have more power over their affairs, so it follows that the people of

England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say