Yesterday was an important day in the history of Scotland, and the rest of the United Kingdom.After a campaign of around two years, the people of Scotland took to the polling booths to vote on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom or not. Scots living outside of Scotland were not able to vote and non Scots living in Scotland were.
The world I am sure watched. We had various Politicians and former Politicians speaking out - Prime Minister Abbot from Australia, and Former US President Bill Clinton all said what they thought, they of course didn't get a vote.
That task was left to the people of Scotland, including Mrs G senior.
The picture I have shown here is the policy booklet. It is a very hefty book, one now sits on my bookshelf as I used it for some writing fairly recently. The entire e-book can be downloaded from HERE. There is also a Referendum site HERE.
A few weeks ago, Mrs G senior mentioned that she was fed up with the Scotland debate, and even muttered that she might not vote. I was horrified and asked if she really knew what the vote was all about. There was a pause and a degree of hesitation. After a few moments she spoke and made the comment that whilst she was English, she has lived more than half her life in Scotland and did actually feel Scottish therefore she really should vote shouldn't she?
I encouraged her to vote, to exercise the right that many of her ancestors didn't get to do. Voting is something that is democratic process and makes us as women equal amongst men. In some cultures and Countries there is no democracy. I don't know if she voted or not, but the people of Scotland have spoken, in fact I read via Sky News online
"A turnout of 86% is one of the highest in the democratic world for any election or any referendum in history - this has been a triumph for the democratic process and for participation in politics."The polling booths were open until 10pm last night and the vote counting and checking would have gone on well into the night. I awoke this morning and read the outcome of the vote and as I type this the final figures are not in, but the majority have spoken and made the decision to remain part of the United Kingdom.
What this means for Alex Salmond the Scottish MP who lead the debate I don't know. There are promises of more autonomy from London. Decisions about Scotland being made in Scotland, by Scottish ministers. The "Say No" campaign had the slogan, "better together" and depending which side of the debate you were on will depend whether you agree on the sentiment of slogan.
From a historical and logistical purpose just what would have happened had the vote been yes?
Simple... he's resigned.
ReplyDeleteooh, has he? Thanks for that. I had not heard that - a little preoccupied with a large writing project!
DeleteI was following the whole thing with interest as many of my ancestors came from Scotland. Living relatives seemed to be evenly divided between yes and no which was pretty much reflected in the poll. I admit my heart said yes but head no.
ReplyDelete