Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom — along with England, Wales and Northern Ireland — following a historic referendum vote. The union of two warring nations, crafted in May 1707 through resolutions by the parliaments of England and Scotland, has managed to survive its biggest challenge in its history. By 55 per cent to 45 per cent, a majority of voters rejected the possibility of Scotland breaking away and becoming an independent nation. Welcoming the decision, a relieved UK prime minister David Cameron said: “A new and fair settlement will be created for Scotland and for the other countries of the United Kingdom.”
However, the UK is unlikely to just return to business as usual. As a result of the referendum, the UK will probably become a more federal and decentralised polity than it is today. There will be plenty of infighting before we see exactly how much more so. Scotland may not become independent, but Britain may never be the same again. In their efforts to persuade the Scots to vote “no,” leaders of all three major British political parties had promised greater devolution of power to Scotland. It may not be possible to give much greater autonomy to Scotland without also devolving greater authority to local and regional governments in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
There is much disagreement about exactly how much devolution should occur and to whom. If the Scots don’t get as much devolution as they want, they might feel that they were fooled into voting “no” and demand another independence referendum. One of the promises made by the party leaders is a commitment to extending the “Barnett formula” for the distribution of central government funds, under which Scotland gets much more money per capita than the rest of the UK. But that is likely to prove very unpopular in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Even Lord Barnett himself has denounced the idea.