UNITED KINGDOM: SCOTTISH VOTERS DELIVER THREE-TO-ONE MAJORITY IN FAVOUR OF THEIR OWN PARLIAMENT

Record ID: 328602

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: SCOTTISH VOTERS DELIVER THREE-TO-ONE MAJORITY IN FAVOUR OF THEIR OWN PARLIAMENT
  • Date: 12th September 1997
  • Summary: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SEPTEMBER 11, 1997) AT NIGHT: 1. VARIOUS VIEWS OF EDINBURGH AT NIGHT (3 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SV/TRACK BALLOT PAPERS ARRIVING TO BE COUNTED (3 SHOTS) 0.37 3. WS INTERIOR OF COUNTING HALL 0.41 4. VARIOUS OF BALLOT PAPERS BEING SORTED AND COUNTED (3 SHOTS) 0.57 (SEPTEMBER 12, 1997) 5. VARIOUS OFFICIALS RESULTS BEING READ OUT/ LARGE SCREEN SHOWING RESULT (4 SHOTS) 1.35 6. SCU SCOTTISH NATIONALIST PARTY LEADER ALEC SALMOND SAYING HE IS "ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED" BY THE RESULT (ENGLISH) 1.50 7. SV "YES, YES" VOTERS CELEBRATING 2.00 8. WS VOTERS SINGING 2.11 9. SV MAN SAYING "TONIGHT HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS NIGHT FOR SCOTLAND AND THE LABOUR PARTY. THIS IS LIKE MAY THE FIRST WITH ICING ON THE CAKE" (ENGLISH) 2.20 10. SV MAN SAYING "IT MEANS THAT WE CAN FINALLY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OURSELVES, WE CAN MAKE DECISIONS FOR OURSELVES. WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE ELSE TO BLAME".(ENGLISH) 2.28 11. SV SCOTTISH SECRETARY DONALD DEWAR SAYING "IT'S A TREMENDOUS RESULT, WE HAVE OUT-PERFORMED THE POLLS AND THE EXPECTATIONS OF EVERYONE BUT THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, THEY ARE THE HEROES, THEY HAVE DONE THE BUSINESS AND THEY HAVE GIVEN US THE MORAL AUTHORITY AND THE IMPETUS ... AND THE ENDORSEMENT FOR THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT'S PLAN FOR SCOTLAND. WHICH WILL NOW ALLOW US TO PUSH THROUGH THIS UNFINISHED BUSINESS 2.49 DAY SHOTS: 12. SV/SCU NEWSPAPER HEADLINES (2 SHOTS) 2.58 13. SLV/WS BLAIR PLUS DEWAR AT PODIUM/ CROWD APPLAUDING (2 SHOTS) 3.07 14. SV BRITISH PRIME MINSTER TONY BLAIR SAYS STEP FORWARD IN MODERNISING THE UNITED KINGDOM, BRINGING GOVERNMENT CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE. THAT THERE IS A THIRD WAY BETWEEN SEPARATION AND NO CHANGE, THAT THERE IS A BETTER, MODERN WAY FORWARD (ENGLISH) 3.54 15. WIDE OF PLATFORM, DEWAR AND BLAIR WAVING TO CROWD 3.58 16. SLV/SV MAN SAYING: "IT'S JUST A GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE THE BEST MOMENT, THE LAST PARLIAMENT WAS 299 YEARS AGO, THAT IT IS A PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION, THE PEOPLE DID IT. (2 SHOTS) 4.21 17. SLV MAN WAVING FLAG OF ST ANDREW, SCOTTISH FLAG 4.27 Initials S3,P3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 27th September 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA24V1IH4BD92G2NPK9LNPWU6OT
  • Story Text: INTRO: Scottish voters have delivered a crushing three-to-one majority in favour of a Labour government plan to give their country its own parliament after nearly 300 years of rule from London.

    Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar, chief architect of the devolution plan said on Friday (September 12) morning:"It's a tremendous result.We have out-performed the polls and the expectations of everyone".

    "A Nation Again" declared the Scotsman newspaper's headline on Friday after final results from voting in Thursday's referendum showed 74.3 percent in favour of setting up a new parliament with 25.3 percent against.

    On a second ballot question of whether the parliament should be granted tax-varying powers, 63.5 percent were in favour and 36.5 percent against.Two voting districts voted narrowly against the second proposal.

    Prime Minister Tony Blair, greeted in Edinburgh by an all-women drum band, said: "This is a good day for Scotland and it is a good day for Britain and the United Kingdom." Hundreds of people crowded into parliament square, waving blue and white Scottish flags and the red and yellow banners of the "Yes, Yes" campaign.

    Blair told cheering supporters who hugged each other in congratulation: "The era of big centralised government is over." His Labour government had made Scottish devolution central to its plans for constitutional reform.

    As the results came in, Scots across the country celebrated at referendum parties, cheering and dancing Scottish jigs.

    In the centre of Edinburgh, hundreds of people flocked to Calton Hill where a vigil demanding a Scottish parliament has been held since 1992, when a general election delivered a fourth consecutive Conservative government opposed to devolution.

    Voter turnout was 61.5 percent, higher than many had expected after campaigning for the referendum was suspended last week as a mark of respect following the death of Princess Diana.

    It was lower than in an earlier Scottish referendum in 1979, when the majority in favour was too small for devolution to go ahead.

    The sense of history was heightened by the timing of the vote on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, when forces led by William Wallace -- "Braveheart" in the film starring Mel Gibson -- routed the English.

    The hit film inspired a surge of Scottish nationalism last year which swelled the "Yes" vote.

    Four million Scots were eligible to vote in the referendum.

    Scotland has been ruled from London since 1707, but has kept many of the characteristics of a separate state with its own legal and education systems.

    Nevertheless, there have been increasing calls for more autonomy over the past two decades.

    Scotland is traditionally a Labour stronghold and there was deep resentment during the Conservatives' 18 years in power, that Scots were ruled by a government they did not elect.

    The new Scottish parliament will be elected on the basis of proportional representation, unlike the first-past-the-post system used in elections to the London parliament.

    The Conservatives warned that the vote could be the first step on the way to the breakup of the union.Their leader William Hague called it "a sad day for the United Kingdom".

    The new parliament will have powers over education, health, the environment, agriculture and the arts.

    The London parliament will retain control over Scotland's defence, foreign and financial affairs and employment and welfare.

    The first elections to the parliament are due in 1999.

    Wales will also vote in a referendum next week on whether to set up its own assembly, but with fewer powers than the proposed Scottish one.
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