UK: SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE/MORNING VOTING Scots start voting in independence referendum

Record ID: 572276

  • Title: UK: SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE/MORNING VOTING Scots start voting in independence referendum
  • Date: 18th September 2014
  • Summary: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UK (SEPTEMBER 18, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION IN CENTRAL EDINBURGH POSTER ON LAMPPOST READING 'SCOTLAND DECIDES: THE BEST COVERAGE' SIGN FOR POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF FIRST VOTERS ENTERING POLLING STATION YES ACTIVISTS GETTING OUT OF CAR AND PLACING YES SANDWICH BOARD NEXT TO POLLING STATION MORE OF YES SIGN NO ACTIVISTS PLACING NO SANDWICH BOARD NEXT TO POLLING STATION VOTER WALKING OUT OF POLLING STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) YES VOTER ANDREW BURNETT, SAYING: "I'm going to vote Yes, I've come from a position of being a No voter but the shift to Yes has come through hope for the future, through the very real risk as I see it of staying where we are and the rise of, the rise of the right in the rest of the UK is quite disturbing. My daughter has got multiple nationalities and I'd like her to grow up in a fair and just society." (SOUNDBITE) (English) YES VOTER LISA CLARK, SAYING: "I voted Yes and I voted Yes because I very much want an independent Scotland. I want a different kind of Scotland, a socially just Scotland. A Scotland with no, no significant gap between the rich and the poor, I want a Scotland very much more on the Scandinavian model. I want a Scotland that doesn't have Trident, I want a Scotland that doesn't get involved in illegal wars, I want a Scotland that doesn't have benefits inequities like the bedroom tax, that doesn't have the level of sanctions that people are struggling with. Um, I want a different kind of Scotland."
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA98DQPJQQNVMG04O8N8UQ1K3S4
  • Story Text: People in Scotland began voting on Thursday (September 18) in a referendum on whether the country should become independent or stay part of the United Kingdom.
    After an intense final day of campaigning, voters turned up at polling stations in schools and halls as soon they opened at 0700 BST (0600GMT) on a day that will decide the fate of a 307-year-old union.
    In Glasgow, deputy leader of the secessionist Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon, arrived at Broomhouse Community Hall to cast her vote. With a mix of shrewd calculation and nationalist passion, SNP leader Alex Salmond has hauled the "Yes" campaign from far behind to within a few percentage points of winning independence for Scotland.
    At the Lothian Chambers polling station in central Edinburgh the first handful of people willing to speak said they voted Yes.
    "I've come from a position of being a No voter but the shift to Yes has come through hope for the future, through the very real risk as I see it of staying where we are, and the rise of the right in the rest of the UK is quite disturbing. My daughter has got multiple nationalities and I'd like her to grow up in a fair and just society," said Andrew Burnett, a marketing worker before heading into the polling station.
    "I voted Yes because I very much want an independent Scotland. I want a different kind of Scotland, a socially just Scotland. A Scotland with no significant gap between the rich and the poor," added Lisa Clark, a church worker.
    The front pages of Scottish newspapers reminded their readers of the momentous nature of the poll. The Scotsman heralded polling day as a "Day of Destiny", while the Daily Record advised its readers to "choose well".
    Some of the British newspapers implored the Scots not to tear up the union. "Don't leave us this way" was the headline in the Daily Mirror, while the Daily Express asked: "Don't let the sun set on our union".
    Four opinion polls on the eve of the vote showed support for independence at 48 percent compared with 52 percent for the union but a fifth showed it even closer at 49 to 51 percent.
    The surveys also showed as many as 600,000 voters out of 5.3 million remained undecided with just hours to go before the polling stations opened.
    Electoral officials said the result of the vote is expected by breakfast time on Friday (September 19) morning.
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