Moving forward

My final post on the Indyref - though I think there will be a lot more to come on the new constitutional settlement.

The great majority of campaigners on both sides put their case in a positive, constructive, and democratic way. The 85% turnout which resulted, and the fact that so many people got involved, were fantastic things.

I thought a really good point was made on the BBC website. They noted that many countries, particularly some of those which don't exactly have strong democratic traditions, were astonished that Britain let Scotland hold this vote, and more astonished when they realised that there was a possibility that it would produce a "Yes" and that that decision would have been respected. Then they added:

'While many countries may have found it incomprehensible that Westminster agreed to let the Scots hold this vote, another former British Ambassador, Sir Stephen Wall, points out that it does show British democracy is alive and well.'

"It is actually pretty remarkable that a state can say 'We are not going to compel part of what has been our country but perhaps didn't want to remain part of our country, we are not going to compel them to do so. We are going to allow the democratic process.'

"To do that, you have to be a country that has enormous confidence in its own democratic institutions."

It is a shame that some people on both sides resported to abuse and bully-boy tactics. Just to give two examples, it was wrong for "Yes" trolls to be nasty about J.K.Rowling and wrong for "No" trolls to be nasty about Andy Murray. Both were entirely entitled to express their views. Neither is a traitor to Scotland or the UK for doing so.

I hope we can keep the positive energy which came out of the campaign going ande move forward in a spirit of reconciliation while putting the nastiness behind us.

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