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 A vote for the 307-year union is a relief for millions of Britons
including Prime Minister David Cameron, whose job was on the line,
as well as allies across the world who were horrified at the
prospect of the United Kingdom's separation.
Opponents of independence won 55 percent of the vote while
separatists won 45 percent with all 3.6 million votes - a record 85
percent turnout - counted. But leaders from across the United
Kingdom said the union must change if it is to endure.
Unionists cheered, kissed and drank wine and beer in Glasgow,
Scotland's biggest city where secessionists won, while nationalist
leader Alex Salmond conceded defeat in Edinburgh, which supported
the United Kingdom.
Cameron said the question of Scottish independence had been settled
for a generation.
"There can be no disputes, no re-runs, we have heard the settled
will of the Scottish people," he said outside his official London
residence in Downing Street.
Queen Elizabeth II, who is at her Scottish castle in Balmoral, is
expected to make a rare comment on Friday.
 The campaign for independence had electrified this country of 5.3
million but also divided the passions of friends and families from
the remote Scottish islands of the Atlantic to the tough city
estates of Glasgow.
Sterling strengthened sharply against the dollar and the euro on the
result. British bonds and shares rose while major British companies
with Scottish exposure welcomed the decision.
Royal Bank of Scotland said it had scrapped plans to move its
registered office to England.
Speaking in front of an image of a giant white on blue Scottish
flag, Salmond laced his admission of defeat with a warning to
British politicians in London that they must respect their last
minute promise of more powers for Scotland.
"Scotland has by a majority decided not, at this stage, to become an
independent country. I accept that verdict of the people and I call
on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic
verdict of the people of Scotland," Salmond said.
"Scotland will expect these to be honored in rapid course," said
Scotland's first minister before walking off the stage, his head
bowed.
FEDERAL KINGDOM?
Opinion polls showing a surge in Scottish separatist support in the
two weeks leading up to the Sept. 18 vote prompted a rushed British
pledge to grant more powers to Scotland, a step that has angered
some English lawmakers in Westminster.
In an effort to deflate that anger, Cameron vowed to forge a new
constitutional settlement that would grant Scotland the promised
powers but also give greater control to England, Wales and Northern
Ireland.
"Just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish parliament on
their issues of tax, spending and welfare, so too England, as well
as Wales and Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these
issues," Cameron said.
"All this must take place, in tandem with and at the same pace as
the settlement for Scotland."
Cast as a constitutional revolution, commentators said Cameron's
pledge of more powers to the constituent parts of the United Kingdom
was aimed at sedating 'the slumbering beast of English nationalism'.
Cameron's Conservatives have seen members seep towards the United
Kingdom Independence Party, an anti-European Union party, ahead of a
referendum on EU membership that Cameron has promised by the end of
2017 if he wins the 2015 election.
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"I'm not convinced by what I've heard this morning from Mr Cameron
this morning that he seriously wants to address that," UKIP leader
Nigel Farage said.
Any British vote to leave the EU would be likely to prompt calls
from Scottish nationalists for another independence vote. UK PLC
Seeking to tap into a cocktail of historical rivalry, opposing
political tastes and a perception that London has mismanaged
Scotland, nationalists said Scots, not London, should rule Scotland
to build a wealthier and fairer country.
Though the nationalists won Glasgow, they failed to live up to
opinion polls before the vote which forecast that the United
Kingdom's fate was balanced on a knife edge.
"We have chosen unity over division, and positive change rather than
needless separation,” Alistair Darling, head of the "Better
Together" campaign.
The vote prevents 59-year-old Salmond from winning his dream of an
independent Scotland, a goal for which he has worked with a mix of
shrewd calculation and nationalist passion for his entire adult
life.
Unionists had warned independence would diminish the United
Kingdom's standing in the world and sow financial, economic and
political uncertainty during months of negotiations over a messy
divorce.
U.S. President Barack Obama and European Union leaders had made
clear they wanted the United Kingdom to stay together.
In Brussels, the European Commission said the Scottish vote was good
for a "united, open and stronger Europe" while NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the news that the United
Kingdom would stay together.
Belgian EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, whose native Flanders
region is in thrall to a growing nationalist movement, said a
Scottish split would have been "cataclysmic" for Europe, triggering
a domino effect across the continent.
While Scottish leaders promised to work together, Scots remained
divided in joy and disappointment over the fate of their country.
"Absolutely amazing," said unionist campaigner Stephen Stanners.
"They shouted the loudest, so it made it seem like a majority. But
we’re obviously the silent dignified majority. And we pushed it
through. And it just shows that Scotland loves the UK and the UK
loves Scotland."
But Calum Martin, a 21 year-old history student at Edinburgh
University who voted for independence said the question of secession
would return.
"It’s a disappointing result but it sets the stage for going
forward," Martin said. "As long as there are flaws, there will be
calls for independence. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle
once it’s out."
(Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn, Kate Holton, William
Schomberg and David Milliken in London. Writing by Guy
Faulconbridge. Editing by Mike Peacock)
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