Although the Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, and the Prime Minister of Scotland, the leader of the Scottish National Party and the campaign for independence, Alex Salmond, proudly announced in the referendum campaign that they would remain in their positions regardless of the outcome of the referendum, eight hours after the announcement of the results of the referendum, Alex Salmond resigned from the all functions. Salmond's resignation was the first surprise, after Scots voted against independence, outvoting independence by ten percent (55,3 percent against and 44,7 percent in favor). Saying he was "immensely proud" of the campaign that saw just over a million and a half Scots vote for independence, Salmond announced his retirement in November, adding that "the dream of independence must never die".
Another surprise was when Prime Minister David Cameron, the day after the referendum, speaking about the plan to transfer powers to Scotland, raised the issue of transferring greater powers to English MPs. Cameron explained that the transfer of powers to Scotland must be "balanced" with English devolution precisely by giving greater rights to English MPs.
By raising the so-called West Lothian question - whether the members of the House of Commons elected in the constituencies of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, have the right to vote on matters that concern England only - which at no point in the referendum campaign was associated with giving greater powers to Scotland, the prime minister provoked stormy reactions from Scottish independentists, as well as former allies in the "Better Together" campaign.
MISLED AND DECEIVED: Alex Salmond has accused the Conservatives, Labor and Liberal Democrats, saying Scots have been "misled, misled and deceived" by making promised devolution conditional on greater English autonomy. Condemnations also came from the former prime minister of Great Britain, Labor's Gordon Brown, who insisted that the prime minister "must stick to the promises" made a week before the referendum and that he must not condition Scottish autonomy on English devolution.
Although Cameron fiercely defended the issue of English autonomy in an author's article in the "Daily Mail" on Sunday after the referendum, he raised the question of why Scottish MPs should vote on what is taught in English schools, how work is taxed and healthcare is organized, already on Monday the prime minister's cabinet was convinced that the Scottish devolution plan is not conditioned by greater English autonomy, but that both issues should be worked on in parallel.
"There are no buts, no ifs," Cameron said and confirmed that the draft law on the transfer of greater powers to Scotland is expected as early as January. However, it is clear that the final law on the transfer of powers to the Scots will be dealt with by the new government of Great Britain, which will come to power after the parliamentary elections in 2015. The British media write that Cameron opened the "radioactive issue of English devolution".
OCCUPATION OF COMBAT POSITIONS: While Cameron's Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and opposition Labor defended the Union together around the "Better Together" campaign, with the end of the referendum each goes their own way to fight for votes, and the question of Scotland's future has turned into a three-way battle in the days after the referendum the largest British parties in the election race.
Thus, on Monday, David Cameron gathered disgruntled Tories, the same ones who advocate for Britain's exit from the European Union, in the Prime Minister's villa in Cherex, with the intention of discussing the "English question" with them. British analysts interpret the mentioned author's text of the Prime Minister in "Daily Mail" as Cameron's attempt to appease dissatisfied conservatives who are advocating for greater powers of English MPs, but also as an attempt to "tie the hands" of Labor. Namely, the majority of Labor members in the Great Britain Parliament come from Scotland, so the expansion of English autonomy would automatically mean the weakening of Labor in England.
Although the issue of English autonomy is not expected to be decisive for English voters in the upcoming general election, Cameron has directly challenged Labour. "Ed Miliband has a clear challenge ahead of him - either work with us or explain to people why they cannot have the same rights that people in Scotland have been given," Cameron said. On the other hand, Labor leader Ed Miliband accused the prime minister of "dishonourably" by combining the issues of Scottish and English devolution, betraying not only the politicians who expected nothing else from him, but also the citizens.
The question of greater autonomy for England was first raised by Labor in 1977, when the story of greater autonomy for the member states of the Union was actualized. Since then, it has been worked on by the state Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons, which in 2013 proposed the creation of a Great English Commission within Parliament. That issue will now be dealt with by the British Foreign Minister and the leader of the House of Commons, William Hague. He says that devolution issues will be decided after the 2015 election.
However, disgruntled conservatives are not giving up their insistence on greater autonomy and are threatening to do their best to block the passage of the Scottish devolution bill scheduled for January next year if England does not get the same autonomy. "The party cannot wait until the next election, there is a strong feeling that this has to be done as soon as possible and it should not be ignored," Conservative John Redwood said.
Ed Miliband, when pressed to make a statement on English devolution, only said that Labor would "consider all proposals", thus creating the possibility of an election campaign between "English-minded" Conservatives and "anti-English-minded" Labour.
FEDERALIZATION: While there are discussions in Scotland that Salmond could be replaced by Nicola Sturgeon, the current deputy prime minister, Salmond himself does not give up his threats to London. He told the BBC that the referendum was "the best way to independence", but not the only way. "We will fight for greater powers until all power is in Scotland, and then we will be independent in every way but name." Then we can just split up." Former Better Together campaign leader Alistair Darling commented on Salmond's statement, saying: "He's out of his mind."
While the West, led by the European Commission, US President Barack Obama and Australian President Tony Abbott, has applauded Scotland's remaining in the UK, the consequences of the Scottish referendum remain up in the air. Almost half of the Scots voted for independence, thus putting a wind at the back of the Catalan independence movement. The Catalan parliament has passed a law giving lawmakers the right to hold non-binding consultations on independence. While the president of the regional government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, announces that a non-binding vote on independence will be scheduled for November 9, Madrid said that this would violate the Spanish constitution.
And while it is still unclear in what way the British will regulate the autonomy of Scotland and England and move one step closer to the federal arrangement, British analysts point to the German federal arrangement as a possible model, but also to the shaky role of Great Britain in the world while the changes caused by the referendum last. With the UK general election campaign well under way, the fulfillment of the promises made to the Scots cannot realistically be expected until after the May 2015 elections.
