Cameron speaks to Iran as he prepares for air strikes against Islamic State “In a major diplomatic gamble, the Prime Minister will hold talks with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in New York to discuss co-operation over the escalating crisis in neighbouring Iraq. … The talks, due to take place at the United Nations today, are […]
England 1) Commons vote proposed on excluding Scottish MPs from English business “David Cameron will tell MPs that he wants to hold a vote on English home rule before the next election, cornering Ed Miliband as the leaders stave off accusations of backtracking over devolution. The prime minister will honour his pledge to give greater […]
Cameron challenges Labour over English votes… “Why should Scottish MPs be able to vote on what is taught in English schools, to reduce spending on English hospitals, or even vary English or Welsh income taxes, when under the new settlement English or Welsh MPs would have no say in such matters in Scotland? It is […]
Scotland 1) Salmond to stand down as First Minister “Alex Salmond is to step down as Scottish first minister after voters rejected independence. He will also resign as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which he has led for a total of 20 years. Scottish voters backed the country staying in the UK by […]
Scotland decides 1) No wins by 55.3 per cent to 44.7 “Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence. … With the results in from all 32 council areas, the ‘No’ side polled 2,001,926, votes to 1,617,989 for ‘Yes’. … The result became a mathematical certainty at 06:08, as […]
Final poll in Scottish referendum puts No on 52 per cent “The survival of the United Kingdom was hanging by a thread last night after the final Times poll in the referendum campaign put the nationalists only two points from victory. The large YouGov poll put the No campaign to keep the Union on 52 […]
Scotland 1) Tories turn on Cameron over his promises to Scottish voters… “A pledge by David Cameron to maintain Scotland’s controversial public spending formula was yesterday branded by Conservative MPs as a ‘last-minute bribe’. … Senior Tories warned the Prime Minister faces a ‘deferred bloodbath’ over the inducements offered to the Scots to persuade them […]
Scotland 1) Final plea from Cameron: “I won’t be here forever” “David Cameron begged the people of Scotland not to leave the United Kingdom as he promised them that he “won’t be here forever”. In a final plea before Thursday’s referendum, the Prime Minister warned Scottish voters in a speech in Aberdeen that separation would […]
Scotland 1) The Queen speaks out: ‘Think very carefully’ ‘The Queen yesterday issued an extraordinary call for caution in the Scottish independence referendum, urging Scots to consider ‘carefully’ whether they want to leave the United Kingdom. In the strongest indication yet that Her Majesty wants the Union to stay together, she told a member of […]
Cameron condemns the murder of Haines “The murder of David Haines was an ‘act of pure evil’, David Cameron has said after the release of a video appearing to show the UK hostage’s beheading. The 44-year-old aid worker, from Perth, was kidnapped in Syria in 2013. He was being held by Islamic State militants who […]
The Union 1) Separatist Sillars promises “day of reckoning” for pro-Union businesses “SNP grandee Jim Sillars lashed out after a host of banks, finance firms, supermarkets and retail giants warned of the dangers of independence, in the case of a ‘Yes’ vote on Thursday. Mr Sillars retaliated by saying that oil giant BP would be […]
Scotland Decides 1) Its women swing against Salmond “Only six days before Scotland’s referendum, a YouGov poll for The Times found that 52 per cent of voters wanted to remain a part of the UK, excluding “don’t knows” and non-voters, while 48 per cent said that they would choose independence. This is a reversal of […]
Scotland 1) Cameron: Don’t destroy the Union to kick ‘effing Tories’… ‘David Cameron has pledged to stay on as Prime Minister if Scotland becomes independent but urged voters not to break up the union just to give the “effing Tories a kick”. In an passionate address in Edinburgh, Mr Cameron said that he will remain […]
Scotland 1) “Our Union is precious.” Cameron’s appeal to Scottish voters… “When the world wanted representation, we gave them democracy. When they wanted progress, we had the Scottish enlightenment and the industrial revolution. … When slavery bound innocent people, we abolished it; when fascism threatened freedom, we defeated it. A hundred years ago, our boys […]
Scotland 1) Brown to the rescue? “Gordon Brown will spearhead Labour’s last-ditch campaign to save the union as a new poll confirmed that the yes and no camps are neck and neck before next week’s referendum on Scottish independence. The latest poll, by TNS, added to the mood of urgency and anxiety for Labour and […]