Scotland has decided it wishes to remain as part of the United Kingdom by a majority greater than many pundits were predicting.

As somebody who is proud to be part Scottish myself, I am relieved, and applaud the good sense of the Scottish people. I think that the whole of the UK is stronger together than it would have been apart. The very high turnout figure shows that this has been a great night for democracy.

Minds will now be concentrated on what needs to be done to implement the promised further devolution of powers to Scotland in the event of a ‘No’ vote.                                                                                                 

That process must not ignore the implications for the rest of the UK and for the regions of England. 

Promises have been made to preserve the ‘Barnett Formula’ of funding which means that Scotland receives more Government funding per person than England does. We must try to make all parties accept that there needs to be more devolution and fairer funding for regions like North West England and towns like Bolton.

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