By: Richard Meyer ~Copy Editor~

Scotland has voted to stay within the United Kingdom after putting its independence on the ballot.

On Sept. 18, around 85 percent of the Scottish population voted on the independence referendum after more than 300 years of union with the U.K. This is the highest voter turnout on record in a British election.

Nearly 55 percent of the voters said ‘no’ to seceding from the U.K. while the remainder of the participating voters voted in favor of independence.

Only three of the voting districts within Scotland voted in favor of independence.
The Scottish National Party won the Parliament in 2011 through First Minister Alex Salmond with the main goal as independence from the U.K. With the win, the party also won the right to put the independence on the ballot.

The largest argument surrounding the fight for independence was whether Scotland would be able to support itself fiscally without help from the U.K.

Those in favor of the independence argued that the oil industry in Scotland is strong enough to support the country and make it a world economic power without the aid from England.
British Prime Minister David Cameron led the opposition to independence, saying that the oil in the North Sea is getting more difficult to recover and the resources will eventually run out.

Since the vote, officials have begun attempting to restore peace to a largely-torn country because of this issue.

“Consign these to the history books,” former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement at one of the peace rallies being held throughout the country. “No longer think of yourselves as ‘Yes Scots’ and ‘No Scots,’ but all of us Scots.”

Many peace rallies have turned to riots including several arrests. Violence has erupted throughout the nation as people protest the results.