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Alex Salmond this afternoon dramatically quit as Scotland's First Minister after voters rejected independence in yesterday's referendum. The First Minister said he would stand down in November to let the next generation take over the fight to lead Scotland out of the Union. Mr Salmond announced his departure at a press conference this afternoon. He said his 'party, Parliament and country' would benefit from 'new leadership'. But he fired a warning shot at David Cameron not to go back on his promise to transfer sweeping new powers to Holyrood within six months.

After carefully avoiding taking a side on the issue, former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray changed course Thursday and signaled his support for Scottish independence on the day of the historic vote. The Scottish player sent out a post on Twitter early Thursday, just hours ahead of the polls opening on the referendum to break away from the United Kingdom. Murray indicated that negative campaigning by the anti-independence side had made up his mind in favor of secession. He tweeted to his 2.7 million followers: ''Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on...

... “When a relationship breaks, when one part of your country is trying to get a divorce, it doesn’t work to just say, ‘You’re never going to be able to survive on your own. You’re going to be too poor. You’re going to come running back,’ ” said Rory Stewart, a Parliament member who represents the English side of the border. He helped to lay the first stone in July and has overseen the cairn’s construction ever since. “You have to say, ‘I love you.’ ”

It is one of the tragedies of recent cultural history that, thanks to Mel Gibson's preposterous movie "Braveheart," the world knows more about William Wallace's short-lived Scottish rebellion of 1296-97 than about Robert the Bruce. For it was Bruce who, after 18 years of plotting and war making, finally threw off the yoke of the English king and consolidated a sense of Scottish identity. "Never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English," said the Declaration of Arbroath, a diplomatic letter commissioned by Bruce in 1320. "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches,...

How could we ever have a referendum on Scottish independence without including one of the most famous Scots of all time?

"If you don't like me – I won't be here forever. If you don't like this government – it won't last forever. But if you leave the UK – that will be forever."

A new opinion poll on Scottish independence has found the no vote back in the lead at 53% of voters, suggesting the sudden surge in backing for independence has subsided. Only days after a spate of polls suggested the referendum race was neck and neck, the Survation poll for the Daily Record has found that the no vote is now at 53%, giving the pro-UK campaign a six point gap over yes.

None of this is supposed to be happening at all. Better Together is supported by every major media outlet in Scotland as well as in London. It has the full research resources of the British government and the backing of big business. Yet there now seems to be an irresistible momentum towards yes. This week saw polls showing a massive eight-point swing to yes in the last month alone, with women and Labour voters leading the way. Photos of people queueing up to register to vote in Glasgow have been circulating. Maybe they were people queueing up to defend the...

The campaign to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK is in the lead for the first time ahead of the independence referendum later this month, according to a new poll. A YouGov survey found that the pro-independence campaign, led by the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, had a two point lead of 51 per cent over the unionists’ 49 per cent. The poll for the Sunday Times is the latest evidence of a dramatic surge for the Yes campaign, which has seen the campaign recover from a 22 point deficit in just one month.

George Osborne was on Sunday scrambling to head off a surge in support for Scottish independence with a promise of more powers for Holyrood, but behind the scenes some senior Tories were preparing for possible defeat. ... Rupert Murdoch, the media tycoon, claimed in a tweet that Mr Salmond’s private polls gave the Yes vote an advantage of 54-46

Cameron's spokesman said: "No. There has been no change here. The government's entire focus ... is on making the case for the UK staying together."

Right: it’s time to speak for Britain. If these polls are right, then we are on the verge of an utter catastrophe for this country. In just 10 days’ time we could all be walking around like zombies – on both sides of the Scottish border. I don’t just mean that we will be in a state of shock, though that will obviously be true: most people (especially the Scots) have yet to think through the horrific financial and constitutional implications of an English-Scottish divorce. I mean that we will be zombies, walking dead, because a fundamental part of our...

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has dismissed as ''a panic measure" plans to give Scotland greater autonomy, if voters decide to stay in the UK.

PRIME Minister David Cameron announced that the Saltire will fly above Downing Street in the run up to the independence referendum on September 18 - but it seems the idea didn't quite work out to plan.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government will set out plans in the coming days to give Scotland more autonomy on tax, spending and welfare if it rejects independence in a referendum on Sept. 18, British finance minister George Osborne said on Sunday.