CRI听力:Scotland Votes No to Independence

Voters in Scotland have decided to stay in the United Kingdom, with a majority of the Scottish electorate voting "No" in the independence referendum.

CRI's UK correspondent Duan Xuelian has more.

The deciding moment came when the coastal area of Fife declared its local results at five minutes past six on Friday morning local time.

"The total number of votes cast in relation to each answer to the referendum in this area is as follows: YES 114,148 NO 139,788."

With the results from Fife, the "no" side garnered 55-percent of the overall vote, putting the push for an independent Scotland out of reach for the nationalists.

YES leader Alex Salmond, in his concession speech, is calling on the Scottish people to respect the outcome.

"Scotland has by majority decided not at this stage to become an independent country. I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland."

Official numbers show 84-percent of the over 4.2 million registered voters cast their vote, the highest turnout in Scottish electoral history.

In a statement outside Number 10 Downing Street, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is pledging to engage in further talks with the Scottish parliament as soon as possible about granting it greater autonomy.

"We have delivered on devolution under this government and we will do so again in the next parliament. The three pro-union parties have made commitments, clear commitments on further powers to the Scottish parliament. We will ensure that those commitments are honored in full."

At the same time, Cameron is also promising to give more regional autonomy to the local governments in Wales, Northern Ireland and England.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian, reporting from Edinburgh