THE VOTES have been counted and verified and after months of hard campaigning, the people of Scotland have said ‘No’ to becoming an independent nation.
A record number of Scottish voters turned out yesterday to cast their vote at one of the 2,609 polling stations across 32 different council areas to make sure their voice was heard.
In the weeks leading up to this morning’s final announcement the yes/no divide had always been a close call; the “once in a lifetime” decision has been made with the Scottish people believing it’s better to stay together.
Gordon Brown’s passionate ‘No’ campaign speech in Glasgow on Wednesday is thought to have helped win over the remaining, all-important support of undecided voters as he stated:
“Scotland doesn’t belong to the SNP. Scotland doesn’t belong to the Yes campaign.”
“This is not their flag, their country their culture, their streets. This is everyone’s.”
But what does this mean for the for the food and drinks sector?
As Footprint’s David Burrows reported in this month’s Footprint magazine the worry would have been that, had the ‘Yes’ vote been passed, businesses would have felt uncertain about a number of issues including:
- Currency change
- Access to EU & UK markets
- Change in taxation
- Regulatory change
The result of a ‘No’ vote means that, at least for now, food and drink companies can rest assured that the UK’s current market will remain united and trading can continue as normal.
The impact of the vote will also undoubtedly have a role to play in the UK government’s future policies as well as parliamentary elections both north and south of the boarder.
To read the full Footprint article on the Scottish referendum click here.
