Alex Salmond was right...

I am glad that the referendum on independence for Scotland has been settled and that the "sovereign will" of the Scottish people has been iterated...

However, it is still very difficult to understand that so many of my friends were content to let their hearts rule their heads or be hoodwinked by uncosted dreams...

They are, however, entitled to their views...

Thankfully, the quiet majority, who went about their daily lives as usual and didn't resort to posting their intentions on Social Media or take to the streets, went to the polling stations on Thursday and voted to remain part of the UK...

What is interesting to note though, is that, after having lost the argument, the Yes campaign seem to think that it now speaks for No voters, as they mistakenly believe that over 400,000 of the over 2 million who voted No must surely have switched from Yes in the last week of the campaign because they were scared off from independence by the mainstream media and big business but wanted extra powers for Scotland and so, must now have been hoodwinked by the Unionist parties...

This is breathtaking in its arrogance...

The question was "Should Scotland be an independent country"....

The answer was a resounding "No"....

And, if they look at the stats they will see that the appetite for independence now is actually less than it was at the last referendum 35 years ago (and let's hope it's a lot longer than 35 years till the next one)...

While the number of votes cast in this referendum was up by almost 52% on those cast in 1979, the Yes vote was only up by 31.4% while the No vote increased by 73.6%...

Of course, this massive increase in the No vote was partly due to the nature of the poll - in 1979 everyone who voted "No" could have just sat at home and not voted, as No votes in 1979 didn't actually count...

All Yes had to do in 1979, was to beat 40% of the electoral roll...

They failed to do this - just as they failed to do so again this time, gaining only 37.8% of the potential vote on Thursday...

But the task was made much easier for them this time, by making the result count on a simple majority of those voting...

Sadly for them and thankfully for Scotland and the UK, they only achieved 44.7% of those who voted...

In 1979, turnout was only 64% of the then electoral roll, compared to 84.6% this time - so up 32% - (if you can't understand that, 84.6% divided by 64% is 132%) - so increase in turn out was actually more than the increase in the Yes vote (31.4%) on the same basis...

That comparatively low turnout in 1979 (though still much higher than that which saw the SNP government elected in 2011, which started all this mess) was no doubt down to many No voters realising their votes didn't count (you have to assume that every single person who wanted independence in 1979 - and in 2014 - voted for it)...

And so here we are less than 48 hours after the result and it's already becoming very tiresome indeed hearing people whining on about "1.6 million" and "45%" (especially since it was only actually 44.7%)...

Why is it tiresome?

Because over 2 million people (55.3%), voted No...

And the vast majority of those who voted No did so not out of fear or betrayal of their country - as many of the less savoury people on the Yes side would seem to believe and, in no uncertain terms, are now espousing across Social Media - but out of a wish to save their country from an uncosted, half baked, socialist utopia, which would only have hurt the worst off in society even more than voting to save the Union...

When it came down to it, it was all about the economy...

Once a newly independent Scottish Government had to balance the books on its own, it would have become clear very quickly indeed, that benefits would need to be cut and taxes would need to rise...

But if you've been hoodwinked into voting with your heart rather than your head for an uncosted dream (or perhaps just unable to understand the economics of the situation), you are very unlikely indeed to have been able to see that fact...

Alex Salmond always said that the people of Scotland would not be taken in by lies and pish...

Thankfully, for once, he has been proven right...