Promises must be honoured quickly

The consequences of a "Yes" vote in Scotland would have been almost unmanageable and taken decades to fully implement and recognise.

It is questionable if the scale of change demanded by a “Yes” vote could have been implemented in a timeframe that would have satisfied Scottish nationalists or those forced to make concessions to facilitate change. EU forces opposed to the breakaway, and the precedent it would set, might have questioned relationships taken for granted.

Britain would have been entangled in a constitutional crisis and a resolution might have proved more elusive than has been imagined.

The most unattractive, insular strand of English nationalism would have beaten their drum with renewed vigour — sadly, they may anyway.

Closer to home, the funding given to Northern Ireland by Westminster — a far higher per capita rate than in Scotland or Wales — would have faced a stern review. It may anyway.

The consequences of the “No” vote may not be quite as spectacular but they still represent the greatest challenge faced by politicians on these islands for generations — they must quickly balance undeniable devolvement while ensuring that the unity that makes the United Kingdom so strong, and the taken-for-granted stability of this region, is not threatened from within.

The scale of that challenge means it would be very foolish to imagine that we can be disinterested spectators. The realignments flowing from Thursday’s vote are bound to have an impact on how we compete for foreign investment and export goods or services to our neighbours. We cannot respond to the vote’s implications too early.

That such a great proportion of those active in the extraordinarily vibrant “Yes” campaign became involved to move social justice issues to the heart of Scottish political life as much as the prospect of independence must have positive consequences. A failure to recognise this commitment to values almost sidelined by economic crisis would make politics — ours too — less sustainable.

The exceptionally high voter turn-out carries a strong message too.

This was an extraordinary exercise in democracy — not a shot fired — and, hopefully, it might be rejuvenating for many of those who struggle to see the relevance in so many of our political structures or processes. Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond, who resigned yesterday, gracefully accepted defeat and acknowledged that the issue is settled for a generation but warned that the promises made before the referendum on giving more powers to governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must be delivered upon quickly and in full. How that will be done without alienating the people of England may prove a career-defining challenge for David Cameron.