MSPs have for the first time voted in favour of Scotland becoming independent.
First Minister Alex Salmond hailed Thursday’s vote, by 69 to 52, as a ”milestone” in the country’s history.
He also revealed that 15,000 people have backed a declaration stating it is ”fundamentally better” if decisions about the country’s future are taken by the people of Scotland.
The declaration is a key part of the Yes Scotland cross-party campaign for independence, which officially got under way a week ago.
Labour, Tories and the Liberal Democrats all united round an amendment put forward by Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader.
It argued that it is in Scotland’s best interest to remain part of the United Kingdom and that the country is ”stronger together and weaker apart”.
But that was defeated, with MSPs instead backing Mr Salmond’s motion, which said: ”The parliament agrees that Scotland should be an independent country”.
While the vote is largely procedural, it will have symbolic significance for Nationalists, who can now state that independence is ”the will of the Scottish Parliament”.
But Ms Lamont said: ”Yet again, a debate on separation, this government’s single obsession, their one and only prescription for all our ills, the eternal answer no matter what the question.”
Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire