The Alexander Brothers - Flower Of Scotland

SCOTLAND SAYS NO! SNP leaders admit to 'deep disappointment as Better Together campaign heads for clear victory in referendum. Daily Mail

  LATEST: With 29 of the 32 council areas in Scotland now declared, No leads on 55% with Yes on 45%

  Salmond takes to the skies after pulling the plug on a planned appearance at his local count in Aberdeenshire 

  Clackmannanshire - rated most likely to vote Yes by Credit Suisse - rejected independence in first result of the night  

  Yes wins in Dundee, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire, but is trailling by 200,000 votes

  Allegations of 10 electoral fraud cases in Glasgow as voters 'turn up to polling station to find they had already voted'

  Thousands of Yes campaigners in Glasgow's George Square waving Saltires and burning flares - but some arrested  

  David Cameron to address the nation early on Friday morning to set out ways to 'rebalance' power across the UK   

  The Queen is following events 'closely' and will make a statement tomorrow in response to the public's decision

  A former St Helens councillor was charged with assault as she campaigned against Scottish independence in Glasgow 

  Tennis champion Andy Murray rows back from pro-independence tweet, insisting he will still play for Team GB 

Better Together leader Alistair Darling today said he was 'humbled' by the level of support for the United Kingdom, as the people of Scotland overwhelmingly rejected Alex Salmond's lifelong push for independence.

Mr Darling hailed an 'extraordinary night' in which 55 per cent of people voted against separation, with just 45 per cent in favour.

In the early hours, Mr Salmond shunned the cameras to board a private jet from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, contemplating the comprehensive failure of his efforts to destroy the 307-year-old Union.

But in a message posted on Twitter he praised the city of Glasgow, one of the few places to vote in favour of independence, and 'the people of Scotland for such a incredible support'.

He hoped to triumph in one of the most extraordinary political battles in British history, but the determination of the people of Scotland means the United Kingdom remains in tact, and Mr Salmond faces the grim prospect of being forced out of office. He will make a public statement at 6.20am.

Turnout has topped 90 per cent in pro-Union areas, but in the key working-class areas where Yes needed big wins, turnout dropped to the mid-70s.

Mr Cameron will seek to exploit the result with an early morning television address today, holding out the prospect of Scottish MPs being excluded from voting on English affairs.

As a Yes campaign rally in George Square in Glasgow fizzled out, officials in the city launched an investigation into 10 cases of suspected electoral fraud at polling stations.

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The Proclaimers - I'm On My Way

I hope that Scotland isn't on it way to financial meltdown

Rod Stewart - Rhythm of my heart [HQ]

Scottish independence: Five reasons Salmond is secretly hoping for a 'No' vote, The Independent

He has made realising the dream of an independent Scotland his life’s work. But as the nitty-gritty issues behind that dream have been debated endlessly over recent months deep down is the leader of the ‘yes’ campaign is having second thoughts? Here are five things that maybe keeping Alex Salmond up at night, and why he may be secretly praying his countrymen vote No tomorrow.

1)     He’s taking a huge gamble on oil. All of the Yes Campaign’s budgeting for the future depends on the ability to raise a certain amount of revenue from North Sea Oil. But that is horribly unpredictable. All of the published predictions – both optimistic and pessimist are just that: predictions. It’s a pretty scary thing to base the future of an independent country on.

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How Alex Salmond cheered on his pal Fred the Shred as he ruined Royal Bank of Scotland , Daily Mail

Alex Salmond blithely declares that an independent Scotland would be a land of milk and honey in which business magically flourishes, the economy will outgrow England’s and taxes will be slashed.

This crazily unrealistic and deeply irresponsible prospectus is very reminiscent of another Scot, whose arrogance and monumental incompetence cost British taxpayers £45 billion when they had to bail out the Royal Bank of Scotland, of which he had been boss.

Step forward Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin, who walked away from the wreckage of the once-proud institution with a £693,000-a-year, index-linked pension. It was his management of the Edinburgh-based bank that helped to trigger the worst recession since World War II — the financial crash in 2008.

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The man determined to shatter the UK: He is a gambler and former Maoist rabble-rouser who favoured direct action. Whatever else Salmond might lack, it is not self-belief . Daily Mail

Today Alex Salmond could preside over greatest upheaval in 300 years

It is climax of long journey for boy raised on Linlithgow council estate

He was key member of far-left faction of SNP and was kicked out of party

But slow rise has continued since 1987 when he was elected as an MP

Employees describe him as quick to anger, a bully - and a gifted orator

Few people noticed the attractive, middle-aged woman nervously watching the First Minister from the spin room on the night of his second debate with Alistair Darling.

Elegant and discreet, with a bright smile and an easy manner, Claire Howell has got closer to Alex Salmond in these last few months than most do in a lifetime.

She is his longstanding ‘happiness coach’, an enthusiastic ray of sunshine brought on board by the SNP to re-brand Team Salmond as friendly, approachable and electable.

In the run-up to the debate she had often been by his side, sitting in on high strategy Yes meetings and attending a Business for Scotland dinner at the Glasgow Marriott where Mr Salmond was the guest of honour.

But on that August night, under the hot lights of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Mr Salmond went off script.

Gone were the conciliatory gestures, the smiles and the softer language. Instead, Salmond the bruiser was back – his grin crumpling into a grimace, his hand a resolute fist, his manner loud and hectoring.

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