My thoughts from south of the border. I don't expect them to be popular in this thread, but here they are
1) I'm genuinely glad Scotland voted no. Not because I'm English (and therefore inherently evil). Not because I want to steal their oil. Not because I want Scotland for lebensraum. But because I sincerely believe its the best thing for both Scotland and the Union. We have a symbiotic relationship, Scots are the midichlorians that made the Union into a Jedi.
2) The No campaign was inept. Where the Yes campaign was long on rhetoric and short on substance, No was the opposite. Darling was a complete and utter wet blanket with all the drive and passion of a damp lettuce. And I could have cried when he tried to argue Scotland wouldn't be admitted to NATO without nuclear weapons.
Cameron, Clegg and Milliband were notorious by their absence - I understand why they did it, because Salmond would instantly have rolled out the "see, the English are still trying to oppress us" line, but a little more than a last minute whilstle stop tour would have been nice. MPs south of the border became increasingly frustrated at the lack of engagement of English politicians
3) I know nationalists love him, but I think in many ways Salmond did your cause more harm than good. He's like a Scottish Thatcher - hero worshiped by his core voters, feared and loathed by everyone else. His campaign was aggressive, divisive and abusive. The English were treated as the enemy, No voters as traitors. Furthermore, he never had any answers to the tough questions, other than accusations of bullying and Westminster conspiracies. His "plans" for an independent Scotland reminded me of Varys's quote about Littlefinger - he doesn't care if the realm burns, as long as he can be king over the ashes. I'm glad he's gone, hopefully you'll get a leader now who's capable of repairing the divide, and regards England as a partner not an oppressor.
4) The devolution of more powers. This is where it gets tricky. Because of (2), the No campaign panicked at the last minute and promised a whole raft of extras that have not been discussed or voted on in parliament. So now Scots expect that these promises will be delivered, whilst English MP's are ((quite rightly IMO) saying "hang on a minute, we haven't even had a chance to debate this stuff". So its either try and deliver the promises and face a rebellion in parliament, or wait until its been properly been debated and cause uproar in Scotland, "see, the English can't be trusted etc etc". What I find quite interesting is its not just Tories complaining about this, Lib Dems and Labour MP's are jumping on the hangonaminute bandwagon, a move which could cause their vote to collapse in Scotland
5) The media is biased? Seriously? You're getting your knickers in a twist over this? I can only imagine that you never noticed before because you were in agreement over the subjects that their coverage was biased in favour of. Journalists are liars and manipulators of the truth. They are selective in the facts they choose to report. If it took this referendum for you to notice it, then I feel sorry for you - just remember it next time you see something being reported that reinforces something you already believe. They're probably lying about that too.
6) Age. That's democracy kids. Everyone has one vote. And over 40s and over 60s have legitimate concerns too - just because they're different to yours doesn't make them any less legitimate. Plus, when you're 40 you realise that you don't know everything. When you're 20 you know that you know everything.
7) Wanna win next time? Firstly, have a proper plan in place beforehand. Have all your ducks lined up. "This is how we're going to join the EU, and this is how long its going to take". "This is what it will take to join NATO". "This is what we're going to do about currency" (this one was perhaps the biggest killer for Yes) and don't just act like every other nation would give you everything you want on a platter. Because they won't.
Make realistic promises, don't expect people to believe that you can halve taxes and double spending. Not to mention in 15-20 years time when this comes up again oil revenues are going to be clearly declining.
Secondly, don't act like No voters are quislings. One repeated comment I've read over and over from No voters is fear of what Scotland would become after a Yes vote. Sellars "day of reckoning" quotes were an enormous own goal and scared a lot of people (and businesses). Salmonds repeated use of "Team Scotland" for Yes voters was divisive and insulting. In short, you need a leader who is less tribal, less divisive, and more inclusive. Salmond was great for hardcore nationalists, but scary for that middle 10% you need to win.
Both campaigns were equally awful, and I'd say No only won out in the end because people knew more or less what they'd get, while Yes had done a bad job with specifics. It's harder to convince people to vote on something more uncertain, even if what you're getting isn't great.
