WHATEVER the result of the Scottish referendum on independence – and at time of going to press the count was continuing – the political landscape of the United Kingdom will change irrevocably.

Should Scotland vote to stay part of the United Kingdom then it will receive new powers that in essence will create a federated Great Britain. Such new powers will also have to be considered in some measure for the other nations of Northern Ireland and Wales and will lead inevitably to renewed calls for an English parliament or strong regional assemblies.

Should Scotland vote to leave the UK then the fact such measures were promised to the Scots, coupled with the appreciation by the remainder of the peoples of the UK that the new nation north of the border is creating such new localised powers, will undoubtedly lead to the same pressures for change here.

Change then is inevitable. And this is change we should welcome.

Once our great cities and counties were able to determine much of their own destiny, creating wealth and opportunity for their people. Too much of that power has been centralised on London. Attempts to devolve powers and wealth-creation back to the regions have failed to inspire local populations. This may not be the case following this independence debate.

This paper hopes we awake today to find we are still very much a United Kingdom. If Scotland has voted to go we will be sad but should bear no enmity towards fellow citizens in these islands.

But whether they are to stay or to go, new powers and a sense of real democracy closer to home for all of us will hopefully be the unexpected outcome of this sometimes bitter debate.