Alex Salmond Warned To Drop Referendum 'Conspiracy Theories' Amid Birth Of '45' Group

Salmond Told To Get Over It Amid Rise In Referendum Conspiracy Theories
First Minister Alex Salmond makes a statement at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh as MSPs return to Holyrood for the first time since Scotland voted to reject independence.
First Minister Alex Salmond makes a statement at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh as MSPs return to Holyrood for the first time since Scotland voted to reject independence.
Danny Lawson/PA Wire

As Scottish nationalists continue to decry the result of the referendum Alex Salmond has been warned to accept the vote and reject conspiracy theories surrounding the outcome of the landmark poll.

Following the rise of the anti-unionist campaign group 'The 45', Scotland's former first minister and his MSPs have been urged by the Scottish Parliament to accept that no dirty tricks were used to scare Scots into voting no, and that the result was not "rigged."

The calls for calm come after the internet was flooded with accusations from pro-Indy Scots accusing the British Government of scaring more than two million voters into voting No - particularly the elderly.

This is despite a new poll revealing that young voters actually voted No and that, predominately, only the 25-39 age group said Yes - proving that the elderly did not "rob the young of an independent Scotland."

The YouGov study of more than 3,000 voters showed that 51% of those aged between 16 and 24 voted No. It also revealed that more than one in five SNP supporters turned their backs on independence, the Herald Scotland reported.

Yesterday, as Holyrood met for the first time since the result of historic vote, opposition party leaders said Salmond was only exacerbating post-vote tensions and that Scotland would only “move on” when everybody accepted the result.

Salmond was warned against trying to replay the break up of the UK through the “back door” after he said earlier this week that Scottish nationalists should try again for an independent Scotland.

On Sunday, the outgoing SNP leader said a referendum was "only one of a number of routes" that Scotland could take to independence. His comments suggested those in the Yes camp see the 55% to 45% defeat as a bump in the road rather than a decisive decision against independence.

But Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont and Conservative counterpart Ruth Davidson said it is now time to move on from the independence debate.

Lamont said the result was the “settled will” of the Scottish people and that it should “mark a new phase in Scottish politics now that this issue has been firmly settled.”

"We cannot spend the next two years, having moved from: 'If you vote Yes this will happen', to: 'If you had voted Yes that would have happened'," she said.

"We cannot leave the politics of the place in that shape. We need to move on."

Davidson said she understood that those who voted for Independence feel "hurt, grief, loss," but that "those at the top" must put out a clear message that "this was a free, fair, open and decisive ballot.”

"Pain is not healed by people crying foul and that grief is not ministered to by talk of a conspiracy,” she said.

The warning follows a petition saying the outcome of the referendum vote was rigged gaining close to 100,000 supporters.

But on Monday, the chief counting officer branded the accusations "most frustrating" and defended the conduct of the referendum saying all counts "were properly conducted and scrutinised",the BBC reported.

As Salmond and the other four Holyrood party leaders met Lord Smith of Kelvin - the man appointed by David Cameron to organise a tricky and controversial cross-party deal by November 30 - Salmond and his SNP MSP's "looked glum" as they were "reminded separation is now off the table," the Telegraph reported.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who today formerly launched her campaign to become Scotland's next first minister, was asked to distance herself from Salmond's "plans to simply assert independence".

Salmond yesterday insisted "I believe in referendums" and that he has "no intention of a unilateral declaration of independence," as he pressed for more powers for Scotland.

Displaying levels of political engagement that would surely make both the Yes camp and Better Together proud, Scots have continued to hotly debate the result of the referendum in a warning to Westminster that they will not give up on their fight for independence.

Thousands took to Twitter at the weekend, with the hashtag #the45 trending as Scots from camp Yes warned the rest of the UK to "expect them."

The newly formed campaign group, who have called themselves 'The 45', also released a list of brands, businesses and media organisations that they will be boycotting because they "scared Scotland" in the run up to the referendum.

On Facebook, the campaign group wrote that it is time to "send shivers" down the spines of the businesses that apparently scared No voters, other told nationalists to "get a grip."

Following Scotland's rejection of independence, the 1.6 million people that voted Yes will apparently not be buying the products or using the services of the businesses listed below to send a clear message that they "were not fooled by their dirty tricks."

"Never again can we have companies we use everyday and contribute millions of pounds to tell us we're too small too poor and too stupid," the campaign stated.

"This is our chance to get back at them for what they took from us."

After months of accusations having being thrown at the BBC for biased reporting, many of the 45ers have also revealed they will no longer be paying their BBC licences saying "enough is enough."

So along with not being able to watch The Great British Bake Off or Doctor Who, here are the other things 'The 45' will be avoiding and why. Notably, Harry Potter is not on the list, despite author JK Rowling facing a torrent of abuse for coming out in favour of the union.

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