The Scottish Independence Campaign Is Still Alive in the #WeAreThe45 Movement

Facebook
Impact
Facebook

Last week, Scotland held its long-awaited referendum vote on the country's independence from Great Britain and the "Nos" won. With roughly 55.3% of the vote, the Better Together camp backed by Prime Minister David Cameron and the main U.K. parties defeated the "Yes" campaign led by Scottish National Party leader and First Minister Alex Salmond by a 44.7% of the vote.

The United Kingdom will stay united for now, but English-Scottish relations remain tense, and just days after the vote, a new campaign is thriving on social media in an effort to maintain the rallying cry for Scottish independence. Naming themselves the "We are the 45%" campaign after the final vote tally, the movement already has over 160,000 likes on its Facebook page and has been getting a lot of traction with the #WeAreThe45 and #the45 hashtags on twitter. 

Though the "Yes" campaign was defeated, 45% is a very large number, so there's clearly a serious interest in the country's independence. The Independent reports that, though in its infancy, the "We Are the 45" campaign "has already created a home for a range of differing opinions."

"The British establishment would love nothing more than for the 45 percent to disappear. By maintaining the success of alternative media this will not happen," one community page tells its followers. And clearly, based on the outpouring of online support, a lot of Scots still want to keep the dream of independence alive. But time will tell whether the movement has any real force and can bring about any real change. 

So don't worry Groundskeeper Willie, there may still be hope.

Facebook

h/t The Independent