Over to you, No voters

My side lost the referendum. I was at the count. It was entirely, and quite upliftingly, fair. Anyone saying otherwise is wrong. The "Shock and Awe" campaign may have been (was) untruthful, bullying, and unfair. The actual vote was, however, entirely fair. And, to repeat, we lost. Not by a huge amount. But we lost and that's enough.

So. It's over to you now, No voters. It's over to you to hold your representatives to account. One reason for the disasters that befell us after 1979 was, I understand from talking to those who remember, that everyone got fed up. We were tired. We just sat back and waited to see what was done to us. Anyone pointing out that we'd been promised an alternative offering in the event of a No vote (or a not high enough Yes vote) was told by opponents of any change to "move on" and embarrassed into a weary and sullen silence as what was done was done. It could happen again. We'll be told to accept defeat and accept what they choose to do to us, as if the two things are one and the same. Move on. Stop going on. Forget it. Let us take care of it now. That is just what the current opponents of any change want us to do. But we'll regret it if we do. We mustn't. You mustn't.

Gordon Brown's promise in relation to "substantial" "new" "powers", the one that the BBC led with for days just before the vote, the one that I know swung many voters behind No, just as intended, was very, very explicit: "nothing less than a modern form of Scottish home rule" ("Scottish independence: Brown’s home rule timetable" , "Brown takes charge as Cameron backs his plan for Scottish Home Rule" , "Scottish independence: Gordon Brown pledges new Home Rule Bill" , "Gordon Brown unveils cross-party deal on Scottish powers" , "Scotland: Gordon Brown could be the winner in the event of a no vote" ).

As I am perfectly entitled to do, I will continue to try to persuade people that we need independence but entirely accept the outcome of the referendum. I lost. So, until we all decide otherwise, Home Rule it is.

The current buzz synonym for home rule is "devo max". Home rule/devo max means that the Scottish parliament is entrusted with responsibility over all our internal, or home, affairs, leaving the UK government with the rest. This is the unionist view (with which I disagree but, as I say, I lost) of the "best of both worlds". So, the "devo max" proposals promised would leave the UK government in charge of:

* monetary policy and the pound.
* defence
* foreign affairs and relations

The Scottish government would be in charge of its current areas of responsibility plus income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, Crown Estates, excise duty, energy, broadcasting and so on. We were promised "nothing less".

As I say, then, over to you No voters of goodwill. We'll need your help. I'm tired.