As the campaign in Scotland progressed it became widely known in Dublin that the British government and the British Embassy were applying pressure on the Irish state and the press to speak out against Scottish independence. One source within Oireachtas Éireann, the Irish parliament, has let it be known that the agenda of the British government was to paint a bleak picture of an independent Scotland in order to depress the growing support for a Yes vote in Scotland. Ireland, heavily dependent on trade with the United Kingdom, remained neutral throughout the campaign. At about the same time it became clear that this was very much part of a global offensive against Scotland. France, Spain, the United States, Canada and others began to make pronouncements echoing the sentiments that had been pressed upon Ireland. Certainly, the opinion within Dublin was that this was policy as far as Britain was concerned. Russia made the decision to break the silence of Downing Street's international conspiracy and spoke out.
As the campaign progressed into the final year analysts in both Berlin and Dublin predicted that support for independence in Scotland would overtake support for the union and issued memos to various of their government departments with instructions to begin the process of drafting policies to deal with the breakup of the United Kingdom and the arrival of a new European state. It can only be assumed that this, as a standard practice of government, was replicated around the world. Such a provisional measure no doubt undermined the confidence of Westminster in securing a No vote in Scotland. It was clear in the final months of the campaign that Britain was indeed in a state of frantic desperation. It was at this point that Mr. Cameron himself entered into secret discussions with the Council authorities on the Shetland Islands. Britain was preparing for defeat, and was not prepared to leave empty handed. This was the state of play until the date of the referendum.
Quite unexpectedly it was noticed that those supporting a No vote were openly celebrating and congratulating one another almost as soon as the polls were closed. One person who called a moderator of this page at half past ten in the evening shared his suspicion that "They know something. They know they have this in the bag." Through the early hours of the morning calls started arriving from election officials who were in a number of counting centres over Scotland claiming that they witnessed deliberate election fraud. This was, of course, merely anecdotal evidence, but it was the same story being repeated from as many as fourteen different officers - three of whom had been campaigning for a No vote. On Friday evening we were put in touch with a counting officer from Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. She had been campaigning for Yes Scotland and had contacted us in an agitated state. Over the course of a lengthy telephone conversation she recounted what she had witnessed. She was not allowed to ensure the closure of the ballots boxes over which she had responsibility, they were moved and left unattended, eventually being transported in a van without security to the central counting station and she was not permitted to be present at their arrival to verify that these were indeed her boxes. Other election officers had contacted her to inform her of open bribery of caretakers and other security personnel at polling stations.
Not a full ten hours after the declaration of the defeat of Scotland's bid for independence the Russian observers had raised a flag that the election had not been conducted in a manner that conformed to good practice and they stated their concerns that the referendum count had been "rigged." Two of these observers have come forward and have made it clear that they are now willing to give evidence to the effect that the count was illegal. We can have no doubt that these accounts will not stand in either a Scottish or English court of law as they come from Russian sources. The whole world knows that Russia is not to be trusted. So it now must be asked why the British government sought Russian observers. Knowingly the Westminster administration sought tainted witnesses to witness its crime; almost the perfect crime. Earlier this evening a senior civil servant in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin made it known to us that this decision was known in advance in Dublin, and that preparation for a Yes vote had been cancelled. According to this source, from whom we have requested documentary evidence, it had been made clear to his department that "Westminster will not, under any circumstances, let go of Scotland." Open diplomatic opinion in Ireland, a young state with hard experience of an independence struggle with Westminster, is that clandestine moves were made to safeguard Scottish resources for London.
Ireland, it can be argued, is yet another tainted source. Not France. Through the course of the day today two separate French sources have reached out to us to share their full agreement with the account given by their Russian colleagues. There are no observers, who have so far spoken out, who accept the validity of the referendum count. It will be difficult to guarantee a sworn statement from these men, but we have been promised another opportunity to speak with them. We will make a special plea to them to have the courage to speak out on the record, and at present we are drafting a letter to the French government seeking full disclosure from them. All of this information will be shared on this page and with the Scottish government. We believe that it is only a matter of time before the fullness of the truth comes out. There can be no doubt that the count was a fraud.
Sott reporting article that I have ever read. There is no doubt about what happened. Great job everybody...