‘No’ Leads As Scottish Independence Vote Boost Sales Of Braveheart; Anticipated ‘No’ Votes Win Strengthens British Pound
Latest report said that with 17 of 32 results counted in the Thursday vote on Scottish independence, the "No" votes lead by 56.25 per cent or 670,398 votes, while the "Yes" votes was 43.75 per cent or 521,441 votes.
The referendum sparked interest in the 1995 movie Braveheart which jumped to 454th place from 1,074th place in the Amazon DVD charts, reports The Independent. The surge in interest in the film starring Mel Gibson is seen as Scotts reaction to the "Yes" campaign, prompting them to order the DVD from Amazon and pay £10.29, plus delivery cost.
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The film is set in toward the end of 13th century Scotland with Gibson cast in the lead role of William Wallace, a rebel who leads the uprising against King Edward Longshanks who wants to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself. Wallace's father and brother lost their lives to free Scotland.
Since Scotland became part of the British rule in 1286, there have been occasional attempts by Scotts to gain independence, but their efforts had failed. Inquistr recalls one attempt in the 1970s when surveys said 17 per cent wanted independence, while 85 per cent favoured self-governance without seceding from the kingdom. But referendum results then had only 33 per cent who voted "Yes" to independence.
Meanwhile, ahead of an anticipated victory of the "No" votes, the British pound gained over 1 per cent on the dollar to US$1.6389 before Thursday noon. Fawad Razaqzada from Forex.com said the pound's gain is an indicator that investors are convinced that majority of Scott voters would prefer to remain in the union.
When the "Yes" votes appeared to have the edge in last week's polls, the pound tumbled down to a 10-month dollar low. Razaqzada added, quoted by SkyNews, an Australian daily, "Needless to say, a 'yes' vote would almost certainly result in a massive, massive drop."
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