Party committed to independence referendum wins majority in Scottish Parliament

The Scottish National Party, which is committed to holding a referendum on the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom, won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament yesterday. See:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13305522

It was unexpected that a majority of seats would have been won by any one political party in the Scottish Parliament becuase its seats are allocated with elements of proportional representation.  In order to win a majority of seats, one party would need to get close to 50% of the popular vote, if not more, in an election. 

As the Scottish National Party is the only party in Scotland capable of winning a significant number of seats that would support holding an independence referendum, it was unlikely that any referendum bill would have been approved in Parliament, thus preventing a referendum from being held.  That significant obstacle is now removed.

Proposed Scottish ballot question

The Referendum (Scotland) Bill, 2010 proposed the form of ballot paper at this link http://www.webcitation.org/5jgh02AMe and reproduced below.  The Scottish government announced in September that it will not be holding a referendum before 2011 elections, so this question will not be put to the voters for the time being.  Still, it is interesting (I will save my comments for later):

FORM OF BALLOT PAPER

The Scottish Parliament has decided to consult people in Scotland on the Scottish Government's proposal to negotiate with the Government of the United Kingdom to achieve independence for Scotland:
Put a cross (X) in the appropriate box

I AGREE that the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the Government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state.

OR

I DO NOT AGREE that the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the Government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state.

Publication on states accepting independence referendum results

I found a July 1 2010 piece in the Herald (Scotland), in which a professor argued that the Scottish National Party may wish to push ahead with a referendum on independence even though polls show a majority are against it, with history being on its side:

"Indeed, a quick glance at the 16 referendums on independence in the past 100 years show only one country rejected the outcome of a referendum on this matter. That was Denmark’s rejection of the 51% to 49% outcome of the independence referendum for the Faroe Islands in 1946. Apart from this, all independence referendums have been accepted, even if the outcome has been close, as it was when Malta voted for secession from the UK by a margin of less than 1% in 1964."
The full article can be read here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/guest-commentary/could-or-would-the-scots-vote-to-go-it-alone-1.1038547

I emailed the professor and it seems that the number 16 in terms of referendums is from a reference which is probably now out of date.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, many referendums in the 1990s and 2000s have had their results rejected by the state involved.  Yugoslavia refused to recognize the results of the referendums in Croatia and Bosnia, for example.  South Ossetia's referendum on independence was of course rejected by Georgia.