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David Cameron: ''Like millions of other people, I am delighted''
David Cameron has said it is time for "our United Kingdom to come together and to move forward" after Scotland voted against independence.
The PM said he was "delighted" by the result, which he said settled the issue for at least a generation.
He added that there was now a chance to change the UK "for the better".
In a statement outside Downing Street he said there had to be a "fair and balanced" settlement with English MPs deciding on laws applying to England.
Mr Cameron's statement came after Scotland voted decisively to stay in the United Kingdom by 2,001,926 votes to 1,617,989 - about 55% to 45%.
The vote is the culmination of a two-year campaign. Talks will now begin on devolving more powers to Scotland.
The people have spoken. But it's not over.BBC political editor Nick Robinson
The people have spoken. Scotland has rejected independence. The result has been accepted by both sides. So that you might think is that. Not a bit of it.
The fact that over 1.5m British citizens voted to break away from the rest of the UK, the fact that a majority in Scotland's biggest city - Glasgow - backed independence, the fact that the Westminster establishment briefly thought this vote was lost, is the reason for that.
The leaders of the three UK parties are now promising significant constitutional change and not just for Scotland but for England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well.
They have agreed on a timetable for giving more powers to the Scottish Parliament but are a long, long way from agreeing proposals.
Mr Cameron defended the decision to hold the referendum, saying it was right that the SNP's majority in Holyrood was respected.
He said Lord Smith of Kelvin had agreed to oversee the process of devolving more powers over tax, spending and welfare to Scotland, with draft legislation by the end of January.
Mr Cameron added that the rights of other people in the UK needed to be "respected and enhanced". He said he had long believed that a crucial missing part was England. He said "the millions of voices of England must be heard".
The Leader of the Commons William Hague has been asked to draw up plans for what would be a fundamental change at Westminster - that only English MPs could vote on English matters.
Earlier Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has said he accepted his defeat: "It is important to say that our referendum was an agreed and consented process and Scotland has by a majority decided not at this stage to become an independent country.
"I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland."
Mr Salmond called on the main unionist parties to make good on their promises of greater powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
The politics of the English questionBBC deputy political editor James Landale
The Downing Street constitutional declaration - as it will become known - marks the start of what potentially could be massive constitutional change.
In particular, the prime minister has promised to give English MPs a greater say over legislation that affects England. He made clear this would cover the same issues over which Scotland will have greater control - tax, spending and welfare. And the changes will be agreed at the same pace with draft legislation by January.
But David Cameron did not spell out the detail, leaving a policy vacuum that will now be filled by Conservative MPs and an army of constitutional experts and think tanks. Everything from a full English parliament to complicated plans for English grand committees will be discussed.
The risk for the PM is that he loses control of this debate.
Labour's Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together Campaign, said the people of Scotland had "made history", settling for a generation the question over their future.
"Two million people have voted to say 'we're better together as part of the UK'," he said.
Scottish people wanted to see better jobs, more jobs and more secure funding for the health service. "We believe we can do that in Scotland, but we do it better by working with the rest of the UK."
'Clammy grip' of Whitehall
Labour leader Ed Miliband thanked Mr Darling for his campaign, telling supporters: "Whether people voted 'No' or 'Yes' in this referendum, let's be absolutely clear - this was a vote for change."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was time for the "clammy grip" of Westminster and Whitehall to be released "so that communities, families, cities, towns and villages across the UK feel that they have more say over their destiny than is currently the case".
Mr Hague insisted there was a "very clear commitment" to the Scottish reforms pledged by the three main UK parties, but he argued that the English question had to be resolved at the same pace.
"I think it would be inconceivable to go ahead with a further important stage and measure of devolution to parts of the United Kingdom, without addressing this issue," he told the BBC.
"Of course it's been an anomaly for quite a long time now that Scottish MPs can vote on everything happening in England, but we the English MPs can no longer do so in Scotland, and indeed nor can the Scottish.
"But it will become absolutely acute - it will become absolutely indefensible with further devolution - and I think people need to know at the time of the general election next May where we all stand on that, whether we've tried to reach an agreement, and if not, it's something they can decide on in the general election."
'Rash promises'
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said the proposal to restrict voting rights for Scottish MPs could undermine a future Labour government - theoretically there could be a Labour PM who lacks a majority of English MPs so is unable to get health or education issues through parliament.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the result was "a great day for Britain" and pressed the case for English devolution. "What is sauce for the goose has got to be sauce for the gander," he added.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who was sacked by Mr Cameron as environment secretary in July, demanded an immediate recall of Parliament to debate a new constitutional settlement.
"I'm delighted we got an absolutely clear result last night," he said "But it's completely unacceptable to me, and I think to my constituents in North Shropshire, that right at the end of the campaign we have an ex-Labour leader (Gordon Brown) galloping off up to Scotland making some very rash promises of extensive new powers to the Scottish people - apparently with the endorsement of all three UK party leaders.
"I personally think... however wound-up the party hierarchies get about their conferences... this is far bigger. We should change the autumn schedule, we should recall parliament and begin to look at these issues in a long, hard sensible way."
England's voice
Conservative Bernard Jenkin said he supported English votes for English laws, but claimed Mr Cameron's "No" campaign had been "patronising, over bearing," and had given very little clarity about the implications of independence - "just rather a lot of scare stories".
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he was pleased the union had been maintained, but insisted it was now time for a "constitutional convention to find out how a fair UK would work".
He did not think the English taxpayer should be bound by promises made by the three main party leaders during the referendum campaign.
Instead, he told the BBC: "I think England needs a voice - we've heard a lot from Scotland. The tail can't continue wagging the dog any longer.
"We must have English MPs voting on English only matters."
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