Prime Minister David Cameron made a final plea to Scotland’s voters, urging them to step back from an illusory “dream” of risk-free independence and avoid the irreversible breakup that would come with a “yes” vote.
In a speech in Aberdeen during his last visit to Scotland before the Sept. 18 referendum, Cameron promised a “major program” of change, saying the campaign has “swept away” the status quo.
Guaranteeing unprecedented powers if voters opt for “no” in three days, he appealed to Scots not to walk away from the economic security, shared history and achievements of the 307-year-old union.
“It would not be a trial separation. It would be a painful divorce,” Cameron said yesterday. “I don’t want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that disappears.”
European governments are looking on as campaigning for the vote nears its climax, with polls suggesting the Better Together campaign has failed to quash the pro-independence push led by Alex Salmond, leaving the outcome on a knife edge.
As London hosted a rally yesterday evening for the union and a “no” vote, Cameron made his second trip to Scotland in a week to try and prevent one of the biggest redrawings of the political map of western Europe since World War II.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who also opposes independence, is due to campaign in central Scotland today.
Mortgages, Pensions
The prime minister in his speech listed the risks of independence, from pension funds being “sliced up” to the loss of embassy support worldwide and mortgages held by banks in what would be a foreign country.
He also offered the prospect of his own political mortality as an inducement, saying that while he and his government “won’t last forever,” a split from the U.K. would be a “once-and-for-all decision.”
In an effort to distance himself from the charge of negative campaigning that has plagued Better Together, Cameron made repeated references to Scotland and the U.K. as a “family” with shared values and accomplishments.
Cameron said he understood why some people might be drawn to vote “yes” by the “promise of something different,” whereas in reality Salmond’s nationalists were painting a false picture of the future independence would bring. “When something looks too good to be true –- that’s usually because it is,” he said. “Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay.”
‘Empty Threats’
Blair Jenkins, the chief executive of the Yes Scotland campaign, dismissed the prime minister’s speech as “the same litany of empty threats and empty promises.”
“Only by voting ‘yes’ will Scotland always get the governments we vote for -- and never again Tory governments imposed by Westminster,” he said in an e-mailed statement. Politicians and activists are fanning out across Scotland in the final countdown to the ballot, with both the “yes” and “no” campaigns saying they’re poised to win.
The pound dipped against the dollar and 10-year gilts edged up yesterday after weekend polls gave contradictory pictures of the outcome.
“In the next 48 hours Scotland faces a historic decision which will shape its future and the whole of the U.K.’s future for centuries to come,” Miliband will say today, according to advance extracts released by his office.
“A vote for ‘no’ is a vote for change. Let’s take our chance to change our country together.”
The contradictory polling evidence reflects the volatile nature of the campaign as it enters the final stretch before a ballot that may result in Europe’s newest sovereign state -- Scotland -- while bringing the curtain down on the U.K., a country whose empire once spanned more than a quarter of the world’s surface, from America to Australia by way of India.
“The last few days are going to be a battle between the ‘yes’ side saying to people, ‘seize the opportunity,’ and the ‘no’ side saying, ‘avoid the risk,’” John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t think we can be sure which way this will go.”
bloomberg.com
In a speech in Aberdeen during his last visit to Scotland before the Sept. 18 referendum, Cameron promised a “major program” of change, saying the campaign has “swept away” the status quo.
Guaranteeing unprecedented powers if voters opt for “no” in three days, he appealed to Scots not to walk away from the economic security, shared history and achievements of the 307-year-old union.
“It would not be a trial separation. It would be a painful divorce,” Cameron said yesterday. “I don’t want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that disappears.”
European governments are looking on as campaigning for the vote nears its climax, with polls suggesting the Better Together campaign has failed to quash the pro-independence push led by Alex Salmond, leaving the outcome on a knife edge.
As London hosted a rally yesterday evening for the union and a “no” vote, Cameron made his second trip to Scotland in a week to try and prevent one of the biggest redrawings of the political map of western Europe since World War II.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who also opposes independence, is due to campaign in central Scotland today.
Mortgages, Pensions
The prime minister in his speech listed the risks of independence, from pension funds being “sliced up” to the loss of embassy support worldwide and mortgages held by banks in what would be a foreign country.
He also offered the prospect of his own political mortality as an inducement, saying that while he and his government “won’t last forever,” a split from the U.K. would be a “once-and-for-all decision.”
In an effort to distance himself from the charge of negative campaigning that has plagued Better Together, Cameron made repeated references to Scotland and the U.K. as a “family” with shared values and accomplishments.
Cameron said he understood why some people might be drawn to vote “yes” by the “promise of something different,” whereas in reality Salmond’s nationalists were painting a false picture of the future independence would bring. “When something looks too good to be true –- that’s usually because it is,” he said. “Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay.”
‘Empty Threats’
Blair Jenkins, the chief executive of the Yes Scotland campaign, dismissed the prime minister’s speech as “the same litany of empty threats and empty promises.”
“Only by voting ‘yes’ will Scotland always get the governments we vote for -- and never again Tory governments imposed by Westminster,” he said in an e-mailed statement. Politicians and activists are fanning out across Scotland in the final countdown to the ballot, with both the “yes” and “no” campaigns saying they’re poised to win.
The pound dipped against the dollar and 10-year gilts edged up yesterday after weekend polls gave contradictory pictures of the outcome.
“In the next 48 hours Scotland faces a historic decision which will shape its future and the whole of the U.K.’s future for centuries to come,” Miliband will say today, according to advance extracts released by his office.
“A vote for ‘no’ is a vote for change. Let’s take our chance to change our country together.”
The contradictory polling evidence reflects the volatile nature of the campaign as it enters the final stretch before a ballot that may result in Europe’s newest sovereign state -- Scotland -- while bringing the curtain down on the U.K., a country whose empire once spanned more than a quarter of the world’s surface, from America to Australia by way of India.
“The last few days are going to be a battle between the ‘yes’ side saying to people, ‘seize the opportunity,’ and the ‘no’ side saying, ‘avoid the risk,’” John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t think we can be sure which way this will go.”
bloomberg.com
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