Following Westminster’s main party leaders’ three-pronged attack last week, the Prime Minister is returning to Scotland today. He is due to make his final plea for the country to vote No in Thursday’s independence referendum.
He will make an emotive and patriotic appeal to Scots not to “break up our family of nations”. This is an echo of the words he used in a piece for the Mail, setting out his argument for keeping the Union together.
As reported in the Telegraph, No 10 sets out what the PM will tell Scottish voters today:
The vote on Thursday is not about whether Scotland is a nation.
Scotland is a proud, strong, successful nation. The vote on Thursday is about two competing visions for Scotland’s future: the Nationalists’ vision of narrowing down, going it alone, breaking all ties with the UK; or the patriotic vision of a strong Scottish nation allied to the rest of the United Kingdom with its own stronger Scottish Parliament at its heart and with the benefits of UK co-operation on jobs, pensions, healthcare funding, the currency, interest rates.
It really is the best of both worlds and it’s the best way to get real change and secure a better future for your children and grandchildren
. . .
This is a decision that could break up our family of nations and rip Scotland from the rest of the UK.
And we must be very clear. There’s no going back from this. No re-run. This is a once-and-for-all decision. If Scotland votes Yes, the UK will split, and we will go our separate ways forever.
David Cameron has suddenly become a high-profile figure in the campaign for a No vote. Having previously kept his head relatively down in the debate – his Tory/Westminster credentials are clearly not the best combination for appealing to the Scottish electorate – he has come to the fore in the final days before the vote.
This initially looked a little like desperation, reacting to the Yes campaign’s first-time lead in the polls. And the panicky passion of the No side comes a little late in the day. However, if figures like Cameron and other senior politicians give the impression that they’re worried, this could potentially help their cause. Scotland’s undecided voters – roughly half a million – may perceive from this reaction that the prospect of an independent Scotland is something to worry about.
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