UK-SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE/MILIBAND Scotland hits fever pitch two days before independence vote

Record ID: 565570

  • Title: UK-SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE/MILIBAND Scotland hits fever pitch two days before independence vote
  • Date: 16th September 2014
  • Summary: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 16, 2014) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EDINBURGH'S HISTORIC 'ROYAL MILE' VARIOUS OF 'NO' CAMPAIGN POSTERS IN WINDOWS TOURISTS WATCHING STREET PERFORMER / STATUE OF SCOTTISH ECONOMIST ADAM SMITH VARIOUS OF STATUE OF SCOTTISH ECONOMIST ADAM SMITH PLASTERED WITH A 'YES' STICKER 'YES' SUPPORTER MARIA CONWAY, WITH SCOTTISH SALTIRE FLAG, TALKING TO PASSER BY (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'YES' SUPPORTER, MARIA CONWAY, SAYING: "It's about self-determination and it's about the future of Scotland and the next generations." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'NO' SUPPORTER, GRAHAM JONES, WELSH AND NON-VOTER, SAYING: 'No' because in the old cliche, I think we are better together: Welsh, English, Northern Irish and, of course, Scottish." WOMAN CARRYING SMALL 'VOTE NO' PLACARD SMILING AND SAYING (English): "I hope you vote 'No'." BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER AND LEADER OF BRITAIN'S OPPOSITION, ED MILIBAND, CAMPAIGNING IN SHOPPING MALL / SURROUNDED BY MEDIA, AND 'NO' SUPPORTERS AND 'YES' CAMPAIGNERS MILIBAND ATTEMPTING TO CAMPAIGN AS SUPPORTERS FOR BOTH CAMPS CHANT (English) "Yes, yes, yes." AND "No, No, No." MILIBAND DROWNED OUT BY CHANTING AS HE SAYS (English)" This isn't a vote for no change, by voting 'No', it's a vote for clear change, greater powers for the Scottish parliament." MILIBAND ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK TO A REPORTER AS 'YES' SUPPORTER SHOUTS OFF CAMERA (English): "Liar, liar, liar." MILIBAND MEETING A SHOP WORKER IN MALL VARIOUS OF EDINBURGH'S PRINCESS STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'YES' SUPPORTER, WHO RUNS A BUSINESS IN THE FINANCE SECTOR, VICTORIA ARNOLD, SAYING: "It would be a 'Yes' because I don't feel that the Better Together campaign have given us a good enough reason to stay together, instead they have chosen the scaremonger tactics. And I am actually really concerned that Nigel Farage's party are going to into power down in the UK, and I don't want to be part of that." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'NO' SUPPORTER, NON-VOTER FROM ENGLAND AND ARNOLD'S AUNT, BARBARA JEFFREY, SAYING: "You have to show unity. It saddens me and it saddens me to think that there may not be a Union Jack anymore too. That's our history, you know?" VARIOUS OF EDINBURGH CASTLE
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEXFEIAX5NCF0OKMG0V79N2B1Z
  • Story Text: Campaigning in Scotland by the pro and anti-independence camps reached fever pitch on Tuesday (September 16), less that two days before the key referendum on Thursday.
    At Edinburgh's tourist hot spot of the Royal Mile, passionate individuals were out to help swing the vote which polls suggest is too close to call in the simple 'Yes' or 'No' ballot.
    For one Scot, bedecked in the Scottish Saltire, the reasons to vote 'Yes' were historic and straightforward.
    "It's about self-determination and it's about the future of Scotland and the next generations," Maria Conway said.
    Some individual campaigners had travelled from other parts of the UK, including Graham Jones, who came north from Wrexham in Wales - which like Scotland has devolved government powers - to urge Scots to go no further than simple devolution.
    'No' because in the old cliche, I think we are better together: Welsh, English, Northern Irish and, of course, Scottish,"Jones said.
    The leader of Britain's Labour Party, Ed Miliband, swept into a shopping centre in Edinburgh's city centre to press home a fresh pledge from the main UK political parties, including Labour, to devolve more powers and preserve a funding formula which gives Scotland proportionately more resources.
    His arrival turned into a scrum as 'Yes' supporters mobbed the leader, trying to drown out his words to the media by chanting, which in turn led 'No' supporters to shout back.
    "This isn't a vote for no change, by voting 'No', it's a vote for clear change, greater powers for the Scottish parliament," Miliband said, his words almost indecipherable amid the loud chanting.
    In a sign of the fevered nature of the campaign, the Labour leader only managed to meet and greet a couple of shop workers before being ushered away by aides.
    As Scots decide which way to vote, debate has been intense, even splitting families over the merits of separation from the UK versus staying within its bounds.
    "It would be a 'Yes' because, it would be a 'Yes' because I don't feel that the Better Together campaign have given us a good enough reason to stay together, instead they have chosen the scaremonger tactics. And I am actually really concerned that Nigel Farage's party are going to get into power down in the UK, and I don't want to be part of that," Victoria Arnold, who runs a business in the financial sector, said.
    Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's right-wing and anti-European Union UKIP party, is predicted by analysts to make gains at the next British general election.
    Arnold's aunt, who is English and was visiting Edinburgh said, bedecked in a Union Flag (Union Jack), that many English people emotively feel the Union should remain.
    "You have to show unity. It saddens me and it saddens me to think that there's not going to be a Union Jack anymore too. That's our history, you know," Barbara Jeffrey said.
    Behind the arguments over whether Scotland would be able to remain in a currency union with the the United Kingdom and whether the country would easily slip into membership of the European Union, are a host of other considerations, from the decades long yearning for independence to the practical consideration of whether separation will lead to job losses.
    The 'Yes' campaign argues that the United Kingdom government will switch from its present stance and will allow some form of currency union with the pound and that, despite pronouncements from some European Union senior officials, the EU would not dispossess Scotland's population of some five million who are currently EU citizens.
    The 'No' campaign, fighting under the 'Better Together' slogan, argues that nothing is certain and the huge risks will drive major employers to relocate in England, something the giants of Scotland finance industry, including Royal Bank of Scotland, have indicated they will do.
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