British PM pleads with Scots to not break ‘family of nations’

Alarmed by recent polls, British Prime Minister David Cameron today rushed to Scotland to make an impassioned plea to Scots not to split the ‘family of nations’, saying it would be heartbreaking if the Union is ‘torn apart’.

Cameron and other British political leaders headed to Scotland to rally voters to keep the 307-year-old union between England and Scotland intact and pleaded them to vote against breaking the UK in 18 September referendum.

‘I love my country more than I love my party,’ an emotional Cameron said, campaigning in Edinburgh.

‘I care hugely about this extraordinary country, this United Kingdom that we’ve built together. I would be heartbroken if this family of nations that we have put together and we have done such amazing things together if this family of nations was torn apart,’ he said. ‘If Scotland votes for separation that would have to be respected by the rest of the United Kingdom. And as Prime Minister of the UK I would have to make that happen.

‘It would be a heartbreaking job to have to do, to break up this family of nations that has been such a success,’ he added.

Cameron was in Scotland on the same day as Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg make their own pleas for Scotland to vote ‘No’ to independence.

The Prime Minister’s urgent trip follows a weekend poll putting the ‘Yes’ camp two points ahead, and another yesterday showing both sides evenly split on 41 per cent.

The close race ahead of the vote has sent shudders through the financial markets. Amid uncertainty over what currency an independent Scotland would use, the pound and shares in Scotland-based financial institutions have sinked.

He said Britain is ‘holding its breath’ ahead of the vote. ‘I don’t want my children to grow up in a world where if they choose Edinburgh University they are going to be in a capital of foreign country,’ Cameron said. Cameron denied he had only now ‘woken up’ to the prospect of a ‘Yes’ vote after opinion polls showed a surge in support for the ‘Yes’ camp.

‘In the last days of the campaign, let’s make sure the emotional passion comes through,’ he stressed. Cameron warned that Scotland could ‘run out of money’ if it goes independent.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, on his own campaign trail, said his opponents could not be trusted.

‘What we are seeing today on the other side is Team Westminister jetting up to Scotland for the day because they are panicking in the campaign,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace has asked politicians to leave Queen Elizabeth II out of the campaign.