UK party leaders to campaign against Scottish independence

The United Kingdom’s party leaders are set to campaign in Scotland for a “No” vote ahead of Scotland’s independence referendum on September 18.

Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband will all be campaigning this week to try and persuade Scottish people to vote against Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

The three leaders will not travel or campaign together in Scotland. However, they have released a joint statement saying “There is a lot that divides us- but there’s one thing on which we agree passionately: the United Kingdom is better together.”

"That's why all of us are agreed the right place for us to be tomorrow is in Scotland, not at prime minister's questions in Westminster,” the leaders said. "We want to be listening and talking to voters about the huge choices they face. Our message to the Scottish people will be simple: 'We want you to stay.'"

The leaders’ visit was announced on Tuesday after fresh polls indicated a narrowing of the lead that the pro-Union Better Together campaign has over the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign.

However, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, one of the primary proponents for Scottish independence, described the three party leaders as the ‘least trusted Westminster leaders ever’ and claimed that their campaigns in Scotland would actually encourage Scottish people to vote ‘Yes’ for an independent Scotland. He also challenged Cameron to a direct debate about Scottish independence.

“No one believes the three leaders’ panicked pledges,” Salmond said. “It is a phoney timetable for measly powers. A ‘Yes’ vote delivers a real timetable for the full powers that Scotland needs.”

“The No side have lost their poll lead, and people are switching directly over to Yes- if David Cameron thinks he is the answer to the No campaign’s disintegration disarray, let him put his case to the test in a head-to-head debate.”

Meanwhile, UKIP leader Nigel Farage has also announced his plans to campaign in Scotland in favour of the Union.

“A sensible degree of nationalism is a good, healthy thing,” Farage told US media. “But excessive nationalism is really very dangerous, and Salmond has stirred up amongst 16 to 24-year-old Scots a kind of anti-English hatred and it’s pretty unpleasant.”