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Rivals scramble for last-ditch votes in Scotland referendum
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CAMPAIGNERS for and against Scottish independence scrambled for votes yesterday ahead of a historic referendum, as a religious leader prayed for harmony after polls showed Scots were almost evenly split.
The Church of Scotland’s moderator John Chalmers called for Scots to “live in harmony with one another” whatever the result and hailed the feverish run-up to Thursday’s vote as “a wonderful democratic concerto.”
“All of those who will vote ‘Yes’ and all of those who will vote ‘No’ need to remember that we belong together in the same Scotland,” he told worshippers at St Mary’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh in a sermon broadcast on BBC radio.
“We cannot afford to lose the momentum and interest in civic life which this campaign has generated,” said Chalmers, moderator of the general assembly of the Church, the largest religious group in Scotland.
The pro-union camp has been far ahead in the polls for months, but the difference has narrowed in recent weeks and a raft of surveys over the weekend indicated that the vote could go either way.
A Survation poll on Saturday showed the “No” camp at 47 percent and the “Yes” at 40.8 percent, with 9.0 percent undecided and 3.2 percent unwilling to say.
An Opinium survey for yesterday’s Observer newspaper put “No” at 47.7 percent and “Yes” at 42.3 percent, with 10 percent not sure.
An ICM online poll for the Sunday Telegraph placed the pro-independence campaign at 49 percent and the pro-UK at 42 percent with 9.0 percent undecided.
“The polls show that the referendum is on a knife-edge. There is everything to play for,” said Blair Jenkins, chief executive of the “Yes Scotland” campaign.
Both sides are scrambling to win over the undecided voters who could hold the balance in the vote.
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who has spearheaded the drive for independence, said he was confident the “Yes” campaign would win. The priority after the referendum would be would be to bring Scots together again to work for the country’s future good, he said on the BBC.
Alistair Darling, a former British finance minister and leader of the “Better Together” campaign, warned that if Scots vote to split from the UK it would be an irreversible decision. With promises from British political leaders of greater powers for Scotland in the event of a “No” vote, Scots could have the best of both worlds, Darling said.
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