A+ A-

Fate of UK in the balance

By Hosni Emam LONDON, Sept 17 (KUNA) -- Polls suggest the Scottish referendum battle remains too close to call as both sides gear up for a frantic last day of campaigning Wednesday.
The latest research by Opinium, ICM and Survation groups all gave No the same slender lead of 52% to 48%. But the four-point advantage is close to the margin of error for such surveys - raising the prospect of a "nailbiting final" push in which every ballot could make the difference.
Commentators said the referendum is on "a knife edge", and this will spur on everybody who wants and is working hard for a Yes to redouble their efforts, pro-independence said.
However, Better Together campaign said: "This vote will go right down to the wire. There is no room for a protest vote. If we vote to leave the UK there would be no going back, no matter what it costs us in terms of bigger cuts, higher prices and fewer jobs.
Meanwhile, the commentators said there is only a brief 24 hours to go in this increasingly rancorous campaign.
Some analysts said the outcome now depends on around 350,000 voters who have still to make up their minds. They also indicate that the main opposition Labour party is again "haemorrhaging" support to Yes, with a third of those who voted for the party in the 2011 Scottish elections intending to back independence. The three pro-Union parties are engaged today in a last-minute whirlwind of campaign visits as they seek to shore up the No vote.
It would be a "tragedy" if Scotland votes for independence tomorrow, leader of the No campaign Alistair Darling has said in a radio interview.
The Better Together leader said the promise of further devolution from the main Westminster parties would offer a "better change" than the uncertainty of independence.
He said some people involved in the increasingly bitter referendum campaign had "stepped over the line" and an effort would be needed to "calm things down" after the results come in.
Darling said a no vote would offer "faster, more secure, better change within the United Kingdom than the years of wrangling that would follow if we were to vote to leave the UK tomorrow".
For his part, the leader of the independent campaign Alex Salmon said in a BBC radio interview this morning: "If we are successful, and I'm assuming absolutely nothing, as first minister of Scotland my first act will be to say, look, the campaigns are over, what we have now is Team Scotland." "I shall be inviting people from across the political spectrum to join Team Scotland. I shall do this regardless of the result," he adds.
Salmond said the referendum contest had been the "most extraordinary political campaign" in Scottish history, and he insisted he was not taking the result for granted.
He claimed that the Westminster leaders would change their position on sharing sterling if there was a Yes vote and dismissed the "political posturing and bluff" by the No camp over the currency.
The First Minister, who has made a direct appeal to voters with a personal letter about the "greatest most empowering moment any of us will ever have", said the enthusiasm for the campaign had been humbling.

In the meantime, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron admits in an interview with The Times newspaper today that he "does wake up in the night sweating over the prospect of defeat." He is justified as it is now clear that many Conservative MPs believe his position would be untenable if he loses Scotland, the daily pointed out. One MP told the paper that his colleagues are actively considering whether Cameron would have to stand down within the week if Yes prevails. If that happened the MP believes there should be a national unity government, including the Labour leader Miliband, to govern until the general election.
On the other hand, Many who believe the No campaign is doing better than the polls suggest cite fear of intimidation by the separatists as one of the reasons why "the silent majority is staying silent". And with Ed Miliband forced to abandon a walkabout yesterday as nationalist supporters shouted him down and called him "a liar" most of the papers focus on claims of bullying and unruly behaviour by Yes supporters.
Judging from some of the scenes shown on television there have been occasions when it has gone well beyond the normal exuberance of election times, commentators noted.
Tom Bradby, political editor of the commercial TV station "ITV News", admits he is not enjoying covering the referendum because the level of abuse and intimidation being meted out by some in the Yes campaign is making the whole thing an unpleasant experience.
For his part, the former US president Bill Clinton has said Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom in order to send a "powerful message" of unity to the rest of the world.
Clinton said he had been reluctant to wade into the debate until now because the question was one for Scots alone to answer. But he said that he hoped his intervention would be accepted in the spirit of friendship.
Clinton said uncertainties over how Scotland would be run as an independent country had led him to believe that a no vote would be most beneficial. Increased autonomy would, he said, give Scotland the benefits it sought without the risks attached to independence.
"Because the independence vote is a decision for the Scots alone to make, and because Scots are already legendary for their independence of mind, I have been reluctant to express my views on the matter. I hope my decision to do so will be received in the spirit of friendship with which it is offered," Clinton said in a statement released through the Better Together campaign in Edinburgh last night.
"I understand and sympathise with those who want independence. Scotland is blessed with impressive human and natural resources and a strong desire for more widely shared prosperity and social solidarity.
"However, I hope the Scots people will vote to remain in the UK." (pickup previous) he.rk