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Scottish independence vote: NHS leak fuels campaign clashes Scottish independence vote: NHS leak fuels campaign clashes
(about 4 hours later)
Ed Miliband was forced to abandon a chaotic walkabout in Edinburgh on Tuesday after being verbally abused by yes supporters in a reflection of tense last-minute campaigning before Thursday's Scottish referendum.Ed Miliband was forced to abandon a chaotic walkabout in Edinburgh on Tuesday after being verbally abused by yes supporters in a reflection of tense last-minute campaigning before Thursday's Scottish referendum.
On a day when the yes and no campaigns battled over the funding of the NHS and the future constitution of the United Kingdom, the Labour leader was caught in a crush with television crews and journalists at the St James shopping centre in central Edinburgh. On a day when the yes and no campaigns battled over the funding of the NHS and the future constitution of the UK, the Labour leader was caught in a crush with TV crews and journalists at the St James shopping centre in central Edinburgh. Yes campaigners shouted and hurled abuse at Miliband, calling him a liar and a serial murderer, prompting the politician to say: "I think we've seen in parts of this campaign an ugly side to it from the yes campaign."
Yes campaigners hurled abuse and shouted at Miliband, calling him a liar and a serial murderer, prompting the politician to say: "I think we have seen in parts of this campaign an ugly side to it from the yes campaign."
The verbal abuse and chants aimed at Miliband are the latest in a series of incidents where senior Scottish Labour figures campaigning for a no vote, including Jim Murphy and Gordon Brown, have been targeted by pro-independence protesters.The verbal abuse and chants aimed at Miliband are the latest in a series of incidents where senior Scottish Labour figures campaigning for a no vote, including Jim Murphy and Gordon Brown, have been targeted by pro-independence protesters.
In one snatched interview during the melee, Miliband said he was in Edinburgh to argue for "more powers for a stronger Scotland as well as NHS funding guaranteed, and that's got to be weighed up against the big risks of voting yes. And that's the choice people are facing in the last couple of days of this campaign."In one snatched interview during the melee, Miliband said he was in Edinburgh to argue for "more powers for a stronger Scotland as well as NHS funding guaranteed, and that's got to be weighed up against the big risks of voting yes. And that's the choice people are facing in the last couple of days of this campaign."
Two polls last night suggested the no campaign is narrowly ahead. An Opinium/ Daily Telegraph poll showed that the No side is ahead with support among 52% of those polled. Just under half (48%) support independence. The figures apply among those who are certain to vote. If the figure includes those who have not decided how to vote, the no side is still ahead – by 49% to 45%. But the poll shows that the yes side have made up ground since the weekend when they were behind by six points in the last Opinium poll. A series of polls on Tuesday night suggested the no campaign is narrowly ahead, by 52% to 48%. But the polls – Opinium/Daily Telegraph, Survation/Daily Mail and ICM/Scotsman – showed a small movement to yes in recent days, though they placed the no side ahead within the margin of error.
An ICM/Scotsman poll also placed No on 52% and Yes on 48%. In an interview with the Times, David Cameron said he had no regrets about the referendum arrangements. He said he had been right to avoid a third option on the ballot paper offering further devolution.
Miliband was speaking a day after he had joined forces with rival party leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg to promise more powers for Scotland in the event of a no vote – including a pledge to continue additional public funding for Scotland through the Barnett formula, the adjustment made by the UK Treasury to the expenditure allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which guarantees an extra 19% spending per head. "I had a choice. You either say: 'Yes, you can have that referendum, and here's a way of making it legal, decisive and fair,' or I could have taken the approach of just putting my head in the sand, and saying: 'No, you can't have a referendum'," he said.
When asked about the polls, he said: "I'm not a pollster, so I can't really explain polls. My job is to help move them rather than explain them."
Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp who appeared to be flirting with the yes camp during a brief trip to Scotland over the weekend, has hedged his bets after the Scottish Sun declined to endorse either side. In an editorial on Wednesday the paper said that the decision is so momentous people have to "make up their own mind".
The pro-UK side received a boost when Bill Clinton, the former US president, endorsed the Better Together campaign on the grounds that the new powers due to be devolved to the Scottish parliament will guarantee "maximum self-determination". He said: "I understand and sympathise with those who want independence … however, I hope the Scots people will vote to remain in the UK."
Clinton spoke a day after the UK's main party leaders promised more powers for Scotland in the event of a no vote – including a pledge to continue additional public funding for Scotland through the Barnett formula, the adjustment made by the UK Treasury to the expenditure allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which guarantees an extra 19% spending per head.
That pledge, made in Scotland's Daily Record on Tuesday, unleashed hostility across England and Wales from English Conservative MPs, and Labour leaders of English local government.That pledge, made in Scotland's Daily Record on Tuesday, unleashed hostility across England and Wales from English Conservative MPs, and Labour leaders of English local government.
Christopher Chope, the Tory MP for Christchurch, said: "My constituents are saying: 'Hang on, you can't have a devo-max settlement for Scotland, which we're paying for, without having a look at the balance of competences and powers within the United Kingdom as a whole." Christopher Chope, Tory MP for Christchurch, said: "My constituents are saying: 'Hang on, you can't have a devo-max settlement for Scotland, which we're paying for, without having a look at the balance of competences and powers within the UK as a whole."
The referendum campaign has now entered its final surge, with the rival campaigns sending out more than four million leaflets to voters, and Yes Scotland targeting pensioners – the group most likely to vote against independence – with 1.2m personally addressed appeals to cast a yes vote. In the referendum campaign's final surge, rival campaigns sent out more than four million leaflets to voters. Yes Scotland targeted pensioners – the group most likely to vote against independence – with 1.2 million personally addressed appeals.
Alex Salmond issued a letter to Scotland's voters appealing to them to not "let this opportunity slip through our fingers", before staging his final rally in the Scottish National Party-controlled city of Perth on Wednesday night. Dismissing the "increasingly desperate and absurd scare stories being generated daily from Downing Street", the SNP leader said the referendum had generated "confidence, belief and empowerment" in Scotland. Salmond said Scotland's 4.3 million voters would be "people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands". Alex Salmond issued a letter appealing to voters to not "let this opportunity slip through our fingers", before staging his final rally in the SNP-controlled city of Perth. Dismissing the "increasingly desperate and absurd scare stories being generated daily from Downing Street", the SNP leader said the referendum had generated "confidence, belief and empowerment" in Scotland. He said Scotland's 4.3 million voters would be "people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands".
"It's the greatest, most empowering moment any of us will ever have. Know that by voting yes, what we take into our hands is a responsibility like no other – the responsibility to work together to make Scotland the nation it can be." But Salmond suffered a blow when a leaked document raised significant questions about the Scottish government's funding of the NHS.
Despite this carefully calibrated, emotional appeal, Salmond suffered a blow when a leaked document raised significant questions about the Scottish government's funding of the NHS. The paper for senior NHS managers revealed they were planning to have to deal with a £450m shortfall over the next two years. Sweeping cuts would be needed to fund the shortfall, the document said.
The paper for senior NHS managers revealed they were planning to have to deal with a £450m shortfall over the next two years. Sweeping cuts would be needed to fund the shortfall, the document said. That leak sabotaged Salmond's efforts to put the future of Scotland's health services at the centre of the yes campaign – by alleging that NHS privatisation policy in England could force Scotland to cut health spending.
That leak sabotaged Salmond's efforts to put the future of Scotland's health services at the centre of the yes campaign to attract Labour voters, by alleging that NHS privatisation policy in England could force Scotland into cutting health spending. Alistair Darling, head of the Better Together campaign, said: "Today we learned that Alex Salmond and [his deputy] Nicola Sturgeon have been deceiving us. I find that quite appalling. After all these scare stories [about privatisation] they've known that these cuts are coming along, but we weren't going to be told about it until after the polls had closed." Sturgeon insisted the leaked document strengthened the case for independence, because those cuts were identified as part of the spending squeeze imposed by the UK government's austerity programme.
Alistair Darling, head of the Better Together campaign, said it was a devastating disclosure. "Today we learned that Alex Salmond and [his deputy] Nicola Sturgeon have been deceiving us. I find that quite appalling. After all these scare stories [about privatisation] they've known that these cuts are coming along, but we weren't going to be told about it until after the polls had closed." She said the no campaign was "making our case for us because the centre of the case on the NHS is that [we] don't have control over our own resources".
Sturgeon insisted the leaked document strengthened the case for independence, because those cuts were identified as part of the spending squeeze imposed by the UK government's austerity programme. She said the no campaign was "making our case for us because the centre of the case on the NHS is that [we] don't have control over our own resources. And as long as we remain at the mercy of Westminster cuts to our overall budget then it gets harder to protect the things that matter." Miliband is due to lead a series of campaigning visits over the next two days, as Labour battles to save the 307-year-old union in a part of the country that it has considered as part of its core constituency.
Miliband is due to lead a series of campaigning visits over the next two days, as Labour battles to save the 307-year-old union in a part of the country that it has considered as part of its core constituency. Labour is gearing up for a massive "get out the vote operation" on Thursday , aiming to visit half a million Labour voters to get them to polling stations. Labour is gearing up for a massive "get out the vote operation" on Thursday, aiming to call on half a million Labour voters.
As the pro-independence group Business for Scotland announced it now had 3,000 members, one of Scotland's most famous entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Sir Tom Hunter, said Salmond's currency plans were deeply flawed. As the pro-independence group Business for Scotland announced it now had 3,000 members, one of Scotland's most famous entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Sir Tom Hunter, said Salmond's currency plans were deeply flawed. Hunter told the Guardian: "On the narrow question of currency, there's no question that the way we are currently [in the UK] is best for business. Any other option is going to have costs, uncertainties and risks."
Hunter told the Guardian that neither sharing a currency with the UK nor using the pound without one met his definition of independence, because Scotland's monetary policy was run by a foreign national bank – the Bank of England.
"On the narrow question of currency, there's no question that the way we are currently [in the UK] is best for business. Any other option is going to have costs, uncertainties and risks," he said.