Scottish independence: Scaremongering a myth - PM

DAVID Cameron will today say that Nationalist claims No campaigners are guilty of scaremongering are a “myth” when he addresses the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh.

Prime Minister David Cameron is to speak in Edinburgh today. Picture: Jane Barlow

The Prime Minister will argue that “serious, non-partisan figures” in charge of companies such as BP, Shell, the Alliance Trust, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays are the people making the case for the United Kingdom.

When he arrives at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, he will say: “This referendum is a major life decision – and you don’t make one of those without getting all the information you can. You wouldn’t buy a house without getting a survey done. You wouldn’t choose a car without an MOT.

“And you shouldn’t make a decision about changing your nation – forever – without knowing in full what the consequences may be.

“And look at who’s laying out those consequences. The Governor of the Bank of England. The president of the European Commission. Business chiefs from companies like BP and Shell; Alliance Trust and RBS; Lloyds, Barclays – the list goes on. These are not political puppets, they are serious, non-partisan figures.

“So, the idea that these are empty warnings and political scaremongering is a myth – and we owe it to the people of Scotland to take that myth apart.”

The Prime Minister will argue that voting No is “… about being part of a bigger team. A family of nations. And we’ll see the strength of that family again at the Commonwealth Games this summer.

“You want to know something wonderful? When the call went out for volunteers at Glasgow 2014, more than a quarter of those who responded were from elsewhere in the UK.”

On the eve of his visit, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “With just one MP in Scotland, the Tories have no mandate here. And yet people across Scotland are paying a huge price at the hands of a Tory-Lib Dem Government that they did not elect.”