Scottish independence: SNP and Labour hit the road

SNP LEADERS will visit Scotland’s seven cities while their Labour counterparts will rally support in Glasgow as both sides of the independence campaign continue to push for votes.

Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband speaks as Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown, John Prescott MP and Johann Lamont look on. Picture: Getty

With just six days to go until the referendum Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon will campaign for a Yes vote in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Perth.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will be joined by former prime minister Gordon Brown and Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont at a rally in Glasgow, as the party seeks to take the lead in building support for the No campaign.

• Get the latest referendum news, opinion and analysis from across Scotland and beyond on our new Scottish Independence website

Ukip will also join the campaign trail, with the party expected to host its own rally in Glasgow attended by leader Nigel Farage and his MEPs.

The latest stage of campaigning comes as a new poll found the No campaign has moved back into a narrow lead. The latest YouGov survey of almost 1,300 people for The Times and The Sun puts support for No at 52%, slightly ahead of Yes at 48%, once undecided voters are factored out.

Today, Mr Salmond will take to the skies visiting Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee, while Ms Sturgeon will be starting in Glasgow where she will be campaigning in Drumchapel with actors Martin Compston and Peter Mullan. She will then move on to Edinburgh and Stirling.

The pair will later meet up alongside Yes activists in Perth for more campaigning.

They plan to highlight what they argue are the seven key gains of independence, including job-creating powers, protection for the NHS, savings as a result of scrapping Trident, the SNP’s “transformational” childcare, control of social security and the minimum wage, and “always getting the governments we vote for”.

• Read all of our essays on Scottish independence

Mr Salmond said: “A Yes vote is a golden opportunity for people in Scotland - to use that wealth and control policy so that many more people benefit.

“As the opportunities of independence have become clearer throughout this campaign, we have seen more and more people switch from No to Yes - and with this tour I’ll be taking the positive case of seven key gains of independence directly to ordinary people in cities across the country.

“A Yes vote is the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to take Scotland’s future into Scotland’s hands and to have confidence in our own ability to make a better future for the people of Scotland.

“The energy and confidence of the Yes campaign is energising people and communities across Scotland - and stands in stark contrast to the same old scaremongering from a distrusted and discredited Westminster establishment.”

Labour’s latest rally comes after dozens of the senior figures from the party arrived north of the border on Thursday to help Mr Miliband shore up support.

Ms Lamont will also attend a Better Together campaign event in Falkirk earlier in the day to “make the case that being part of the UK keeps costs down for families in Scotland”.

It comes after retailers John Lewis warned that shoppers would be likely to face higher prices post-independence, and supermarket Asda said it would have to ‘’reflect its cost’’ to operate north of the border after a Yes vote.

SEE ALSO:

• John McTernan: Labour can preserve the Union

• Scottish independence: Labour step up No campaign