UK media debate Scotland's future ahead of historic vote
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E-mail Xinhua, September 18, 2014
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Leader of the Labour party Ed Miliband speaks to a gathering of "No" voters, as leader of the "Better Together" campaign Alistair Darling (2nd L) looks on, in Glasgow, September 11, 2014.The referendum on Scottish independence will take place on September 18, when Scotland will vote whether or not to end the 307-year-old union with the rest of the United Kingdom. [Photo/China Daily via agencies] |
The Scottish independence debate on Wednesday entered its final day of campaigning, while mainstream media in Britain started shifting their focus from political wrangling to voting details about the historic referendum.
Pulling updates and high profile campaigners from both sides continued to dominate headlines in a number of British newspapers.
Two new polls on Tuesday have put the No campaign on 52 percent, with 48 percent supporting the Yes campaign, after excluding those who have not decided on how to vote.
"Britain's fate now rests with around 350,000 Scots who have still to make up their minds before polling stations open at 7 a.m. tomorrow, " the Scottish Daily Mail reported in a front-page story entitled "24 Hours to Save Britain."
Pro-union former Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave an impassioned speech to the last Better Together rally in Glasgow, defending the integrity of the United Kingdom while urging Scots to oppose independence in the epoch-making referendum on Thursday.
"Say to your friends, for reasons of solidarity, sharing, pride in Scotland, the only answer is vote No," Brown was quoted by the Financial Times as saying on Wednesday.
Brown, a Scot, has been at the forefront of the No campaign during the lengthy campaigning battle. In early September, he also proposed a "timetable", backed by all three major political parties in Britain, for devolving more powers to Scotland if the Scottish people reject independence.
However, the promised devolution plans have been slammed by Prime Minister David Cameron's political rivals, when some British lawmakers have expressed their fury at Cameron's hind-sighted "bribes" to save the Union.
The prime minister faced the first public calls to consider his resignation, and his promise of greater powers and a more generous funding arrangement for Scotland could provoke a "rebellion on a scale not seen before," British paper the Times reported Wednesday.
With less than 24 hours to go before Scots go to the polls, the leaders of the Yes and No campaigns are making their final pleas to win the support of those undecided voters.
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