By Richard Johnstone | 7 February 2014
Prime Minister David Cameron has today called on people across the UK to speak out in support of the union as part of Scotland’s independence referendum campaign.
Speaking at the Olympic Park in London, Cameron said the decision over independence was solely for Scotland to make in the vote on September 18. However, people in the rest of the UK must use their influence to let Scots know that they were wanted as part of the union.
‘I passionately believe it is in their interests to stay in the UK,’ he said. ‘That way Scotland has the space to take decisions, while still having the security that comes with being part of something bigger. From Holyrood they can decide what happens in every hospital, school and police station in Scotland and in the UK, Scotland is part of a major global player.’
The decision will affect the 63 million people across the UK who could ‘wake up on September 19 in a different country, with a different future ahead of it’, Cameron added.
‘That’s why this speech is addressed not to the people of Scotland, but to the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We would be deeply diminished without Scotland. This matters to all our futures. And everyone in the UK can have a voice in this debate.
‘We come as a brand – a powerful brand. If we lost Scotland, if the UK changed, we would rip the rug from under our own reputation. The plain fact is we matter more in the world together.’
Cameron’s speech came as a report from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research stated that an independent Scotland could be in a better financial position than previously thought.
Analysing the economics of independence, the NIESR found that the current method for measuring Scotland’s public finances – the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report – may have been 'underestimating revenues and overestimating the size of any inherited net deficit'.
NIESR also stated that independence would allow the tax and benefit system in Scotland to be reformed to address some of the weaknesses in the UK regime.
Blair Jenkins, chief executive of the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign, said the report showed Scotland had got what it takes to be a successful and prosperous independent country.
He added: ‘Scotland is already in a stronger financial position than the rest of the UK and, with our own future in our own hands, we have all the ingredients to create the kind of fairer, more socially just country that most Scots want.’
