Campaign over Scot independence gains steam

Should Scotland move out of the UK and become independent?

A furious debate over the controversial question gained steam today as parties opposed to the idea – Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats – launched a coordinated 'Better Together' campaign in Edinburgh.

The high profile pro-independence campaign supported by celebrity Scots such as actor Sea Connery was launched by the Scottish National Party (SNP) on May 27. The SNP is the ruling party in the Scotland parliament, referred to as Holyrood.

The Scottish government ruled by SNP is planning a referendum on the question of independence in the autumn of 2014, with both sides making their pitch in detail, including the benefits and drawbacks of leaving the United Kingdom.

Hundreds of thousands of leaflets were handed by the Better Together campaign today at train station, setting out the case for keeping Scotland in the UK.

Launching the anti-independence campaign, senior Labour leader and former chancellor Alistair Darling said there will be no way back from Scottish independence, and compared it to buying "a one-way ticket to send our children to a deeply uncertain destination".

According to Darling, Scotland could have the "best of both worlds", with a strong parliament at Holyrood and a secure place in the United Kingdom.

The campaign countered the case for independence put forth by the SNP.

He said: "When Scotland votes in the referendum, we will face a historic choice which will shape our country and our families' futures, not just for the lifespan of a parliament, but for generations to come".

Darling added: "We make a positive case for staying together. A positive case that celebrates not just what makes us distinctive but also celebrates what we share. We put the positive case for staying together.

We are positive about our links with the rest of the United Kingdom, through families and friendships, through trade and through shared political, economical and cultural institutions."

He said the better Together campaign were comfortable with the identities of being Scottish, British, European, citizens of the world, "and don't see the need to abandon any of them."

Countering the Better Together campaign launch, SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond said Darling's "threadbare" case against independence was "exposed by the weakness of his arguments".