Margaret Clayton: Staying united is safest and best

I’m voting No. Why? Not because of anything I’ve heard from the two men campaigning (or shouting over each other in ill-tempered debates) as they try to win my vote.

Instead, my decision has been made using head and heart.

Economically we’re coming out of a long, hard recession. As a country the UK toughed it out and the economy is recovering. We did it because we stood together.

I don’t want to risk financial insecurity now. Pensioners on fixed incomes can’t take that chance with our hard-earned savings. For my children and grandchildren I want a stable economy not pipe dreams.

Two of my family work in medical research. Experts in that field are worried what will happen to that vital work in an independent Scotland.

Two others have a small business how will economic uncertainty affect that?

For my grandchildren, I worry how the education budget will fare with so many other demands on a finite pot of money.

As a wife and mum who survived on a tight budget for many years while raising a family, I know that no matter how much you want to do with money it only stretches so far.

The ‘Yes’ campaign have many fine ideals but no concrete plans for budgeting for any of it. So my head tells me no chance, Mr Salmond.

My heart also tells me I like being British. I’m passionately proud of being Scottish, but the culture and history of this small green island make me equally proud of being a British citizen.

Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes, they all illuminated my school life. Growing up, I enjoyed the music of the Beatles, the Mary Quant-inspired fashion of the Sixties, watching Top of the Pops on the BBC.

I love the diversity of being Scottish born Margaret McLean, descended from the McLeans of Mull, my grandfather said.

But I love Britain too.

Over the years I’ve stood in awe in Durham Cathedral and York Minster. I’ve marvelled at our engineering skills as I travelled for the first time on the Eurostar from the south of England to Paris. I walked around a moonlit London on the night after attending Princess Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey with hundreds of people smelling the flowers, reading the tributes, as part of a nation grieving together.

I enjoy eating fish and chips by the sea in brash Blackpool. I love the huge generosity of the UK for fundraising and helping people at home and overseas who are in desperate need.

Together as a nation we have brought so much healing, hospitality and hope to a troubled world.

The cheer that went up when the Queen opened the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow convinces me that others also understand the importance of our dual nationality.

At 21, my mum and dad went off to the south of England to join the Army and fight for this threatened island. Like thousands of other Scots, they were prepared to defend our homeland whatever the cost.

I love our United Kingdom. I don’t want a separation.

I want my children and grandchildren to be both Scottish and British because I believe we are truly fairer, healthier, kinder, safer, stronger and better together.