Referendum battle about to heat up, claims Darling

Alistair Darling has claimed a raft of high profile names from the arts and business world are ready to enter the referendum debate to push for a No vote.

The leader of the Better Together movement said the start of 2014 will see an increase in tempo for the campaign with the role of non-politicians becoming increasingly important in persuading undecided voters.

Mr Darling said the crunch poll will be won by the pro-Union side with the support of the rest of the UK urging Scots not to leave the Union, adding any bid to turn the debate into a “Scotland versus England” row would backfire.

The former Chancellor also claimed he is “not worried” that the bulk of Better Together’s big ticket donations have come from Tory supporters and insisted the pro-Union campaign will attract major Labour and Lib Dem donors in the coming months.

Mr Darling said: “My guess is that from the beginning of January people will say ‘Right, this is something I need to decide this year’.

“The arguments will become more intense, there will be more events and more meetings. The tempo of the campaign will step up, it will become more real.

“But if the next nine months ends up just being an exchange between politicians, people will turn off so you will see more non-political voices coming in.

“I’m not saying that from the 2nd of January there will be fireworks every day. There won’t be, this is a nine month campaign, but I think people will notice there will be a change.”

The Labour veteran said supporters of the Union will come from “right across the piece” and include key figures from the arts and business sectors.

He explained: “A lot of them have been nervous. We’ve got this continuing undercurrent of people saying they have been lent on and told to shut up, which I think is extremely damaging.

“But there are a number of people who have said, well I’m not going to keep quiet but I will wait until 2014.”

The former Chancellor said he was happy to share a platform with David Cameron over the coming months but said “most of the voices [in his campaign] will be those involved in Scottish life.”

However, Mr Darling said people living in the rest of the UK had a crucial role to play in the referendum, citing the influence a campaign by the rest of Canada for a No vote had in swaying the tight referendum on independence for Quebec in 1995.

He said: “If you look at the polling evidence, the majority of the rest of the UK do not want us to leave and you will get people, who may be politicians or may not be politicians, who will be saying that in the next nine months, and all to the good.

“Rather like in the referendum in Quebec, the attitude of their fellow Canadians was actually quite an important part.”

Mr Darling claimed Alex Salmond wanted to make the referendum a “Scotland/England thing” as part of the SNP’s emotional pitch for independence.

He said: “He knows for some people the Scotland v England thing appeals, mostly to hardcore Nationalists, but that is something I think would be an absolute tragedy.

“We are all in favour of watching Scotland v England on the sporting field but that is quite different from trying to set us up as countries of two fundamentally different people, which is simply not the case.”

Earlier this month, The Sunday Post revealed how a former spy, a war zone security chief and the Arsenal chairman were among donors who have handed over more than £1.6 million to Better Together.

Nearly all of the big ticket donations to Better Together from political supporters have come from Tories.

Asked if they will attract any significant Labour or Lib Dem donors to contribute to the campaign, Mr Darling said: “Yes, we will.”

He added: “I’ve always said we are cross-party and never said it was going to be a third, a third and a third in terms of funding.”

Mr Darling also claimed the Scottish Government is using taxpayers’ money to “cash in on public events for party political propaganda” and warned against any bid to hijack next year’s Commonwealth Games.