Scottish Independence: Gordon Brown Delivers Speech Of His Life In Defence Of The United Kingdom

Gordon Brown Delivers Speech Of His Life In Defence Of The UK

Gordon Brown has delivered a passionate defence of the United Kingdom, urging Scots who oppose independence to "stand up and be counted" at the polls tomorrow.

Speaking at the final No campaign rally in Glasgow on Wednesday afternoon, the former prime minister said patriotism did not belong to Alex Salmond and the separatists.

"This is our Scotland. Scotland does not belong to the SNP. Scotland does not belong to the Yes campaign," he said. "This is not their flag, their country, their culture, their streets."

In a rallying cry that electrified the crowd and has been widely seen as one of the best speeches of his life, Brown appealed to both the hearts and the heads of Scottish voters. "There is not a cemetery in Europe that does not have Scots, English, Welsh and Irish lined side by side," he said. "We not only won these wars together, we built the peace together. What we have built together by sacrificing and sharing, let no narrow nationalism split asunder ever."

He added: "The vote tomorrow is not about whether Scotland is a nation, we are. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Let us tell the undecided. The waverers. Those not sure how to vote. Let us tell them what we have achieved together."

As the polls narrowed, Brown decided to take an increasingly active role in the No campaign. He said the SNP wanted to "smash our partnership" with England which had been a "beacon for solidarity and sharing" for hundreds of years for no reason. He asked voters to consider "what sort of message" Scotland would send to the rest of the world if it broke the union.

Brown also warned that independence risked taking Scotland down an "economic trapdoor" from which "we might never escape". And he told No voters to "have confidence" in the face of a vocal and active Yes campaign. "Stand up and be counted tomorrow, have confidence tomorrow," he said.

The latest polls suggest the fight is a dead heat, but Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins has said he was "very confident we are going to get a Yes majority tomorrow". And he said campaigners would be "working hard for every vote between now and the closing of the polling stations tomorrow".

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