Scottish Independence Looms as Iceberg Moves Toward U.K.

By Robert Hutton Sep 8, 2014

Scottish independence increasingly looks like an iceberg that could sink Prime Minister David Cameron’s government and the opposition Labour Party. And like the passengers on the Titanic, they never saw it coming.

Yesterday’s YouGov Plc (YOU) poll putting the Yes vote on 51 percent sparked a fresh effort from supporters of the union to urge Scots to come back from the brink. About 100 Labour lawmakers will travel to Scotland this week to campaign for a No vote, while Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne offered more powers over taxes and spending to the Scottish Parliament -- if voters opt to stay part of the U.K.

Cameron was staying with Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in northeast Scotland when he learned that the independence campaign had moved into the lead.

“I’ve always said that the polls will narrow -- it’s clearly very tight,” Alistair Darling, the leader of the Better Together campaign, which opposes independence, told the BBC. “This is something that’s dividing families, friends.”

Scottish independence would bring the curtain down on a 307-year-old union that created one of the most influential countries in the world. It would also constitute the biggest crisis of Cameron’s premiership.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-07/scottish-independence-looms-as-iceberg-moves-toward-u-k-.html