Better Together in leaflets drive

Feb 22 2013

Being part of the UK means Scotland "can squeeze out every last drop of oil before it runs out and won't be left paying billions of clean-up costs by itself", according to the pro-UK Better Together campaign.

The group has launched a leaflet laying out a series of "facts" to support its belief that Scotland "should stay as a strong part of a bigger United Kingdom".

The leaflet also states that Scots who need specialist treatment can currently go to any hospital in the UK, free of charge.

A Better Together spokesman said they are not suggesting that the opposite would be true under independence, only that these benefits would be cast into doubt unless the UK Government agrees to share the oil industry`s clean-up costs and maintain patient rights. Other stated benefits include "more secure finances", citing the UK Government's £470 billion bailout of Scottish-based banks.

Better Together also points to the thousands of shipyard jobs supported by the Royal Navy and the tens of thousands of Scottish communities that rely on UK armed forces bases for their livelihoods.

Other "facts" include statements such as: "We are stronger and more secure with the UK armed forces looking after us"; "It doesn't make sense to put up barriers to our nearest neighbour"; and "We should be working together to grow our economy and create more jobs, not waste time and money on splitting apart".

Campaign director Blair McDougall said: "In contrast to the separatist campaign, our materials don't attack the other side of the argument. We simply offer facts and the perspective of real Scots who offer their reasons for sticking together in the UK. People want facts, not politics."

One million leaflets will be distributed in the next few days, with more than 250 campaign activities across the country this weekend and a further 350 scheduled in the following week.

SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said: "Under successive UK governments - Tory and Labour - Westminster has filched Scotland's oil revenues for 40 years and given us Trident nuclear weapons in return. One of the reasons why we need a Yes vote for independence next year is because over half of the value of North Sea oil and gas is still to be extracted."

She added: "In terms of the NHS, this is an extraordinary own goal by the Tory-led No campaign, which makes the Yes campaign's point. With the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament, Scotland's NHS is already independent, and therefore we already have the same reciprocal arrangements as we would have with independence for Scotland."