Scottish Referendum: Salmond Has Last Word

Alex Salmond has issued a final rallying call to voters to back independence ahead of Thursday's referendum which could see Scotland break away from the 300-year-old Union.

Addressing Yes campaigners at an eve-of-poll rally in Perth, the SNP leader hailed the movement "the greatest campaign in Scottish democratic history" which offered Scots the chance to write a "new chapter in the story of this ancient nation".

Recent polls have suggested the historic vote is on a knife-edge. And a new poll by Ipsos Mori for broadcaster STV was no different, suggesting 51% of people would vote No, while 49% would vote Yes.

Mr Salmond said it showed the Yes camp to be the "underdogs" and urged voters to turn the poll on its head on Thursday.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime and we must seize it with both hands," he said.

"It is the greatest and most empowering moment that most of us will ever have.

"Make this decision with a clear head and a clear conscience."

An independent Scotland would be a "committed ally" and seek harmony and equality - not division, he said.

And he slammed Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband, and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's offer of new powers to Scotland as a "desperate last-minute offer of next-to-nothing" which he said provided no solutions to the issues the country faced.

"Independence is the right road forward for Scotland," said Mr Salmond.

"Let's do this now," he added, to chants of "yes we can" by supporters.

Moments after his speech, a new poll by Survation for the Daily Record suggested 53% of Scots would reject independence, while 47% were planning to vote for it.

A Sky News Twitter poll this evening asking people which way they think Scotland will vote showed 63% believed the referendum would be won by the Yes camp, with just 37% expecting the No camp to win.

Earlier, the No campaign held its final rally in Glasgow which included a speech from Gordon Brown who told voters it was their patriotic duty to vote against independence.

He said: "This is not a decision just for this time - this is a decision for all time. This is a decision that cannot be reversed or undone. This is a decision from which there is no going back."

Some of Britain’s former representatives in Brussels, including Peter Mandelson and Neil Kinnock expressed doubts of an independent Scotland’s membership of the European Union, highlighting warnings by five EU heavyweights including European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, whose term ends in October, that it would not automatically have a place.

"People from the president of the European Commission to the greatest living expert on EU law, to the Spanish Europe Minister and the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament all agree: if Scotland leaves the UK it also leaves the EU. There would - and could - be no 'seamless transition',” they said in a joint statement.

"The whole point of the European Union is to bring people together, not divide them. A European future for Scotland is best secured by staying together in the United Kingdom ."

Commenting on the referendum on the eve of the vote, US President Barack Obama said: "The UK is an extraordinary partner for America and a force for good in an unstable world. I hope it remains strong, robust and united."