SCOTLAND WILL VOTE on whether to become independent of Britain in a close-fought referendum on Thursday.
Here are some of the most memorable quotes which have emerged during the campaign.
No one, absolutely no one, will do a better job of running Scotland than the people who live and work in Scotland. On September 18, we have the opportunity of a lifetime.
First Minister Alex Salmond, who is leading the “Yes” to independence campaign, in a TV debate on August 5.
Any eight-year-old can tell you the flag of a country, the capital of a country and its currency. Now, I presume the flag is the Saltire, I assume our capital will still be Edinburgh but you can’t tell us what currency we’ll have.
Pro-union campaign leader Alistair Darling to Alex Salmond in the same debate.
People can feel it is a bit like a general election, that you make a decision and five years later you can make another decision… if you’re fed up with the effing Tories give them a kick. This is totally different from a general election, this is a decision about not the next five years, it’s a decision about the next century.
British Prime Minister David Cameron refers to the unpopularity of his Conservative party, which is backing the union, on a visit to Edinburgh on September 10.
The more I listen to the ‘Yes’ campaign, the more I worry about its minimisation and even denial of risks. Whenever the big issues are raised — our heavy reliance on oil revenue if we become independent, what currency we’ll use, whether we’ll get back into the EU — reasonable questions are drowned out by accusations of ‘scaremongering’.
“Harry Potter” author JK Rowling, a leading backer of the campaign to keep Scotland part of Britain, in a statement on her views on June 11.
One of the greatest changes in Scotland is that people have grown bored with moaners and naysayers. Don’t grumble — get it done.
Irvine Welsh, the Scottish author of “Trainspotting” and a “Yes” campaign supporter, on Twitter on September 9.
The United Kingdom has been an extraordinary partner to us — from the outside at least it looks like things have worked pretty well and we obviously have a deep interest in making sure that one of the closest allies that we will ever have remains (a) strong, robust, united and effective partner.
US President Barack Obama on the state of the union at a G7 summit in Brussels on June 5.
It’s hard to see how the world would be helped by an independent Scotland. I think that the people who would like to see the break-up of the United Kingdom are not the friends of justice, the friends of freedom.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Scottish independence in comments published by the Times newspaper on August 16.
It is the Scots who have succeeded most in preserving the British idea of fairness and compassion in terms of state support and intervention. Ironically, it is England, since the 1980s, which has embarked on a separate journey.
Leading Scottish historian Tom Devine reveals he is backing the “Yes” camp in an interview with the Observer newspaper on August 17.
The referendum campaign has been the most exciting thing to happen to Scotland in my lifetime.
Scottish actor Alan Cumming, star of The Good Wife, urging a “Yes” vote in a public appearance on September 8.
I think the Scots will come to a good conclusion in the referendum. They’ll get what they deserve.
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly in a BBC interview shown on February 17, saying he planned to be out of the country for the referendum and would not vote.
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