Scotland opinion polls put 'No' camp ahead

An 'I love Scotland' sign hangs from a store in Edinburgh. Polls are showing that the Yes and No camps are neck and neck in the Scottish independence referendum.

AFP

Opinion polls gave campaigners for Scotland to stay in Britain a slight lead on Friday as First Minister Alex Salmond hit back at business leaders who revealed their independence contingency plans.

With six days to go until the September 18 referendum on independence, the race is too close to call and Scotland is on a knife-edge as its leaders trade increasingly bitter rhetoric.

Salmond, leader of the pro-independence movement, was on a whistlestop tour of four cities as he battles to win enough support to end the union between Scotland and England, which dates back to 1707.

"Scotland stands on the cusp of history," he wrote in an article for the Daily Record newspaper. "I am more confident than ever that the people of Scotland are going to say 'Yes.'"

A Guardian/ICM poll out Friday put the "Yes" campaign on 49% compared to 51% for the "No" camp when undecided voters were excluded.

The campaign to keep the union was forced to reboot this week after a Sunday Times/YouGov poll out on Sunday put the "Yes" camp narrowly ahead for the first time.

This prompted Britain's main party leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron to rush to Scotland to campaign and promise new devolved powers if Scots vote to stay in Britain.

But a YouGov poll published on Friday in The Times put the "No" camp four points ahead on 52% once undecided voters were stripped out.

This was the first time the pollsters have recorded the pro-union side gaining ground since early August.

The new surveys came after a string of big businesses with Scottish interests made statements on their contingency plans in the event of independence.

Banking giant RBS was among those to say they could re-register their headquarters in England following an independence vote but insisted this would not cause major job losses.

Department store John Lewis and supermarket ASDA also warned Scottish shoppers that they could face higher prices post-independence.

But the "Yes" camp has reacted bullishly, insisting that warnings over the potential economic consequences of independence were "entirely speculative".

Former Northern Irish leader Ian Paisley dies

Former Northern Irish first minister Ian Paisley, the firebrand Protestant leader who struck a power-sharing deal with former foes Sinn Fein, died on Friday at the age of 88.

A towering figure during the Troubles in Northern Ireland known for his decades of intransigence and impassioned rhetoric, Paisley had been ill for some time.

"My beloved husband, Ian, entered his eternal rest this morning," his wife Eileen said on behalf of the family.

Paisley did what even he once considered unthinkable in May 2007 and entered office with Sinn Fein - the political wing of the now-defunct Irish Republican Army paramilitary group - and as a result restored stable, devolved government to the British province.