Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article - 19th September

As you read this our United Kingdom will either have remained the same, or we will be saying farewell to our Scottish neighbours. I sincerely hope for the sake of our great and historic union - which has fought two world wars together - that Scotland has voted no and that we remain united.

I am writing this week's column the day before polling day and it is quite literally too close to call. Even Mr Murdoch's Scottish Sun newspaper has failed to choose a side to support as public opinion remains completely divided. At least one outcome is certain - it won't be the 'sun what won it' in this election.

As the referendum campaign reaches the end we can also be certain about another thing: There is no place in British politics for the appalling tactics and thuggish behaviour that we have seen from many of the Scottish Nationalists over the past few months. I was shocked to see the news coverage of Ed Miliband being heckled abuse by members of the yes campaign in Glasgow earlier in the week. Here in Swindon we have always respected each other's political visits as they are a key part of the democratic process.

Unfortunately Mr Salmond has done nothing to stop his side's boisterous attempts to silence anybody who disagrees with them. Indeed the SNP has managed to stop any proper debate in recent weeks, instead promoting an intolerance to Scots who support a no vote. This is not how an election should be. After all, the voters should have access to both sides of the debate before making an informed decision.

Yet despite all the arguments and passions aroused by this hyper-sensitive election campaign - 97% of people are now registered to vote in Scotland. That's almost the entire population actively engaging in politics - a fantastic triumph for democracy. Regardless of the result, we will have to accept the decision because it has been made directly by the Scottish people. And that is what a referendum can deliver - a political decision made by the people, for the people. That's why I believe that we need to have a referendum on our membership of the European Union, something which the Conservatives will deliver in 2017 if re-elected next year.

Finally, whilst I hope to wake up to a no vote on Friday, I am still convinced that the issue of devolution needs to work both ways and be beneficial to the rest of the UK as well as Scotland. In particular we need to urgently look again at the fact that Scottish MPs can vote on English matters, but not the other way round. Scottish MPs should not be allowed two bites of the cherry.