Scots referendum campaign hots up with a month to go

With four weeks to go until the Scottish referendum, the yes campaign has narrowed the margin by four points, with 57 per cent planning to vote no and 43 per cent intending to vote yes.

Campaigning has intensified ahead of the poll, with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond visiting Arbroath Abbey, the site where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320, which set out Scotland’s case for independence.

Mr Salmond said the referendum gave voters an opportunity to “take power out of the hands of the Westminster elite and into the hands of the people of Scotland”.

Speaking in London, Prime Minister David Cameron said Mr Salmond was a “desperate man” making a “pretty desperate argument” on the question of NHS privatisation.

One month from today, we can choose to create a better future for our country. Vote Yes to an independent Scotland. #indyref #voteYes

— Yes Scotland (@YesScotland) August 18, 2014

With just 1 month to go @DAlexanderMP and activists are out in force campaigning across Glasgow today #indyref pic.twitter.com/TfYntYF8m6

— Better Together (@UK_Together) August 18, 2014

14-point lead

The YouGov/Times poll puts the no campaign 14 points ahead in an opinion poll conducted 12-15 August.

These numbers exclude the “don’t knows” and “wouldn’t vote” groups, which make up 11 per cent of people.

This latest YouGov poll is the first to factor in young voters, and the first to be conducted since the first televised debate between Alistair Darling and Mr Salmond.

Young people, aged 16-24, are the only age group that currently has a larger percentage of people backing independence, but they are the group least likely to vote, according to the poll.

The yes campaign is seen as ‘mostly positive’ by 48 per cent of people, while the Better Together campaign is seen as ‘mostly positive’ by 34 per cent. But slightly more people think the Better Together campaign has been “mostly honest”.

This latest set of polling also indicates that the yes campaign has been busiest, reaching more people through campaign activities.

But responding to a poll that it commissioned, which found the gap to be just four points, the yes campaign says the referendum is now on a “knife edge”.

Deputy First Minister and Yes Scotland advisory board member Nicola Sturgeon said: “These are extremely encouraging findings, showing rising support for yes and putting the referendum on a knife edge.”

Alistair Darling this week said: “My starting point is that I want Scotland to be fairer, more prosperous and have greater opportunities.”

The second debate between Mr Darling and Mr Salmond will be broadcast by the BBC on 25 August.

Across the United Kingdom, 63 per cent oppose Scottish independence, while 18 per cent support it, according to YouGov.