LONDON (Reuters) – An independent Scotland would be a prosperous country that would retain close ties with the United Kingdom if voters choose to go it alone in the September 18 referendum, Scottish leader Alex Salmond will say today.
Salmond will use his first speech in London this year to address arguments against independence by British Prime Minister David Cameron, opposition leaders and some business executives.
Heading the campaign for secession, Salmond is battling a concerted effort by London to prevent a “yes” vote by undermining his Scottish National Party’s central case that oil-producing Scotland could be a prosperous, independent nation.
Salmond will call on voters not to be intimidated by “diktats from on high”. A vote for independence would not mean ending ties with the United Kingdom, he will say.
“Scotland will not be a foreign country after independence, any more than Ireland, Northern Ireland, England or Wales could ever be foreign countries to Scotland,” Salmond will tell a New Statesman event at Westminster in London.