Let's stay together, says Cameron (From Swindon Advertiser)

Let's stay together, says Cameron

2:28pm Thursday 16th February 2012 in National News © Press Association 2011

David Cameron has said his "hope and wish" is that Scots would vote to stay in the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister has been in talks with Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, on plans for an independence referendum. But the Conservative leader used a speech in Edinburgh shortly before the meeting to make the case for the Union.

Mr Cameron said: "I come here today with one simple message: I hope and wish that Scotland will vote to remain part of the United Kingdom."

He said that Scotland had been a "pioneering country all its life" but that the United Kingdom provided a "warm and stable home that billions elsewhere envy".

"I am convinced that both for Scotland, and the United Kingdom, our best days lie ahead of us," he added.

Mr Cameron also said that Scotland had "so much of which to be proud". However it was the UK, he said, which was "even more of an inspiring model for the future" and that it could provide the answer to some of the big challenges of these times.

The Prime Minister said: "Think of the key challenges of our times. There's the risks and opportunities of globalisation - with populations moving, cultures clashing and new routes to prosperity. And there's the impact of increasing economic competition from the new, economic power houses of the world.

"I believe the United Kingdom has the answers to both those challenges."

He went on to argue that in "an increasingly uncertain world" it was better for countries to be together, saying: "Nothing encapsulates the principle of pooling risk, sharing resources and standing together with your neighbour better than the United Kingdom.

"Whether it's ensuring the same disability benefits for those in need from Motherwell to Maidstone, or ensuring that the resources of 60 million taxpayers stand behind our banks. Whether in Edinburgh or London, the United Kingdom is a warm and stable home that billions elsewhere envy."