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Scottish Independence: Sturgeon and Lamont target each other's party members

Deputy First Minister tells Glasgow Central Mosque 'hundreds of thousands are back Yes vote' as Scottish Labour leader urges Sturgeon's constituents not to 'take a punt'

SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont targeted each other’s party supporters yesterday as the independence referendum countdown entered its final fortnight.

Campaigning in Govan in the heart of Ms Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency, Ms Lamont urged SNP supporters not to “take a punt” on voting Yes to independence.

“We know that in 2011 people voted for the SNP as a recognition of the success of devolution and there are significant numbers of SNP voters who are voting No,” she said.

“I think that is because they understand you can have the benefits of devolution but with the security and protection of the United Kingdom.

“You can vote No as a patriotic choice because it means we can have the opportunity to create a fairer Scotland.”

Simultaneously SNP deputy leader Ms Sturgeon went on the attack at Glasgow’s Central Mosque after Scottish members of transport union RMT narrowly voted to back the Yes position on Thursday.

Ms Sturgeon said Labour voters “in their hundreds of thousands” were already moving to a Yes vote, and “endorsements like this will persuade even more of them to back independence.”

Ms Sturgeon said the independence debate “is not about where we have come from or what party we belong to.”

She said: “It is about the people of Scotland, all of us, taking our future into our own hands.”

Meanwhile Labour MSP Jackie Baillie warned yesterday that changes to the welfare state after independence could cost £750 million in the first year.

The figure includes £400m which the Department for Work and Pensions has estimated would be needed for setting up a new benefits system in Scotland.

Ms Baillie said: “Alex Salmond needs to tell people in Scotland how his welfare promises would be paid for when independence would bring about austerity-plus.

“The SNP’s welfare claims simply don’t add up. The experts at the impartial Institute for Fiscal Studies are clear that leaving the UK would mean an extra £6 billion of cuts.”

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