Scotland polls too close to call

Three separate opinion polls showed Scottish supporters of staying within the United Kingdom had a slight lead over their compatriots favoring independence. However, all three polls also put the number of undecided voters higher than the four-percent advantage held by the "no" campaign. Pollsters ICM, Opinium and Survation conducted the separate counts.

"It's very tight," John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University, told the Scotsman newspaper, which commissioned the ICM poll. "At the moment it looks as if the 'yes' campaign is going to fall agonizingly short from their perspective. But I have always said this is the 'no' campaign's to lose and it certainly looks as if they have got pretty close to that."

Historically, polls on Scottish independence tended to show a clearer margin in favor of staying within the UK - but the gap narrowed considerably in the late stages leading up to the referendum.

On Thursday, almost 4.3 million people - residents of Scotland who are also eligible to vote - will be asked the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Last-ditch appeals

The Yes Scotland and Better Together campaigns were both planning last-gasp rallies in central Glasgow on Wednesday, while First Minister Alex Salmond published an open letter urging voters to end the 307-year-old union with the UK.

"The talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What's left is just us - the people who live and work here. The only people with a vote. The people who matter," the Scottish National Party leader wrote in his personal letter. "Wake up on Friday morning to the first day of a better country. Wake up knowing you did this - you made it happen."

The sudden surge for the pro-independence camp in the polls prompted a mass mobilization from the British establishment, involving Prime Minister David Cameron, his Scottish predecessor Gordon Brown, and even footballer David Beckham.

Britain's three main political parties, in a deal brokered by former Labour leader Brown, promised the Scottish parliament continued above-average levels of state funding and greater control over its own finances in the event of a 'no' vote. Critics called the late charm offensive desperate and transparent, with Salmond saying the deal was "an insult to the intelligence of the people of Scotland."

Cameron's reckoning?

Cameron, just like his Conservative party, is highly unpopular north of the border, meaning the prime minister has faced quite a quandary on the issue: Does his presence in Edinburgh or Glasgow help or hinder the 'no' campaign's cause? He had delivered earlier speeches and appeals on the issue from London.

British newspapers reported that there was anger among Conservatives about the prime minister's handling of the Scottish referendum, with several politicians telling the Financial Times newspaper that a Scottish vote for independence would force Cameron to resign.

"I hope Scots vote to stay; if it goes wrong, however, the prime minister will have to decide what the honorable thing is to do," said Tory MP Andrew Rosindell.

msh/dr (AFP, dpa, Reuters)