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Luke MacGregor / Reuters

British PM heads to Scotland as independence campaign gathers steam

Those saying they would vote no on independence dropped to 39 percent. Yes support rose to 38 percent

British Prime Minister David Cameron and main opposition leaders on Tuesday canceled their weekly showdown in Parliament to make a joint last-minute bid to persuade voters in Scotland to reject independence in a Sept. 18 referendum and remain part of the United Kingdom, after the latest opinion polls indicated there is a real prospect of the 300-year-old union breaking up.

"In the end, it is for the Scottish people to decide, but I want them to know that the rest of the United Kingdom — and I speak as prime minister — want them to stay," Cameron said.

Cameron and opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband, along with Liberal Democrat party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, agreed to skip their weekly debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday to separately head north to Scotland. The decision follows the latest opinion poll by the research firm TNS, which showed the referendum scheduled for Sept. 18 is now "too close to call," according to TNS head Tom Costley.

"Tomorrow the right place to be isn't in Westminster at prime minister's questions [in Parliament], it's being in Scotland listening to people, talking to people," Cameron said.

The number of people saying they would vote no on independence dropped to 39 percent in the latest TNS poll, down from 45 percent a month ago. Support for independence was slightly behind at 38 percent, but made a dramatic surge from 32 percent a month ago.

A separate YouGov poll in The Sunday Times this week put the pro-independence camp slightly ahead for the first time this year, prompting a fall in the pound and British shares that reflected concerns that an independent Scotland would struggle economically.

Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond, who leads the pro-independence movement, said in Edinburgh that the TNS opinion poll showed the campaign opposing independence had "fallen apart at the seams."

UK political leaders have been rattled by the most recent polls and this week, Cameron's Conservatives, as well as Labour and the Liberal Democrats, all promised Scotland more autonomy — including greater tax-raising powers — if voters reject separation.

But Salmond said the last-minute proposals were a "sign of the total disintegration" of the campaign to vote no.

"The polls at the weekend, which caused so much panic in the breasties of the no campaign, actually showed that independence was the most popular option," Salmond said.

Cameron's position is tricky. His party is deeply unpopular in Scotland, and high-profile campaigning by him could boost the yes side in the referendum. He dodged a question about whether he would resign if Scotland votes for independence, breaking up a political union with England that has endured since 1707.

"I really care about this issue," Cameron said. "I care passionately about our United Kingdom and I want to do everything I can to put the arguments in front of the people."

The latest poll results sent the British pound tumbling to a 10-month low against the dollar, amid continued uncertainty about the effect that independence would have on the British economy.

The SNP says Scotland would keep the pound, but the unionist parties in London say this will not be possible — a view reinforced by the governor of the Bank of England.

"A currency union is incompatible with sovereignty," Mark Carney told a meeting of trade unions on Tuesday in the northwestern English city of Liverpool.

Wire services

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