MESSAGE TO MR. RUSSELL SANDERSON, PRESIDENT OF THE SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST ASSOCIATION

Thursday's referendum decision is important not only for Scotland but for the whole United Kingdom. The Government's plan, if approved, would bring about an irreversible constitutional change. Scotland's position in the United Kingdom would be fundamentally altered for generations to come.

Such a momentous matter is about more than party politics. Whatever your political views, this question is central to our national unity. Devolution stirs deeply-held feelings which cut across party lines.

Many people of all parties, as well as Conservatives, believe that the right answer to the Government's proposal is NO. A NO vote does not mean that the devolution question will be buried. It will open the way for all parties to explore together a lasting alternative arrangement which can enjoy the support of the whole British people.

The present proposal would not bring better government, but only more government—more politicians, more civil servants and more expense. Is that what the Scottish people really want? [end p1]

It is certainly not wanted by the British people as a whole. They desire stability, strength through unity and recovery through common effort.

The Assembly will not bring better government, but more government. It cannot endure. It has been hashed together by a divided Parliament, and would merely institutionalize conflict between London and Edinburgh. That conflict threatens the very survival of the United Kingdom.