It
is Thursday morning on Buchanan Street, Glasgow’s busiest shopping
thoroughfare, and Scotland’s First Minister is doing what he does best:
smirking.
Working
his way through a boisterous crowd of placard-wielding Yes supporters, Alex
Salmond revels in the adoration of his fans and poses for countless “selfies”
with starstruck Nationalists out to pay homage on the 10th anniversary of his
return as leader of the Scottish National Party.
The
choice of location for this event, right in the middle of Glasgow, is very
deliberate. With less than a fortnight until Scots vote on whether to leave the
United Kingdom, Scotland’s largest city has turned into the front line in the
referendum battle. To win, the Nationalists need to convert voters in the west
of Scotland, where Labour has traditionally been strong.
Mr
Salmond, a gambler and racing-loving punter who relishes the thrill of the
chase, is confident he has Labour and the Better Together pro-Union campaign on
the run. “The ground is shifting below their feet,” he says.
The
race has certainly tightened. Last week, a poll by YouGov showed the No lead narrowing
sharply to only six points (53 to 47 per cent when don’t knows are stripped
out).
It
prompted concern at Westminster, and in the City the markets were spooked.
Investors who had presumed there was no chance of a Yes vote sold off shares in
companies that trade on both sides of the border between England and Scotland.
Polls this weekend are expected to show Yes getting even closer.
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