First of all a very Happy New Year to you !

As we start 2014, the real countdown begins as we head towards the Referendum on September 18th this year.

I am proud to say that I am pro Union and sincerely hope that the people of Scotland will respond with a resounding No vote to separation from the UK.  I have certainly seen nothing in the SNP Independence White Paper that answers some of the most basic questions over what splitting from the United Kingdom would mean for currency and Scotland’s place in the EU.

In a recent poll conducted by YOUGOV commissioned for the Better Together campaign a majority said that Alex Salmond is wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money promoting his obsession with independence.  The poll said that 56% of Scottish adults think that the reported £800,000 being spent by the Scottish Government to promote the SNP’s White Paper manifesto for breaking up the UK is a “bad use” of public money. When asked separately what they thought about the amount of public money Alex Salmond is spending on his independence campaign generally, just 9% thought he should be spending more.

It’s not surprising really. When people hear that the SNP are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of your money on billboards, newspaper adverts and leaflets promoting their White Paper, they understandably get annoyed. I am sure like me, they would rather public spending was focused on schools, hospitals and childcare. These are the things that really matter. Yet Alex Salmond is happy to spend £800,000 of your taxes promoting his campaign to separate Scotland from the UK. This is what we are up against. We need your help to even up the odds.

Please do whatever you can now to help the Better Together campaign, whether it is delivering leaflets locally or just getting out and voting NO on the day. We cannot be complacent  and the threat is real. The Nationalists will stop at nothing to offer giveaways and gimmicks over the next few months. As our leader in Scotland Willie Rennie has commented: ‘There is a golden opportunity to invest in high quality nursery education in Scotland now’. Like Willie I am disappointed that the SNP’s pledge to increase the number of hours of free care for children will not be introduced if Scots don’t back their independence plans. This is despite devolution  having already given the Scottish Government control over child care in Scotland.