British PM clashes with Scotland on independence

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Scotland yesterday to bring its independence referendum forward after the head of the Edinburgh government said he would not hold a vote until late 2014.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has stoked a constitutional clash with London over the thorny issue of which of the two governments has the right to call a referendum on the break-up the 300-year-old union.

In Parliament in London, Mr Cameron reiterated that his government would give Edinburgh special powers to hold the referendum, but accused Mr Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) of stalling. The Conservative leader taunted SNP lawmakers, saying that if they were “so keen to leave the United Kingdom, I don’t quite understand why they want to put off putting the question for so long”.

“I sometimes feel when I listen to them it’s not a referendum they want, it’s a never-endum. Let’s have the debate and let’s keep our country together,” Mr Cameron said.

Mr Cameron said he opposed Scottish independence and that the United Kingdom was “stronger together rather than breaking apart,” but said uncertainty over the issue was hurting Scotland’s economy.