David Cameron and Ed Miliband are to miss their weekly Commons clash at Prime Minister’s Questions in order to campaign in Scotland for a No vote in the independence referendum.
In a joint statement with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the leaders of the three main Westminster parties said that they wanted to be out “listening and talking to voters” about the choice they faced.
The announcement came as Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said the Better Together campaign was in a state of “total disintegration” with the opinion polls showing the outcome of next week’s vote is too close to call.
In their statement the three leaders said: “There is a lot that divides us – but there’s one thing on which we agree passionately: the United Kingdom is better together.
“That’s why all of us are agreed the right place for us to be tomorrow is in Scotland, not at Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster.
“We want to be listening and talking to voters about the huge choice they face. Our message to the Scottish people will be simple: ‘We want you to stay’.”
Speaking in the garden of No 10, Mr Cameron said the parties were putting aside other differences to make clear to the people of Scotland that they could have “the best of both worlds” if they rejected independence.
The Saltire is expected to fly over Downing Street in a sign of commitment to the union, a move which follows an appeal by Mr Miliband for cities, towns and villages across the UK to display the flag.
Explaining the dramatic decision to cancel his appearance in the Commons, Mr Cameron said: “I’ll do everything that I can.
“Let’s be frank, there’s a lot that the political leaders disagree about but there’s one thing that we all agree about passionately and that is that our United Kingdom is better off if we stay together.
“So tomorrow the right place to be isn’t Westminster at Prime Minister’s Questions, it is being in Scotland, listening to people, talking to people.
“We will all have our own ways, separately, of talking about why we are better together.
“But one thing I’m sure we will all say is that it’s a matter for people in Scotland to decide, but we want you to stay.”
Asked if the highly-unusual move was a sign of panic in the No camp and about the security of his own position as Prime Minister if he oversaw the break-up of the Union, Mr Cameron said: “I really care about this issue. I care passionately about our United Kingdom and I want to do everything I can to put the arguments in front of the people.
“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.
“All those steps we can take, making sure people in Scotland know that they can have the best of both worlds – more powers to govern themselves but also being inside the United Kingdom.”
The Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders in Scotland came together earlier to endorse the timetable set out on Monday evening by former prime minister Gordon Brown for a new transfer of powers from Westminster to Holyrood.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said: “We agree that there should be more tax-raising powers for the Scottish Parliament, there should be welfare, and we need to do more to stimulate the economy.”
The announcment was dismissed as “hype” by Mr Salmond, who said that there was nothing new in the package.
“This is the day that the No campaign finally fell apart at the seams,” he said during a photocall outside Edinburgh’s St Giles Cathedral with EU citizens who have the right to vote in the referendum.”This is a retreading, a repackaging, retimetabling about what they said in the spring.
“It’s totally inadequate, it’s not enough. It’s nothing approaching the powers that Scotland needs to create jobs, to save the health service and build a better society.
“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.
“And of course David Cameron and George Osborne, their one red-line issue in setting up this referendum was not to allow devo max, as it is called, on to the ballot paper.
“So to actually produce something which is far short of that, which is weak, insipid and has already been discounted by the Scottish people with days to go in the campaign, after hundreds of thousands of people have already voted, is a sign of the total disintegration of the No campaign.
“I’ve never seen a campaign disintegrate in the way that the No campaign is disintegrating at the moment.”
With the three party leaders out on the campaign trail, the Leader of the Commons William Hague will stand in for Mr Cameron at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.