The Conservative Party does not understand Scotland, according to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
The Liberal Democrat leader insisted his party was the voice of Scotland in the UK Government and had dragged both Labour and its coalition partners into promising further devolution in the event of a No vote.
Mr Clegg also claimed he would be “in a permanent state of frustration” if he became annoyed with the views of First Minister Alex Salmond.
He said: “I can be really proud of the fact that in Danny Alexander, then Mike Moore and now Alistair Carmichael, we have had three formidable Scottish secretaries of state, without whom we wouldn’t have passed the Scotland Act in the way that we did.
“We wouldn’t have had the sensible approach to having a clear, legal basis for the referendum and a sensible response from the British Government about how the referendum should be conducted, in which we are entirely respectful of the right of the Scottish National Party to trigger this referendum.
“Obviously we will always respect any outcomes taken democratically while still forcefully arguing for Scotland’s continued membership of this very successful family of nations.
“That tone of respect but also passion for what we can do together very, very much reflects the way the Liberal Democrats understand Scotland in a way that of course the Conservatives don’t.
“Twenty percent of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party is in Scotland. All of the senior Scots around the Cabinet table are Liberal Democrats.
“We have been the voice of Scotland within the coalition Government, just as we are in Scotland the voice of home rule and the guarantee that after September 18 further devolution will occur.”
With Scottish party leader Willie Rennie and north-east Fife candidate for next year’s general election Tim Brett, Mr Clegg yesterday visited Loch Leven’s Larder, where he met a group of ramblers.
Mr Clegg backed Mr Brett to succeed Sir Menzies Campbell and secure the parliamentary seat in 2015, stating he was “confident but not complacent” of victory.
The deputy prime minister said: “If there’s one thing everyone knows about the Liberal Democrats, whatever our fortunes, whatever our ups and downs might be as a party otherwise, we work our socks off for the local community.
“Ming has done that for many, many years and I know Tim will do that as candidate and then MP for the area as well.”
Mr Brett said: “My target is to knock on every single door in the constituency before May next year and we have made a very good start.”
Picture by David Wardle