A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for the union, Scottish leader Ruth Davidson told her supporters as she urged No supporters to take the same pride in backing the Tories tomorrow as they did in rejecting independence in the referendum.
Ms Davidson said her party has a “plan to keep Scotland at the heart of our United Kingdom” as she made her final speech of the election campaign in Edinburgh.
The Tory leader warned that a deal between Labour and the SNP – two parties which she said hate each other – would threaten to divide the country as she cast the Conservatives as the party of the union.
The Tories and the SNP have ruled out working together at Westminster.
While Labour has also rejected the prospect of any deal with the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon has argued that an anti-Tory majority would lock David Cameron out of Downing Street.
The First Minister has also questioned the legitimacy of a UK government that does not include Scottish voices – a view Ms Davidson rejected as “nonsense”.
Ms Davidson said: “Here’s the truth. Labour hate the SNP. The SNP loathes Labour.
“Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t want to put Ed Miliband into No 10 because she believes in him – she wants to put Ed Miliband into No 10 because she believes in independence … and a Labour Party in hock to the Nationalists brings independence closer than ever.
“It would be a joke if it wasn’t a threat. Your family can’t afford Labour. The country can’t afford the SNP.
“We can’t let this happen, we must not let this happen and tomorrow we’ll get the chance to ensure it never happens.”
Turning to the referendum, Ms Davidson appealed to No supporters as she warned that every vote for the SNP is a “vote that takes a step back towards another referendum”.
“I want you to take the same pride in voting Scottish Conservative and Unionist on May 7 this year that you felt on September 18 last year,” she said.
“I want you to cast your vote with the same conviction – knowing that you’re doing the right thing for your country.”
She added: “For we are the party for the quiet majority. And a party that is rock-solid, 100% behind the union and will never do anything to put that in danger.
“A vote for the Scottish Conservatives is a vote for the union.”
Ms Sturgeon told an audience in Dumfries on Monday: “Surely a test of legitimacy that should be applied to whatever Westminster government is formed after this election cannot simply be that it is the largest party in England.
“The test that must be applied is whether a government can build a majority and win support that reflects the whole of the UK.
“English MPs will always be the largest part of any Westminster majority but to ignore Scottish voices would be wrong.”
Ms Davidson said: “I think Nicola Sturgeon is talking nonsense, and not for the first time.
“We made a really big decision in September of last year about what form we wanted our country to take and we voted to say we wanted to be part of the UK that had a UK government.”