With two days until Scotland votes on independence Ed Miliband claimed the Yes campaign has an "ugly side" during chaotic scenes as he was mobbed during a visit to Edinburgh.
The Labour leader took his fight to save the union to the St James Shopping Centre in the city but struggled to talk to voters as campaigners from both the Yes and No camps clashed. Labour had attempted to keep details of the visit quiet to prevent it being hijacked but Mr Miliband found himself surrounded by media and campaigners as well as members of the public.
Chants of “Vote Yes” and “You’re a liar” competed with chants of “Vote No” as shoppers were trampled and pushed aside.
Mr Miliband later told the BBC: “I think we have seen in parts of this campaign an ugly side to it from the Yes campaign. “I think debates should be conducted in a civilised way, I think that’s very, very important, but I understand that passions run high.
“What I’ve enjoyed about this campaign, including today when I get the chance, is meeting people who are genuinely undecided.”
Mr Miliband spoke briefly to a handful of voters before the chaotic visit was brought to an end. He told reporters: "If people vote no, it's for change and more powers for a stronger Scotland, as well as NHS funding guarantees, and that's got to be weighed against the big risks of voting yes.
“That has been the choice that people are facing in these last couple of days in this referendum campaign.” He added: “I think that the momentum is with the No campaign as people recognise that there is a clear offer of change by voting No.” Asked if he was making it up as he was going along, he said: “Not at all. We have set out very clearly throughout this campaign that there will be more powers for the Scottish Parliament, that this is the choice on offer by voting No against the big risks of voting Yes.”
Earlier a Westminster pledge to enhance Scotland’s powers after a No vote has been dismissed by the Yes side as a “last minute desperate offer of nothing”.
Ahead of the final full day of campaigning Alex Salmond insisted the promise of extensive new powers for the Scottish Parliament would not dent the Yes campaign and raised questions about how binding the pledge is.
David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg made the vow in a signed letter which appears on the front page of the Daily Record newspaper.
The people of Scotland will hold power in their hands tomorrow as they vote to determine their country’s future, First Minister Mr Salmond said in a personal letter to the electorate.
He asked Scots to step back from the political arguments and statistics that have defined the two-year campaign and trust in themselves as they step into the polling booth.
Mr Salmond said: “The talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What’s left is just us — the people who live and work here. The only people with a vote. The people who matter.
“The people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands. It’s the greatest most empowering moment any of us will ever have. Scotland’s future - our country in our hands. “What to do? Only each of us knows that.”
However, Labour’s Douglas Alexander said the pledge sets out a vision that can unite Scotland.
The shadow foreign secretary told BBC Breakfast: “What we’re saying today on the front page of the Daily Record is that we can have the best of both worlds. We can have a stronger Scottish Parliament but with the strength, stability and security of the United Kingdom.
“My sense is that in the closing days, the final hours of this referendum campaign, that vow that we can have faster, safer, better change is actually a vision around which Scotland can unite.”
Mr Alexander added: “I think the Yes campaign are struggling. They had an avalanche of facts engulf their assertions last week, when it was announced every major Scottish bank would move their registered office to London.
“The economic risks suddenly became very real last week.
“At the same time, we’re offering what I believe most of us here in Scotland want - faster, safer and better change.”
In today’s letter, the party leaders say they agree that “the UK exists to ensure opportunity and security for all by sharing our resources equitably across all four nations”.
They state that the final say on funding for the NHS will be a matter for the Scottish Government “because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise revenue”.
As the political debate rages, companies are continuing voice their concerns over independence.
Energy company EDF has told its workers that “uncertainties” remain about the impact independence would have on its operations. In an email to its 15,000 UK staff, chief executive officer Vincent de Rivaz said the company was “not policy neutral” in the debate over Scotland’s future and warned of the risks of leaving the union.
Separately banking giant UBS warned anything other than a decisive No vote in the Scottish referendum risks an economic slump in the country.
Meanwhile a report from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has said an independent Scotland would face “unprecedented austerity” and be forced to introduce its own currency within one year if it reneges on its share of UK debts. Any attempt to effectively default would be viewed as “opportunistic” by international investors, who would then push up borrowing premiums or bar Scotland from capital markets, it found.
Agencies