Scotland’s place in the union is becoming a defining issue

London: The issue of Scotland’s place in the union with the rest of the United Kingdom is becoming a defining issue in the remaining four days of the UK election campaign.

With Britons heading to the polls in a neck-and-neck general election on Thursday — and with neither the Conservatives under David Cameron of Labour under Ed Miliband likely to win the 326 seats of the 650 in Westminster, they will have little or no option but to look to other parties to form a coalition partnership.

Miliband will try to turn the tables on David Cameron in the final days of the election campaign by denying the UK would be “run for Scotland” under Labour and claiming it would be “run for the wealthy and powerful” if the Conservatives retain power.

In an interview with The Independent, David Axelrod, the American strategist who helped Barack Obama win two presidential elections and is now advising Miliband, disclosed how Labour plans to limit the damage of Tory claims about a post-election deal between Labour and the Scottish National Party.

“The question is: who is this country going to be run for?” Axelrod said. “Cameron is absolutely right about the question. But it is not a question of whether the country is going to be run for Scotland. It is a question of whether the country is going to be run for the wealthy and powerful interests, who have thrived and prospered under Tory policies while everyday working people have struggled just to keep up.”

Miliband has ruled out any formal or informal coalition deal with the SNP — a party that may very well send 55 out of 59 Scottish MPs south the Westminster.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who has advocated for more control of health, welfare and public services north of the border, has also struck a chord in England, with voters impressed by her straight-talking and no-nonsense approach.

“At least she seems to be a woman of conviction,” David Thomas, a Bristol engineer told Gulf News. “Cameron and Miliband come across as being two public school toffs who can’t relate to ordinary working people. If I could vote for Sturgeon and her party, I would.”

Thomas can’t. The SNP is only running candidates in Scotland. Ironically, her party is committed to breaking part the ties that bind the United Kingdom together. And if she and her party had its way, Thomas would be voting only for a parliament that represents England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“She does talk a lot of sense,” Thomas said. “It’s a pity we don’t have a party like that in the rest of the United Kingdom that espouses real social values. Cameron and Miliband just talk in sound bites.”