The UK Government is preparing to send a controversial pro-European Union leaflet to every house in Scotland.

More than 2.4 million homes will see the booklets drop through their letterboxes from Monday.

Leave campaigners said that the deliveries would allow Scottish voters to see for themselves the "the half truths and misinformation the government has spent their money on".

Voters across England have already received the 18-page glossy document, but ministers delayed sending them out north of the Border because of the Scottish Parliament elections.

Critics have accused David Cameron of attempting to buy votes and of wasting £9m of taxpayers’ money on the leaflets, which will eventually be delivered to every address in the UK.

Around £600,000 will be spent on postage and packaging in Scotland alone.

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High-profile Leave campaigner Boris Johnson is among those who have accused his party leader of "shameful" behaviour.

But the Conservative Government has defended the move, saying it has a right to promote government policy.

Ministers also point to research which suggests that 85 per cent of the public want more information to help them make up their minds before the EU referendum.

A similar leaflet was sent out by the UK Government before the 1975 EU vote.

Tom Harris, the former MP and director of the group Scottish Vote Leave, said: "Scottish voters will at last get to see for themselves the half truths and misinformation the government has spent their money on.

"You would think that for 10 million, you'd get a better quality of lie.

"You just can't get the propagandists these days."

The leaflets have led to calls for voters to send them back to Downing Street in protest.

A petition against the government campaign will be debated in parliament next week, after it attracted more than 100,000 signatures.

Opponents are angry that the booklets were unveiled just before the elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, unveiled strict spending limits for the campaign.

The Herald: BOOKLET: UKIP's James Goad with the Government leaflet about the EU. Pictures by Jonathan Barry.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Liam Fox, who is backing a Leave vote, has accused ministers of exploiting a "loophole" in the rules to effectively the funding "for one side - the Remain campaign".

Polls suggest that Scots are more likely to vote to stay in the EU than the English.

The picture is more mixed south of the Border, where more than 8 in 10 of the UK population lives.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that another independence referendum could be triggered if Scotland is taken out of the EU against its will.

Earlier this week Mr Cameron urged voters who want to preserve the United Kingdom to vote to stay in the EU.

More than half a million pounds was spent on printing the glossy booklets alone.

Another £2.5m will go on ‘digital promotion’ and a website, while just under £6m will be spent on postage and packaging across the around 27m homes in the UK.

READ MORE: Labour dismisses need for Government's £9m pro-EU drive

The government has also launched a website www.eureferendum.gov.uk designed to provide further information.

The Electoral Commission will also send a leaflet about the EU vote to every household.

One page of that document will be given over to the Remain campaign, while another will be given to the Leave side.

A poll for the Herald earlier this week found that across the UK four in 10 voters who want to leave the EU also back Scottish independence.

Pollsters BMG said levels of support for independence were "almost twice as likely among Leavers when compared to Remainers".

A significant minority were SNP voters, he said, but others included Ukip voters in England.