LABOUR leader Ed Miliband has issued an emotional appeal to Scots' sense of solidarity with the rest of the UK as he abandoned Westminster to fight for a No vote.
In a speech to party supporters in Cumbernauld, he said values of social justice and fairness would be best achieved by voting to stay in the UK in the referendum and for Labour in next May's UK election.
He also urged supporters to use the final days of the campaign to spread the message the rest of Britain wanted Scotland to stay in the UK.
Mr Miliband dropped Prime Minister's Questions along with David Cameron and Nick Clegg to make separate visits to Scotland with the referendum balanced on a knife edge.
Speaking in a packed, airless community centre in the Lanarkshire new town, he said his case for a No vote came from the "head, heart and soul".
With the No campaign seeking to shore up support in traditional Labour heartlands, he recognised people's desire for change but warned Alex Salmond's plans for independence would not deliver more progressive government in Scotland. Highlighting the First Minister's plan to cut corporation tax by 3p, he said it would reduce public spending on hospitals.
He asked: "How can anyone who claims to be a social democrat make that their first priority?
"Independence does not drive you towards social justice, it drives you away from social justice." Mr Miliband insisted plans unveiled on Monday for a timetable to hand Holyrood further powers over tax and welfare provided a "deadline to delivery".
He said Labour would enact proposals to extend devolution but, questioned later, refused to speculate on the outcome of cross party talks to agree a common package of measures.
In a personal message, he said he wanted to take his children to see the Scottish naval base where his father was stationed in the war as part of the UK.
But his strongest appeal was to Scots' sense of solidarity with the rest of the UK, saying "common concern" and a belief in working together had created the NHS and could achieve more in future.
He said: "The values of the people of Scotland have shone through in this referendum campaign whatever side they are on."
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