PRO-UNION politicians have lined up to defend David Bowie after the star was attacked for asking Scots to reject independence.

The singer was bombarded with insults after his plea was read out by supermodel Kate Moss at last week's Brit Awards.

One supporter of Scottish independence, referencing one of the singer's hits, told him to "f*** off back to Mars".

Others questioned why they should listen to a millionaire rock star who had spent decades living in the US.

But both Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury and former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling have defended his intervention.

Mr Alexander said Bowie had been attacked "for being a 'celebrity', being English and not living in the UK." He countered: "Why shouldn't a 'celebrity' have a view and express it? Why shouldn't an Englishwoman have a view on an issue that will change the country she lives in, too? Come to that, why should we be surprised that Brits living abroad have a view on the referendum?"

Mr Darling also defended Bowie's remarks, suggesting they had helped to enliven the independence debate.

The leader of the Better Together campaign said: "David Bowie has done more with one sentence to get people talking about independence than we politicians have in the past year.

"This debate can't be confined to exchanges between politicians. For too many people, that's a turn-off.

"David Bowie has got people enthused about the issue."