BILLIONAIRE businessman Sir Tom Hunter has stepped into the independence referendum debate, warning politicians to stop scaremongering.

He said what was needed was a positive debate about the future so people could assess both sides of the argument and then vote with "deep insight" because "our children deserve no less".

Sir Tom said: "I'd like to see the debate about independence anchored in ambition and I think it's time for those politicians who use scaremongering as a tactic to halt the independence bandwagon to stop; it's a recipe for delivering precisely what they don't want because Scottish voters are not daft."

He also questioned claims the ballot should take place before Alex Salmond's planned timetable of 2014.

He said: "We have only lightly touched the edges of the debates we need for our country's future; do they really want to compress that debate for political expediency? A speedy referendum might suit some, but it certainly doesn't suit democracy."

Sir Tom also claimed there was an over-reliance in Scotland on the benefits system. He said: "The fact is the welfare state has enabled us to become pampered, dependent people who expect what others strive and graft for."

Adding that he was not a "right-wing zealot", he said: "For the most vulnerable, most in need in our society, it is sacrosanct. However, the pendulum of support has, in my view, swung too far and we expect too much from our state when in many respects we have not earned that expectation."

A spokesman for Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Sir Tom's comments on the referendum – calling for a positive debate, deploring the scaremongering of the anti-independence parties and supporting the Scottish Government's timescale for the referendum – are extremely welcome."

He added official figures showed welfare spending in Scotland represented a smaller share of Scottish tax revenues compared to the UK as a whole.