As it was a Better Together event, Gordon Brown's warm-up man was none other than his old Downing Street sparring partner, the snow-capped Alistair Darling.

Each praised the other's commitment to the cause and there was a comradely handshake and smile, underlining how political events that once drove the two big beasts apart have now brought them together again. Unity is strength; as someone somewhere once said.

But this was Gordy's show. Literally surrounded in the white-walled Clydebank Town Hall by Labour, red Labour, supporters, many holding scarlet Vote No placards, the former premier was at his emotional best.

Unlike David Cameron the evening before in Aberdeen, there were no choked words or tear-filled eyes but just a gritty, passionate determination to stick it to the Nats and plead with voters not to buy into the Yes camp's mirage of lies but stick with the reality of a caring, sharing United Kingdom.

I knew it was an important event when Rory Bremner, comedian, impersonator and No supporter turned up to give moral support to the man he has, professionally at least, made fun of for years.

Gordy began on an historical note, referring to the Second World War when the local area was bombed, and tugged at the heartstrings by pointing out how Scots, English, Welsh and Irish had fought and died side by side to save the nation.

"There is not a cemetery where you don't find Scots, Welsh, English and Irish lying side by side. And when someone was injured nobody asked are you Scots, Welsh, English or Irish, we came to each other's aid because we were in a common fight, struggling and working together."

Where in political campaigns it was the nasty Tories who were the prime target for Labour, here and now it is the nasty Nationalists.

With his hands forming imaginary objects, Gordon launched into a gesticulating all-out attack on the SNP, helped by the carefully-timed leaking of the claim that wee 'Eck and his cronies were secretly planning a £450m NHS cut.

The ex-PM said he was nailing the SNP's "NHS lie", that the Government in Edinburgh was in some way powerless to maintain and increase health care spending and could only do so with independence.

Declaring how he was born, grew up and cared for in and by the NHS, Gordon declared: "The Scottish Parliament has the power to protect the NHS and I say if the SNP continue to say they are powerless to protect it inScotland, let them make way for a Labour government and we will protect it." Applause and cheers rang out.

He warned about what he called the SNP's "seven deadly risks"; not Mr Salmond and his Cabinet colleagues but the economic dangers of what might happen following independence to Scotland's finances on currency, pensions and spending.

Mr B said the Nationalist leader's big independence offer was not to help the low-paid, pensioners, children, the disabled or the NHS but to give the already rich privatised utilities a multi-million pound cut in corporation tax. "Inequality will last until doomsday if this is all they offer," he boomed.

At the end, the MP for Kirkcaldy told his audience firmly that "solidarity is more important than separation" and insisted what was clear now as Referendum Day loomed was there was "no alternative to a patriotic No vote".

As GB left his satisfied audience and emerged from the town hall into daylight there was a small group of Yes supporters shouting "freedom" and "free Scotland". One person shouted "traitor" as the ex-PM was whisked away.

Moments later, a convoy of several vehicles passed honking their horns, emblazoned with Yes stickers and saltires flying from the windows. There was even a kilted piper playing away with the door open as the vehicle carrying him zipped by.

They appeared to have missed their target by minutes but their appearance underlined that whether Yes or No, come Friday half of Scotland is going to be sorely disappointed.