SCOTTISH and UK ministers are at loggerheads as they accuse each other of inappropriately lobbying civil servants over independence.
Just hours after First Minister Alex Salmond demanded an apology for a memo sent to staff at the Department of Work and Pensions, it emerged Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil had written to Scottish NHS staff setting out the case for a Yes vote.
The DWP guidance called on civil servants to "support" the Conservative-Lib Dem Government's anti-independence policy.
Whitehall sources insisted the letter referred only to staff members' workplace responsibilities, not how they should vote. But the Public and Commercial Services Union union branded the document, written by Permanent Secretary Robert Devereux, "poorly written, ill-judged and patronising".
First Minister Alex Salmond demanded an apology and called for the advice to be withdrawn, describing it as "deeply concerning".
In his letter, Mr Neil told NHS staff: "Independence will deliver a public service pensions system that is affordable, sustainable and fair, one that works for and with public sector employees, public service provision, the taxpayer and the overall public finances."
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