Westminster Love-Bomb A Plea To Scots' Emotions

When they make a movie of it, the Saltire scene will take some believing.

The one where the Prime Minister plants the Scottish flag flown above 10 Downing Street and rides his charger over Hadrian's Wall on a charm offensive.

So dramatic, so desperate, so close to the vote. Has the effort to save the United Kingdom really come to this?

Twenty-five years ago, an old pal of mine was the Scotland editor of an English-based tabloid that was launching north of the border.

"You'll love this," his editor purred over the phone as they designed the special launch edition.

"We're going to stick the Scottish flag across the top." 

Scots are being urged to look beyond the border ahead of the crunch poll

"Eh... don't," replied my friend, editorial instinct grabbing him by the throat.

As a native Scot, he knew what was a well-intentioned marketing gesture on one side of the border would translate as a patronising gimmick on the other.

His advice? Let's not be patronising, let's be credible.

The balance between patronising and credible is critical to Messrs Cameron, Miliband and Clegg.

They are running out of time and tactics to reverse the momentum behind the Yes vote.

Hence the gamble by these three reluctant unionist poster boys - representative, as they are, of a Westminster establishment that much of Scotland has turned its back on.

Time is running out to halt the momentum behind the Yes vote

So how do they steer Scots away from that disenchantment?

How do they present change that a nation can believe in? The Saltire won't do it.

The answer probably doesn't lie, either, in the last-minute scramble to place assurances of more devolved powers for the Scottish parliament on the table.

It's all too easy for their opponents to dismiss it as panicky and worthless.

The Prime Minister has written an article in the Daily Mail in which he told Scots: "We desperately want you to stay."

In pressing the emotional button, he is probably pursuing the only strategy left to him at this stage.

Sure, some will scorn at talk of the British family, but he has to hope it will resonate with undecided voters, who still number around half a million and hold the key to the referendum's outcome.

Alex Salmond claims the 'Super Wednesday' blitz is a sign of panic

Similarly, there will be those who are 'soft' Yes voters whose degree of conviction might yet be reshaped.

After a two-and-a-half year campaign, it's a fair assumption that most people have reached a conclusion on the facts and that emotion is the only thing left to be swayed.

Apart from anything else, the sights and sounds of Westminster's love-bomb will invite Scots to look beyond their border and contemplate the constitutional wreckage that their fellow UK citizens would be left with.

This is, after all, about more than Scotland - something that has largely been absent from the debate.

The 'Super Wednesday' blitz by the men in suits represents Downing Street's last throw of the dice.

All that's left in the campaign to save the Union is the Labour-led 'intensity tour' of Scotland, led by former prime minister Gordon Brown.

Not so much a love-bomb as a scatter gun.

If the love isn't reciprocated, it will be the kiss of death for the Union.

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