Please stay
September 16, 2014
If you don't like meโI won't be here forever. If you don't like this governmentโit won't last forever. But if you leave the U.K.โthat will be forever.
We meet in a week that could change the United Kingdom forever.
Indeed, it could end the United Kingdom as we know it.
On Thursday, Scotland votes, and the future of our country is at stake.
On Friday, people could be living in a different country, with a different place in the world and a different future ahead of it.
This is a decision that could break up our family of nations, and rip Scotland from the rest of the UK.
And we must be very clear.
Thereโs no going back from this. No re-run.
This is a once-and-for-all decision.
If Scotland votes yes, the UK will split, and we will go our separate ways forever.
When people vote on Thursday they are not just voting for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren and the generations beyond.
So I want to speak directly to the people of this country today about what is at stake.
United Kingdom
I speak for millions of people across England, Wales and Northern Irelandโand many in Scotland, tooโฆ
โฆwho would be utterly heart-broken by the break-up of the United Kingdom.
Utterly heart-broken to wake up on Friday morning to the end of the country we loveโฆ
โฆto know that Scots would no longer join with the English, Welsh and Northern Irish in our Army, Navy and Air Forceโฆ
โฆin our UK-wide celebrations and commemorationsโฆ
โฆin UK sporting teams from the Olympics to the British Lions.
The United Kingdom would be no more. No UK pensions, no UK passports, no UK pound.
The greatest example of democracy the world has ever known, of opennessโฆ
โฆof people of different nationalities and faiths coming together as one, would be no more.
It would be the end of a country that launched the Enlightenment, that abolished slaveryโฆ
โฆthat drove the industrial revolution, that defeated fascismโฆ
โฆthe end of a country that people around the world respect and admireโฆ
โฆ the end of a country that all of us call home.
And we built this home together.
Itโs only become Great Britain because of the greatness of Scotland.
Because of the thinkers, writers, artists, leaders, soldiers, inventors who have made this country what it is.
Itโs Alexander Fleming and David Hume; J.K. Rowling and Andy Murrayโฆ
โฆand all the millions of people who have played their part in this extraordinary success storyโฆ
โฆthe Scots who led the charge on pensions and the NHS and on social justice.
We did all this together.
For the people of Scotland to walk away now would be like painstakingly building a homeโand then walking out the door and throwing away the keys.
So I would say to everyone voting on Thursday, please remember.
This isnโt just any old country. This is the United Kingdom. This is our country.
And you know what makes us truly great?
Itโs not our economic might or military prowessโitโs our values. British values. Fairness. Freedom. Justice.
The values that say wherever you are, whoever you are, your life has dignity and worth.
The values that say we donโt walk on by when people are sickโฆ
โฆthat we donโt ask for your credit card in the hospitalโฆ
โฆthat we donโt turn our backs when you get old and frail.
โฆthat we donโt turn a blind eye or a cold heart to people around the world who are desperate and crying out for help.
This is what Britain means. This is what makes us the greatest country on earth.
And itโs why millions of us could not bear to see that country endingโfor good, for everโon Friday.
Consequences
Now I know that there are many people across Scotland who are planning to vote Yes.
I understand why this might sound appealing. Itโs the promise of something different.
I also know that the people who are running the Yes campaign are painting a picture of a
Scotland that is better in every way, and they can be good at painting that picture.
But when something looks too good to be trueโthatโs usually because it is.
And it is my duty to be clear about the likely consequences of a Yes Vote.
Independence would not be a trial separationโฆ
โฆit would be a painful divorce.
And as Prime Minister I have to tell you what that would mean.
It would mean we no longer share the same currency.
It would mean the armed forces we have built up together over centuries being split up forever.
It would mean our pension funds sliced upโat some cost.
It would mean the borders we have would become international and may no longer be so easily crossed.
It would mean the automatic support that you currently get from British embassies when youโre travelling around the world would come to an end.
It would mean over half of Scottish mortgages suddenly, from one day to the next, being provided by banks in a foreign country.
It would mean that interest rates in Scotland are no longer set by the Bank of Englandโwith the stability and security that promises.
It would meanโfor any banks that remain in Scotlandโif they ever got in trouble it would be Scottish taxpayers and Scottish taxpayers alone that would bear the costs.
It would mean that we no longer pool resources across the whole of the UK to pay for institutions like the NHS or our welfare system.
This is not guesswork. There are no question marks, no maybe this or maybe that.
The Nationalists want to break up UK funding on pensions, the UK funding of healthcare, the UK funding and comprehensive protection on national security.
These are the facts. This is what would happen. An end to the things we share together.
And the people of Scotland must know these facts before they make this once-and-for-all decision.
To warn of the consequences is not to scare-mongerโฆ
โฆit is like warning a friend about a decision they might take that will affect the rest of their livesโand the lives of their children.
I say all this because I donโt want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that disappears.
Change
Now I know that some people say: weโve heard about the risks and the uncertaintiesโฆ
โฆbut we still want change.
Look. The United Kingdom is not a perfect countryโno country is.
Of course we must constantly change and improve peopleโs lives.
No-one is content while there are still children living in poverty.
No-one is content while there are people struggling, and young people not reaching their potential.
Yes, every political party is different.
But we are all of usโConservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, Nationalistsโon a constant mission to change our country for the better.
The question is: how do you get that change?
For me itโs simple.
You donโt get the change you want by ripping your country apart.
You donโt get change by undermining your economy and damaging your businesses and diminishing your place in the world.
But you can get real, concrete change on Thursday: if you vote No.
โBusiness as usualโ is not on the ballot paper. The status quo is gone.
This campaign has swept it away.
There is no going back to the way things were.
A vote for No means real change.
And we have spelled that change out in practical terms, with a plan and a process.
If we get a No vote on Thursday, that will trigger a major, unprecedented programme of devolution with additional powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Major new powers over tax, spending and welfare services.
We have agreed a timetable for that stronger Scottish Parliament: a time-table to bring in the new powers that will go ahead if there is a No voteโฆ
โฆa White Paper by November, put into draft legislation by January.
This is a timetable that is now agreed by all the main political parties and set in stoneโฆ
โฆand I am prepared to work with all the main parties to deliver this during 2015.
So a No vote actually means faster, fairer, safer and better change.
And this is a vital point:ย Scotland is not an observer in the affairs of this country.
Scotland is shaping and changing the United Kingdom for the betterโmore so today than at any point in the last three hundred yearsโฆ
โฆand will continue to help shape the constitution of our country.
And Scottish people can enjoy the additional powers its Parliament gives without losing the UK pension, the UK pound or the UK passport.
Real change is Scotlandโs for the taking.
The power to set your own course and make your own decisionsโฆ
โฆwith the security of being in the UKโฆ
โฆwithout the risks of going it alone.
Itโs the best of both worlds.
Scotlandโs identity is already strongโฆ
โฆstrong Scottish culture, strong Scottish arts, a strong Church of Scotlandโฆ
โฆand in the last 15 years you have built a strong Scottish Parliamentโฆ
โฆnot a fleeting institution but a permanent one.
So the vote on Thursday is not about whether Scotland is a nation.
Scotland is a proud, strong, successful nation.
The vote on Thursday is about two competing visions for Scotlandโs future.
The Nationalistsโ vision of narrowing down, going it alone, breaking all ties with the UK.
Or the patriotic vision of a strong Scottish nation allied to the rest of the United Kingdomโฆ
โฆwith its own stronger Scottish Parliament at its heartโฆ
โฆand with the benefits of working together in the UK on jobs, pensions, healthcare funding, the currency, interest rates.
It really is the best of both worldsโฆ
โฆand itโs the best way to get real change and secure a better future for your children and grandchildren.
Family of nations
And speaking of familyโthat is quite simply how I feel about this. We are a family.
The United Kingdom is not one nation.
We are four nations in a single country.
That can be difficultโฆ.
โฆbut it is wonderful.ย
Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Irelandโฆ
โฆ.different nations, with individual identitiesโฆ
โฆcompeting with each otherโฆ
โฆeven at times enraging each otherโฆ
โฆwhile still being so much stronger together.
We are a family of nations.
Why should the next generation of that family be forced to choose whether to identify only with Edinburgh or only with Londonโฆ
โฆchoose which embassy they want to go to when they are in trouble abroadโฆ
โฆor pack their passport when theyโre going to see friends and loved ones.
A family is not a compromise, or a second best, it is a magical identity, that makes us more together than we can ever be apartโฆ
โฆso pleaseโdo not break this family apart.
In human relations itโs almost never a good thing to turn away from each other, put up walls, score new lines on the map.
Why would we take one Great Britain and turn it into separate smaller nations?
What is that an answer to?
How will that help the ambitious young people who want to make their mark on the worldโฆ
โฆor the pensioner who just wants securityโฆ
โฆor the family relying on jobs make in the UK?
Let no-one fool you that โYesโ is a positive vision.
Itโs about dividing people, closing doors, making foreigners of our friends and family.
This isnโt an optimistic vision.
The optimistic vision is of our family of nations staying togetherโฆ
โฆthere for each other in the hard timesโฆ
โฆcoming through to better times.
Weโve just pulled through a great recession together.
Weโre moving forward together.
The road has been long but it is finally leading upwardsโฆ
โฆand thatโs why I ask you to vote No to walking away.
Vote Noโand you are voting for a bigger and broader and better future for Scotlandโฆ
โฆand you are investing in the future for your children and grandchildren.
Please stay
So this is our message to the people of Scotland. We want you to stay.
Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay.
Please: donโt mix up the temporary and the permanent.
Donโt think: Iโm frustrated with politics right now, so Iโll walk out the door and never come back.
If you donโt like meโI wonโt be here forever.
If you donโt like this Governmentโit wonโt last forever.
But if you leave the UKโthat will be forever.
Yes, the different parts of the UK donโt always see eye-to-eye.
Yes, we need changeโand we will deliver it.
But to get that change, to get a brighter future, we donโt need to tear our country apart.
In two days, this long campaign will be at an end.
And as you stand in the stillness of the polling booth, I hope you will ask yourself this.
Will my family and I truly be better off by going it alone?
Will we really be more safe and secure?
Do I really want to turn my back on the rest of Britain, and why is it that so many people across the world are asking: why would Scotland want to do that? Why?
And if you donโt know the answer to these questionsโthen vote No.
At the end of the day, all the arguments of this campaign can be reduced to a single fact. We are better together.
So as you reach your final decision, please:ย
Donโt let anyone tell you that you canโt be a proud Scot and a proud Brit.
Donโt lose faith in what this country isโand what we can be.
Donโt forget what a great United Kingdom you are part of.
Donโt turn your backs on what is the best family of nations in the worldโฆ
โฆand the best hope for your family in this world.
So please, from all of us: Vote to stick togetherโฆ Vote to stayโฆ
โฆVote to save our United Kingdom.