Yes or no debate heats up in East Renfrewshire

A survey conducted by The Sunday Times shows the Yes campaign taking a two point lead against Better Together this week, with yes at 51 per cent and no at 49% (excluding undecided voters).

In East Renfrewshire, both sides have been hitting the streets to convince voters.

SNP councillor Vincent 
Waters told The Extra: “If we have a no vote, Scotland’s budget will be cut drastically, and by billions.

“Wherever that comes out of the Scottish budget, it will affect all the things we care about in East Renfrewshire.

“There will be less money available for our education budget. There will be less money available for the NHS.

“These budgets need to be protected and enhanced and it takes the powers of independence to do that.”

Councillor Ian McAlpine, of Better Together Eastwood, believes “we should stay in the UK and have more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

“I’m campaigning for a no vote because I don’t think Scotland can afford separation.

“One in five Scots are employed by UK companies. Staying with the UK is best for schools and hospitals, and it’s good for Scottish business because two thirds of our goods are sold to England and the rest of the UK.

“It’s better for pensions 
because we can guarantee them.”

For Conservative councillor Gordon McCaskill, “the referendum campaign is probably the most important decision anyone in Scotland will ever make.

“What people have asked for is definitive answers to serious questions and they have not gotten them.

“People are being asked to risk their homes, their mortgages, their insurance, their families, their jobs, their welfare and their lives.

“Can an independent country truly function 
when almost half the population have rejected independence?”

Head to www.glasgowextra.co.uk for video interviews on the question of independence..