LONDON, September 9 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – Politicians across England have raised the Saltire, the national flag of Scotland, in a last pitch effort to persuade Scottish voters to back a No vote in an independence referendum to be held 18th September.
“A Saltire is flying outside London’s City Hall alongside the Union flag,” Hilary Merrett, spokeswoman for Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, told RIA Novosti.
“The Mayor believes passionately that the Union between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom is unique and should be preserved,” Merrett added.
Elsewhere Labour party leader David Miliband called for Saltires to be raised across England in an attempt to encourage Scots to oppose Scottish independence.
“Over the next few days we want cities, towns and villages across the UK to send a message to Scotland: stay with us. We want to see the Saltire flying above buildings all across our country,” Miliband said in a statement.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, also ordered that the Saltire be flown above house number 10 on Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister in London.
“One of the points that he made to Cabinet was that domestically there is nothing more important than the future of the UK and the future of Scotland in the coming days,” Cameron’s official spokesman said during a media briefing.
“The Prime Minister has been very clear in his message that we want Scotland to stay. I would put the fact that the Saltire will be flying over No 10 firmly in that context,” the spokesman added.
The Saltire is the oldest continuously used sovereign flag in the world. The heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross is of a type which Saint Andrew was said to have been martyred upon. A version of the flag, with the blue and white inverted, is also used as the naval ensign of the Russian navy.
The long-standing issue of the Scottish independence is to be settled by a referendum scheduled for September 18, when voters will be asked one question only, "Should Scotland become an independent country?"
