AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER VOICES FEARS OVER A YES VOTE:
Breaking up the UK would not be in the interests of justice, says Abbott
THE Australian Prime Minister has claimed that Scottish independence would damage world freedom and justice.
In a fresh blow to Alex Salmond’s separation bid, Tony Abbott claimed independence would benefit the enemies of British values.
And he dismissed the likelihood of a separate Scotland being a major global ‘does not seem to have done Australia any harm’.
The Australian Prime Minister’s comments provide the latest indication that Britain’s close allies are worried about the impact a Yes vote could have on the UK and the world.
Already US President Barack Obama has said that his administration had a ‘deep interest’ in ensuring the United Kingdom remains united.
Mr Abbott, who was elected as Australia’s 28th prime minister last year, said: ‘What the Scots do is a matter for the Scots, and not for a moment do I presume to tell Scottish voters which way they should vote.
‘But as a friend of Britain, as an observer from afar, it’s hard to see how the world would be helped by an independent Scotland.
‘I think that the people who would like to see the break-up of the United Kingdom are not the friends of justice, the friends of freedom, and the countries that would cheer at the prospect of the break-up with the United Kingdom are not the countries whose company one would like to keep.’
The comments by Mr Abbott, who spent two years studying at Oxford university, are the most outspoken remarks that have been made so far by any world leader.
President Obama had been relatively guarded in his comments, although he did crucially insist that the United Kingdom had worked well together and he wanted it to stay ‘united’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also spoken of the benefits of a ‘single, strong state’ when asked about the possible break-up of the United Kingdom, although he insisted that it was a matter for the UK.
Alistair Darling, leader of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, said: ‘What is striking is that the referendum campaign is now being noticed in
every part of the world. You’ve had President Obama giving some views and you’ve had people from right across the world saying “stay together – why break up?”
‘There is a huge Scots ex-pat population in Australia, many Scots have emigrated there for the last 300 years, and what is happening is that people are saying: “Why do this? It makes no sense.”’
Meanwhile the Australian prime minister’s remarks were ridiculed by senior figures in the pro-independence campaign.
Mr Salmond said Scotland’s referendum on independence was a ‘model of democratic conduct’ and Mr Abbott’s comments were ‘offensive to the Scottish people’.
He added: ‘Mr Abbott’s comments are hypocritical because independence does not seem to have done Australia any harm. They are fool- ish, actually, because of the way he said it.
‘To say the people of Scotland who supported independence weren’t friends of freedom or justice... I mean, the independence process is about freedom and justice.’
Mr Salmond also claimed that the Australian prime minister was ‘notoriously gaffe-prone’ and that he had ‘put his foot right in it’, adding: ‘If it does anything, it will persuade peo- ple to vote Yes, because the natural reaction to this sort of nonsense is “Who is Mr Abbott to lecture Scots on freedom and justice?”’
A Yes Scotland spokesman said: ‘Independence seems to be working well for Australia.
‘These comments have echoes of Lord George Robertson’s “forces of darkness” speech in April, which was widely ridiculed, even by No supporters, as one of the anti-inde- pendence campaign’s most outlandish scare stories.
‘The decision about Scotland’s future is one for the people of Scotland to make – a point that even David Cameron asserts.
‘After a Yes vote, Scotland will take her place as a normal and valued member of the international community – just as Australia did when she gained independence at the turn of the century.’