Referendum countdown: Cameron in plea to Scots

In an unashamedly patriotic speech, the Prime Minister described Britishness as a “magical identity”.

Emphasising the “British values” of fairness, freedom and justice, Mr Cameron said Thursday’s vote couldn end the United Kingdom.

In front of more than 800 Conservatives at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Mr Cameron argued that remaining in the UK would see Scotland receive “unprecedented” powers over tax spending and welfare.

“The status quo has gone,” Mr Cameron said. “The campaign has swept it away.

“I speak for millions of people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and many in Scotland, too, who would be utterly heartbroken by the break-up of the United Kingdom.

“Utterly heartbroken to wake up on Friday morning to the end of the country we love.

‘‘To know that Scots would no longer join with the English, Welsh and Northern Irish in our Army, Navy and Air Force in our UK-wide celebrations and commemorations. In 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 openness, of 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 slavery that drove the industrial revolution, that defeated fascism.

‘‘The end of a country that people around the world respect and admire the end of a country that all of us call home. And we built this home together.

‘‘It’s only become Great Britain because of the greatness of Scotland.”