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British PM to Scots: Please don’t vote for independence to punish my “effing” party

British Prime Minister David Cameron is no fool: he knows that his Conservative Party, (usually called the Tories), is thoroughly unpopular in Scotland and that anger at Tory policies is probably partly to blame for the popularity of the Scottish independence movement.

With the Scottish independence referendum about a week away and the pro-independence side surging in the polls, Cameron has resorted to begging Scottish voters to find a different outlet for their anti-Tory sentiment. Here he is in Edinburgh, imploring the Scots not to use a yes vote on independence as a way to "kick" the "effing Tories":

Sometimes, because it's an election, because it's a ballot, I think people can feel it's a bit like a general election. That you make a decision, and then five years later you can make another decision. Or you're fed up with the effing Tories, you can give them a kick and then maybe we'll think again — this is totally different.

Saying "I care far more about my country than I do about my party," Cameron also made sure to remind voters that the Tory party actually stands to gain from independence, because its main rival, Labour, relies heavily on Scottish Members of Parliament to fill out its ranks. If Scotland becomes independent, it would no longer send MPs to Westminster, which would make it considerably easier for the Tories to win a parliamentary majority.

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