Ukip leader says David Cameron is loathed by the Scots and vote is about secession from England

The campaign for Scottish independence is driven by anti-Englishness, according to the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage.

Describing the SNP as "the voice of anti-Englishness", the Ukip leader writes in the Telegraph: "The vote is about secession from England and Mr Cameron epitomises all that the Scottish people viscerally loathe about England."

He adds: "The problem for the Scots, though, is if they vote yes next week, they will not get independence. Rather, they are voting for rule by Brussels. As Mr Cameron has brutally discovered, no EU member is truly independent."

Farage, who will hold a pro-union rally in Glasgow on Friday evening, writes that Cameron made a mistake by excluding the so-called "devo max" option – more powers for a Scottish parliament within the union – from the ballot paper.

"The Scots have no way of keeping a UK link while extending the powers of the Scottish parliament. I believe this option would have won the day but thanks to Mr Cameron, it is not on offer. The choice on the ballot plays into Salmond's hands: vote to stay subject to the English toffs at Westminster who stole their country under the threat of bankruptcy 300 years ago – the Act of Union – or vote to throw off the hated English yoke."

The Ukip leader goes on to sympathise with the prime minister's difficulties campaigning in Scotland. "The hoodlums who sought to break up my meetings and confined me to a pub told me to go back to England; to them, an Englishman should have no voice in Scottish political debate. Their position is merely the extreme end of Mr Salmond's."

On BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland, Alex Salmond criticised the BBC's reporting of the Lloyds and RBS contingency plans in the event of a yes vote, saying both companies had stated the moves would have no impact on operations or jobs. Reading out a letter sent to staff by the chief executive of RBS, he said it was "very important for the BBC to report the facts".

In an irritable interview, the first minister said any uncertainty around currency union was caused "by the unreasonable posture of the UK government who have refused to discuss it at any stage over past two years and secondly the remarkable statement from Downing Street that they had no contingency plans for Scottish independence".

He said voters no longer believed the "attacks, warnings and scaremongering from the UK political parties".

"They know that once the need for scaremongering is over in eight days time the UK government will be first to the table."