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BETTER Together yesterday claimed they are “underdogs” in the independence campaign.

Campaigners for a No vote say they consider themselves outsiders in the race to decide Scotland’s future.

Better Together – backed by the UK’s three biggest political parties and still with a lead in the polls – made the claim as they tried to relaunch their campaign.

They insisted they were “up for the fight” despite being outspent by the Yes camp and with some polls showing their lead being clawed back.

One survey last week showed Yes at 48 per cent and No at 52 per cent after excluding “don’t knows”. And a senior nationalist predicts they could draw level with the No camp in the polls this week – well ahead of their strategists’ July prediction.

Better Together, led by former Chancellor Alistair Darling, have been criticised for being too negative and relying on scare stories about the impact of independence.

Yesterday, they attempted to inject new life into the pro-Union campaign, with the announcement of Labour MP Frank Roy as their new grassroots co-ordinator and the unveiling of a new “best of both worlds” advert to be played in cinemas.

Campaign director Blair McDougall said: “Without access to the resources that the nationalists have, we are the underdogs but that only makes us even more determined to win this campaign for Scotland.”

A Yes Scotland spokesman said: “The No camp are feeling like the underdogs they say they are because their campaign has stuttered and all but run out of ideas.

“This is shown by the steady closing of the polls gap over the last six months, a trend that will continue as we move towards the referendum.”

Elections expert Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said: “We have yet to see a poll that puts the Yes side ahead, so for Better Together to say they are the underdogs is clearly an exaggeration.

“I see this as Better Together attempting to persuade their supporters to get out and get involved.”

McDougall also claimed yesterday that there is growing concern that the Yes camp are diverting funds into campaign groups such as Business for Scotland and the National Collective in order to get round the spending limits laid down by the Electoral Commission.

He said: “There are full-time staff being employed by these groups and there are offices being opened. Someone must be paying for all of this.”

The Yes Scotland spokesman said: “Yes Scotland adheres strictly to both the letter of the Electoral Commission rules on donations and to the spirit of those rules.”