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Plaid Cymru has accused the UK Government of wasting Welsh taxpayers’ money on “propaganda” aimed at getting people in Scotland to vote No in September’s independence referendum.

A 16-page booklet is being created at a cost of £720,000, paid for out of Cabinet Office funds in Westminster. More than 2.5 million of the booklets will be printed and distributed to every household in Scotland from June 23.

It is said to set out the “positive case” for Scotland remaining part of the UK. But it does not mention any of the new powers which Scots have been promised if the voters reject independence.

The booklet has been in production for around a month and is not a reaction to any recent narrowing of the polls, according to Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael.

Under Electoral Commission rules, there will be restrictions on the information that the Scottish Government and certain publicly funded bodies can publish about the referendum from August 22.

The restrictions relate to publishing general information about the referendum as well as about the issues and arguments, and also apply to encouraging people to vote.

Jonathan Edwards, MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said: “The news that the UK Government will be spending £720,000 of public money sending an anti-Scottish Independence leaflet supporting the ‘No’ campaign to every home in Scotland is an absolute disgrace.

“The money that the UK Government is using from public funds means that, depending on the final amount incurred, potentially £36,000-£50,000 from Wales will be used. It is completely inappropriate that the UK Government has used public funds in this way.

“That is money that could have been far better spent on helping foodbanks in Wales that are seeing record numbers of people coming to them as a result of the Tory and Lib Dem Government’s cruel and vindictive policies. That money could have been far better spent helping the poorest and most vulnerable in society, who are bearing the brunt of this Government’s policies that help only their friends in the City of London and the top 1% of earners.

“The fact that the Westminster Government has sought to issue this begging pamphlet to every house in Scotland shows the complete state of panic that the unionist establishment at Westminster is now in. They have sought to hide the results of the polling they commissioned, which is extremely telling.

“As well, David Cameron refuses to debate Alex Salmond, saying the referendum is a matter for the people of Scotland, yet he is happy to use public funds to support the ‘No’ campaign by sending fear and scare stories into Scottish homes.

“I have tabled a series of questions asking the UK Government, and in particular the Cabinet Office, about the use of these public funds and what consultation they held with the Government of Wales regarding this, given that a substantial portion of the money that they have used will be money from Wales.

“The Scottish Government used Scottish public money to publish the Scotland’s Future White Paper, as it is a factual document based on legislation there and therefore cannot be compared with the propaganda that the Tory-Lib Dem UK Government is now sending up cowardly from London.

“The current Westminster Government is not representative of the democratic will of Wales and should stop actions such as this that it claims are representative of all the nations of the British state.”

A UK Government source rejected Mr Edwards’ claims and said: “The UK Government is quite rightly making sure that voters in Scotland have the information they need to decide the future of their country. It is absolutely the right thing to do.”