MANCHESTER – The head of the successful Better Together campaign today suggested Scotland might have voted for independence in last week's referendum if his campaign had made a positive case for the union, rather than "scaremongering" about economic risks.

Critics of the anti-independence campaign repeatedly called on it to make a more positive case for Scotland to remain part of the UK. But Blair McDougall referred to polling that showed that 40% of Scottish voters would base their vote on an emotional case to keep the UK as it is anyway.

He told a meeting at the Labour party conference in Manchester: "It would have made people feel nice but it would have made the 40% who already agree with us feel nice. So there was a constant drumbeat to talk about identity, about a sense of belonging, but that was always going to be a core voter strategy."