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EDINBURGH – Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said Stephen Harper’s intervention into the independence debate was a “sign of desperation” on the part of David Cameron, the British Prime Minister.

Mr. Salmond was campaigning in the Scottish capital with just nine days to go in a race that polls suggest is neck and neck.

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When asked by the National Post if he thought Mr. Harper’s support for the No campaign was inappropriate, he said it was “counter-productive.”

“The Foreign Office has asked everyone and their auntie to come out and back the Union. It’s the sign of a campaign in disarray,” he said.

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Mr. Harper told reporters in London last week that Canadians find the concept of Scotland and England separating “inconceivable”.

“We think, from a Canadian perspective, that a strong, united United Kingdom is an overwhelmingly positive force in the world,” he said.

The independence debate was electrified this weekend when a poll for the Sunday Timesnewspaper put the pro-independence Yes side ahead for the first time. A new poll for TNS-BMRB released Tuesday had the No side at 39%; Yes at 38%; with 23% saying they were undecided.