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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Matthew Tempest

Footballers line up against businessmen over Scottish independence

What happens when 15 footballers take on 100 businessmen in the Scottish election campaign?

Well, we'll find out next Thursday when Scotland goes to the polls, but today the battle between Labour and the Scottish National party got a bit feisty.

In the 'red corner' are Ally McCoist, Graeme Souness and Gary MacAllister (among 13 others), all signatories to an ad in the Scottish press today urging voters to keep the union with England.

Although not a Labour ad per se (the Liberal Democrats and Tories are also pro-union), first minister Jack McConnell was said to be as "pleased as punch" with the attack ad.

The Scottish National party, in the yellow-and-black corner, unveiled a list of 100 business backers, hoping to shake off any residual distrust from the entrepreneurial classes to an Alex Salmond-led independent Scotland.

On it are well-known bigwigs such as Sir Tom Farmer, founder of Kwik-Fit, as well as the more controversial figure of Brian Souter, the Stagecoach founder who financially backed the bid in Scotland not to repeal Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality by councils and schools.

Seconds out.

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