Email
Nigel Farage has called on the Queen to speak out against Scottish independence, saying it "might be handy" if she defended the union.
Speaking before a rally in Glasgow on Thursday evening the UK Independence party (Ukip) leader said there was a precedent for her making comments in favour of the United Kingdom staying together in a Westminster Hall address in 1977.
Speaking on his new LBC radio phone-in show on Friday, he suggested she had a duty to make her views known.
"If the United Kingdom itself is under threat, then in many ways you could argue she has a responsibility to say something. Let's say we got to this Sunday, and let's say it was still 50/50 in the polls – I personally think she should say something, yes."
Buckingham Palace has made it clear the Queen will be preserving her traditional political neutrality and not contributing to the debate.
"Any suggestion that the Queen would wish to influence the outcome of the current referendum campaign is categorically wrong," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said. "Her Majesty is firmly of the view that this is a matter for the people of Scotland."
The Queen is currently at her Scottish home, Balmoral, and is scheduled to remain there until after the referendum next week. On Tuesday it was reported that several anti-independence MPs wanted the Queen to underline the benefits of the union and believed that to do so would not be improper. In 1977, the monarch had used a speech at the time of her silver jubilee to remind people: "I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
Farage had earlier said that the English were being ignored in the Scottish independence debate and needed a constitutional settlement of their own.
The Ukip leader also blamed the prime minister for risking the future of the UK by refusing to give people in Scotland the option on the ballot paper of greater devolution.
If there is a yes vote, this would diminish the UK globally, he added.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Farage said change would be needed for the whole union in the event of a no vote to give the English a fairer deal.
"I am fully in favour of a federal United Kingdom, we need a new constitutional settlement, but I'm afraid devo max wasn't put on the ballot paper, and with that misjudgment, Mr Cameron has risked the future of the union."
The Ukip leader joins a growing chorus of politicians saying England should have more powers to make decisions in its own interest, separately from decisions taken by Westminster in the interests of the UK.
The question of devolution for England has arisen because Scotland will get extra tax and spending powers even in the event of a no vote.
Some MPs have long objected to the fact that Scottish politicians in Westminster get a vote over English-only matters. There will also be calls to revive the Barnett formula – a Treasury mechanism for dividing spending that means Scotland people get more public money per head than the English.
Despite fears among some on the no side that the Ukip leader's appearance in Glasgow could antagonise voters, Farage said Ukip had a distinctive and valuable argument to make in Scotland.
He told BBC Good Morning Scotland: "We did win a seat in the European parliament, Scotland, and we do have a voice. I can assure you that I have no intention of being incendiary at all, but I do want to make an argument that nobody else has made in this campaign, that this referendum is not about independence."
He said Scotland would not be truly independent by voting yes because it would seek to join the EU and be run from Brussels.
;