Scotland’s vote ‘moves in direction of Yes’

The battle for Scotland’s future is on a knife edge but is "moving in the direction of Yes", the country’s deputy first minister said, as two separate polls gave the No campaign the narrowest of leads.

However, Nicola Sturgeon said: “The only poll that really matters is the one next week. We’re now within a few days of finding out what people really think through real votes and ballot boxes.”

She made the comments as a Guardian/ICM poll put support for Scotland staying in the UK at 51%, ahead of 49% backing for independence when undecided voters are excluded.

With just five days to go until the ballot, the research suggested over a sixth (17%) have still to make up their mind.

However, another poll, by YouGov for The Times and the Sun, gave the pro-union campaign a slightly larger lead, putting the No vote at 52% and Yes on 48%.

Sturgeon, campaigning in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow with actor Peter Mullan, said: “It’s very close, I believe things are moving in the direction of Yes but the only poll that really matters is the one next week.

“We’re now within a few days of finding out what people really think through real votes and ballot boxes.

“As people are applying their common sense and their hopes and aspirations for Scotland to this decision, then more and more of them are opting for a Yes vote.

“With every day that passes, polls become less important and the focus on the actual poll becomes more important.”

First minister Alex Salmond said he is now “more confident than ever” that people will vote Yes to independence on September 18.

His comments come after RBS, Tesco Bank, TSB, Lloyds, and Clydesdale Bank issued market advisories on their contingency plans in the event of independence, suggesting they may move their headquarters to England.

Meanwhile, British cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood said there had been no breach of ministerial code in relation to media reports of the RBS position. Salmond had called on Heywood to investigate why “a Treasury source” discussed with the BBC the RBS plans to relocate its headquarters to London if Scotland votes for independence, several hours before it was announced to the markets.

However, in a letter to the first minister, Heywood said the Treasury had simply been confirming the position after reports appeared elsewhere in the media and there had been no breach of the ministerial code.

“This was not a UK Government announcement — it was simply a confirmation of the Treasury’s understanding of RBS’ contingency planning,” he wrote.

“In response to.... informed media reports about RBS, the treasury judged that it was important to set this out — at a time when the UK financial markets were closed — given their overarching responsibility for maintaining financial stability in the UK.”

Sturgeon, however, said it was “odd” that a decision had been made “that quickly for what on the face of it is a very serious breach of the normal rules around market sensitive information”.

As the increasingly tight referendum campaign draws towards a close, rival campaigners stepped up their efforts to win over voters.

Salmond and Sturgeon will campaign for a Yes vote in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, and Perth.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will be joined by former prime minister Gordon Brown and Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont at a rally in Glasgow, for the No campaign.