British celebrities take sides on independence

READ MORELeaving the kingdom? Locals supportive, critical of Thursday vote for Scottish independence

photo Sean Connery
photo J.K. Rowling

Scotland's independence battle is a tough one to call. The Yes side has James Bond, but the No campaign has Harry Potter.

Former 007 Sean Connery has long been a vocal Scottish nationalist - from his home in the Bahamas. Earlier this year he backed independence and the "core democratic value that the people of Scotland are the best guardians of their own future."

In the other corner stands J.K. Rowling, Edinburgh-based creator of the boy wizard. When she says independence might be "a historically bad mistake"- and backed it up with a million-pound ($1.6 million) donation to the No campaign - it sent a Dementor-like chill through the Yes camp.

Connery and Rowling are among many British and Scotland-based stars making public interventions on independence ahead of Thursday's referendum - though experts say their influence on the outcome may be limited.

Pro-independence celebs include actor Gerard Butler, members of the band Franz Ferdinand and "Trainspotting" author Irvine Welsh, who has half-joked that "the Union is nature's way of stopping the Scots ruling the world."

Alan Cumming, who plays spin doctor Eli Gold on "The Good Wife," flew in from his Broadway run in "Cabaret" this week to hit the pro-independence campaign trail.

"It's an historic moment for us all. We now have a chance in this country to have our own destiny in our own hands," Cumming says.

Singer Susan Boyle, who still lives in the Scottish village where she grew up, has says she plans to vote No, telling the Scottish Sun newspaper that "we have still been able to retain our proud identity whilst being a part of Britain."

In wider British artistic and intellectual circles, patriotism has long been unfashionable. But the prospect of a breakup has awakened a dormant affection for the United Kingdom, the state made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The "Let's Stay Together" campaign has recruited scores of stars, including Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Simon Cowell, Judi Dench, Helena Bonham Carter and Patrick Stewart to sign an open letter arguing that "what unites us is much greater than what divides us."

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