Obama risks ire by joining Scots debate

Barack Obama has waded into the fraught debate about Britain’s constitutional future by stressing US interest in a “united” kingdom that remains a full member of the EU.

With just over three months to go before the Scottish vote on independence, the US president stood beside David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, to praise the UK as an “extraordinary partner” that looked from the outside like it had “worked pretty well”.

“We obviously have a deep interest in making sure that one of the closest allies we will ever have remains a robust, united and effective partner,” he said, adding that the decision was ultimately “for the folks [in Scotland]”.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, who is leading the independence campaign, shot back saying “yes we can”, in an echo of Mr Obama’s electoral slogan. “When Scotland becomes independent, America will have two allies instead of one,” he added.

Mr Obama’s intervention in the charged Scottish referendum campaign was followed by a plea for Britain to remain in the EU, should Mr Cameron deliver his pledge to hold a vote on membership in 2017.

Mr Obama said it was “hard to imagine” the European project going well without Britain, or Britain benefiting from being “excluded from political decisions that have an enormous impact”. “I’m sure that the people of Great Britain will make the right decision,” he said.

It came at the close of a summit in Brussels of the world’s seven industrial powers, which was dominated by Russia’s interference in eastern Ukraine. Both leaders served a warning to President Vladimir Putin to cease provocation and open talks or face further sanctions on key parts of the economy.

The president’s candid remarks on Scotland and Europe reflect deep concern in Washington over two referendums that could divide Britain and leave its clout diminished in Europe.

Turning to Europe, Mr Cameron said the rise of anti-EU parties in the European elections could not be “wished away” and needed a strategy to address concerns and “secure Britain’s place in a reformed EU”. Avoiding the issue would “see Britain drift towards the exits, and I don’t want that to happen”, he said.

Without mentioning his name, the British prime minister continued in private talks to press his case against Jean-Claude Juncker, the veteran eurozone fixer and frontrunner for president of the European Commission. In public Mr Cameron, who met with Angela Merkel of Germany, stressed the need to find a person who “understands the need for change”.

Mr Cameron’s campaign against Mr Juncker has triggered some strong reactions from pro-Europeans in other EU member states. Michel Rocard, former French prime minister, wrote in Le Monde that UK opposition to further integration was killing the EU. “Leave before wrecking everything,” he wrote.

The comments by Mr Obama sparked an instant reaction on social media. Some pro-unionists tweeted a mock-up of the famous Obama campaign poster from 2008, replacing the word “Hope” with “Nope”.

But the army of passionate independence campaigners known as “cybernats” reacted with anger. One of the more polite Twitter responses read: “I take it he tells Americans not to celebrate Independence Day.”

David Torrance, a biographer of Mr Salmond, expressed surprise and noted that President Bill Clinton’s “similar intervention during 1995 Quebec referendum [in Canada] was widely perceived as a mistake”.

The pro-union campaign has recovered some of its composure after a rocky start to the year, when a shrinking poll lead led to infighting within the group. Since then, however, the polls have begun to move against independence once more, leading nationalists to worry they have lost vital momentum.

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Letter in response to this report:

Mr Salmond can’t have it both ways on nuclear deterrent / From Mr Neil Shillito