In his first foray into the referendum debate, Gordon Brown seized on the Olympics success of Scottish cyclist Sir Chris Hoy as an argument against Scottish independence.
The former Labour Prime Minister claimed that the union between England and Scotland was based on the pooling and sharing of resources that created a Britain that is much fairer and more equal than it would otherwise be.
On Scotland Tonight, John MacKay was joined by political commentator David Torrance, SNP minister Derek Mackay and the former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish.
Mr Torrance, who attended the speech, noted how Mr Brown impressed the audience. He said the lecture was one of the first times an advocate of the UK staying together mentioned how parts of the country subsidise other areas.
Derek MacKay, meanwhile, thought some of Mr Brown’s assertions were scaremongering and questioned his politicization of the success of Scottish athletes in London.
Henry McLeish, like Mr Torrance, was impressed by the former Prime Minister and said his Labour colleague wanted to talk about modern unionism by looking forward instead of focussing on our country’s history.
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