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Staying in EU will keep Scottish independence at bay, say Conservatives

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A vote by Britons to stay in the European Union will keep Scottish independence at bay, British Chancellor George Osborne has said, angering nationalists who also support remaining in the bloc. Britain's in-out referendum on EU membership in two weeks' time has drawn up strange partnerships across the usual political divide. Both George Osborne's Conservative unionist party and Scotland's pro-independence devolved government, run by the Scottish National Party (SNP), are campaigning to stay in. "It is the Scottish nationalists themselves who said that they would use the Brexit vote as an excuse to bring up the issue again of Scottish separation," Osborne said on a visit to southern Scotland. "The simplest and easiest way to take the issue off the table is to vote for 'Remain,'" he said, adding that he did not want to give the Nationalists "any excuses". The SNP said Osborne's comments were an attempt to tell Scotland what to do. The Conservatives have a history of hostile relations with Scotland, whose voters are largely left-leaning. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said that a Brexit, or British exit from the EU, might provide grounds for a second referendum on independence from the rest of the UK if Scotland votes to remain on June 23, as expected, and the rest of Britain votes to leave. "The SNP are focussed on securing a vote to remain in the EU‎, but Scotland's future can and will only ultimately be decided by the people – and certainly not by arrogant, high-handed attempts by the (Conservatives) to lay down the law," a spokesman for Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Polls show the vote may well be close. Some Scots who are in favour of independence from the rest of the UK are campaigning for a "Leave" vote because they say the EU is a "bosses club" and that leaving it might be the best route to independence. Scots rejected independence by 55-45 percent in a 2014 vote but since then the SNP has strengthened, taking 56 of the 59 seats representing Scotland in the parliament in London in last year's national election. (Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; editing by Michael Holden)