British Prime Minister David Cameron travelled to Scotland on Monday to urge Scots to vote against independence or face dire consequences in his most forceful speech yet ahead of this week’s historic referendum.

British Prime Minister David Cameron travelled to Scotland on Monday to urge Scots to vote against independence or face dire consequences in his most forceful speech yet ahead of this week's historic referendum.

Cameron was speaking in Aberdeen on what could be his last visit to Scotland before the vote on Thursday and promised to give Scotland sweeping new powers in the event of a "No" result against independence.

"Head, heart and soul, we want you to stay," Cameron said to applause from a mostly elderly audience of hundreds of people who were bussed in for the event in a city that is a hub for Scotland's offshore oil and gas industry.

"Independence would not be a trial separation, it would be a painful divorce," he said, warning of a risk to pensions and the difficulties of a physical border.
"There is no going back from this," he said.

Back in London, thousands rallied to plead with Scotland to stay in the union, waving union jack flags and holding signs such as "Scotland we love you, don't go" in a rally in central Trafalgar Square.

"We think that unity is better than division, and cooperation is better than competition," organizer Dan Snow, a broadcaster and historian, told the crowd.

For its part, the United States has stepped into Scotland's debate by saying that it hoped to maintain its "special relationship" with a "united" Britain.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest stressed that Washington respected the right of Scots to decide their future in Thursday's referendum, but hoped for a "strong, robust and united" ally.