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Andy Murray finally reveals views on Scottish independence
Tennis star Andy Murray appeared to declare his support for Scottish indepen
dence in an 11th hour intervention on Thursday morning, after years of keepi
ng silent on the issue.
Having refused to be drawn on the subject in the past, Murray seemed to twee
t his support for the Yes campaign to his 2.7 million followers.
The 27-year-old Wimbledon champion - one of Scotland’s highest profile nati
onals - nailed his colours to the mast just hours before polls opened, writi
ng: “Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days tota
lly swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!”
Murray, who grew up in Dunblane, Stirling, has previously expressed his admi
ration for staunch No supporter Gordon Brown, however on Thursday suggested
he had been put off by the No camp’s recent campaign tactics.
His tweet received mixed reactions from his fans. One wrote: “Aw nice one A
ndy! (Left it a wee bit late there, could you no have come out a bit sooner”
While one follower from the No side said: “Disappointed in you andy, you ma
y have just swayed the undecided.”
As a long-time resident of Surrey, Murray will not have a vote but he has ge
nerally been seen as a firm Scottish nationalist - drumming up controversy i
n 2006 when he said he would support "anyone but England" in the World Cup.
Murray has been quizzed on the issue previously but dodged the question, alt
hough in an interview in June he criticised Alex Salmond, the Scottish First
Minister, for waving the country's flag at the tournament last year.
When pressed on the issue of independence in an interview after his Wimbledo
n victory, he said: “You don't want to come to a snap decision and then see
the country go t*** up.
“I am proud to be Scottish, but I am also proud to be British. I don't thin
k there is any contradiction in that.”
Speaking just last month, he said that he had not given it much thought as h
e did not think it looked likely the result would be a Yes.
"If Scotland became independent, then I imagine I would be playing for Scotl
and," he said.
"I haven't thought that much about that yet because I don't think it's looki
ng too likely that it's going to happen. But if it did happen, then it would
be pretty much the first time in my life that I would have ever (had the ch
ance to play for Scotland)."
He added that he did not like making his views on politics known as previous
comments had "caused me a headache ... and a lot of abuse".
Murray’s apparent support for the Yes campaign follows messages from celebr
ities, as well as US presidents past and present, urging Scots to vote no.
More than 200 famous names, including rockers Sir Paul McCartney, Sting and
Mick Jagger; composer Andrew Lloyd Webber; comedian Eddie Izzard; model Stel
la Tenant; actresses Helena Bonham-Carter and Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell,
and Stephen Hawking signed a letter urging Scotland to stay in the union.
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a united Britain has been a
valuable ally for the US and one he wants to keep “strong and robust:.
However Murray will find support in fellow Scot, Sir Sean Connery, who said
in March: “Simply put – there is no more creative an act than creating a n
ew nation. I believe the opportunity of independence is too good to miss.”