Les efforts britanniques pour que l'Écosse reste dans le Royaume Uni

18 Septembre 2014 , Rédigé par Laurence B Publié dans #Politique

David Cameron makes emotional plea to Scotland as independence vote looms

Prime minister warns yes vote on Thursday will end UK 'for good, for ever' and deprive Scotland of shared currency

To make a plea = implorer
To loom = être imminent, menacer
To warn = prévenir, avertir
Shared currency = une devise (monnaie) commune (to share = partager)

David Cameron has spelled out to the people of Scotland the stark costs of a "painful divorce" from the rest of the United Kingdom as a poll showed nearly two-thirds of voters in England and Wales objected to the idea of sharing the pound.
To spell out = expliquer clairement
Stark = difficile, dur
A poll = un sondage

In an emotional but at times hard-edged speech on his last visit to Scotland before Thursday's independence referendum, the Prime Minister warned that a yes vote would end the UK "for good, for ever" and would deprive the Scottish people of a shared currency and pooled pension arrangements. He also asked people not to mix up the temporary and the permanent, saying neither he nor the government would "be here forever". "If you don't like me – I won't be here forever. If you don't like this government – it won't last forever. But if you leave the UK – that will be forever," he said.
Hard-edged = intransigeant
To deprive of = se priver de
To pool = mettre en commun, unir, rassembler
Pension = retraite, pension
To mix up = mélanger
Neither…nor… = ni…ni…
To last = durer

Cameron, whose voice was close to breaking, spelled out what he believed would be the costs of independence. "It is my duty to be clear about the likely consequences of a yes vote. Independence would not be a trial separation. It would be a painful divorce," he said.
Duty = le devoir
Likely = probable
A trial separation = une séparation à l’essai
Painful = douloureux, pénible

He said he would be "utterly heartbroken" by a yes vote and listed the benefits of UK membership that the people of Scotland would lose, including a shared currency, armed forces built up over centuries and pension funds that would be sliced up "at some cost".
Utterly = complètement, totalement, entièrement
To be heartbroken = avoir le coeur brisé
Benefits = les avantages
To slice up = couper en rondelles (morceler)

Independence would mean Scotland's border with England – and the sea routes to Northern Ireland – would become international frontiers, Cameron said, and that more than half of Scottish mortgages would suddenly be provided by banks in a foreign country.
Border = la frontière
A mortgage = un emprunt immobilier
To provide = fournir
Foreign = étranger

"We want you to stay," he said. "Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay. Please don't mix up the temporary and the permanent. Please don't think: 'I'm frustrated with politics right now, so I'll walk out the door and never come back.'
Soul = l’âme
To walk out the door = claquer la porte

The White House reaffirmed on Monday its belief that it would be better for Scotland to stay in the UK. Press spokesman, Josh Earnest, repeated what President Obama said in Brussels earlier this year. "The president said that from the outside the US has a deep interest in ensuring that one of the closest allies that we'll ever have remains strong, robust and united and an effective partner with the US. This is a decision for the people of Scotland to make; we certainly respect the right of the individual Scots to make a decision along these lines, but as the president said, we have an interest [pause] in seeing the United Kingdom remain strong, robust, united," Earnest said.
A belief = une croyance/opinion, conviction
Deep = profond

Nicholas Watt, Severin Carrell, Tom Clark, Jill Treanor and Dan Roberts
The Guardian, Monday 15 September 2014