今年9月,苏格兰将举行全民公投,决定是否从英国独立出去。为了防止这一幕的发生,英国首相卡梅伦在伦敦发表演讲,呼吁全英国人一起努力,让苏格兰留在英国。
以下为英文演讲文本:
Centuries of history hang in the balance, a question mark hangs over the future of our United Kingdom. If people vote “yes” in September, then Scotland will become an independent country. There will be no going back.
As I’ve made clear, this is a decision that is squarely and solely for those in Scotland to make. I believe passionately that it is in their interests to stay in the United Kingdom. But my argument today is that while only 4 million people can vote in this referendum, all 63 million of us are profoundly affected. There are 63 million of us who can wake up on September 19 in a different country with a different future ahead of them. We would be deeply diminished without Scotland, this matters to all of our futures. And everyone in UK can have a voice in this debate.
The outcome is still up in the air, and we have just 7 months to go, 7 months to do all we can to keep our United Kingdom as one, 7 months to save the most extraordinary country in history. And we must do whatever it takes, so to everyone, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, everyone like me who cares about the United Kingdom.
I want to say this, you don’t have a vote, but you do have a voice. Those voting, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors, they’re our family, you do have an influence. So get on the phone, get together, email, tweet, speak, let me message ring out. From Manchester to Motherwell, from Pembrokeshire to Perth, from Belfast to Bute, from us to the people of Scotland, let the message be this: we want you to stay! Think of what we’ve done together, what we can do together, what we stand for together. Team GB, the winning team in the history of the world, let us stick together, for a winning future too.
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)