Alistair Darling MP has said that charities benefit from being within the UK and an independent Scotland would break that “social union”.

Speaking at a Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) event, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer said that Scotland’s charity and voluntary sector has “the best of both worlds” within the UK. Darling, who is the leader of campaign group Better Together, said funding received from the National Lottery could “fundamentally change” if Scotland is granted independence.

He said that the work of the charity sector is essential in improving the lives of people across Scotland.

He added: “It’s a positive example of where we benefit from the social union that we have as part of the United Kingdom.

“The UK is more than an economic and political union. It is also a social union, enabling us to work together across the four nations of the UK for the benefit of all.”

Darling said: “The UK has one of the best and most effective international aid budgets in the world, reducing poverty and eradicating inequality in some of the most deprived parts of our world. Why walk away from that?”

In a pre-prepared statement, Darling cited the National Lottery, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation as organisations that work across the whole of the UK.

He described how the National Lottery is a good example of this social union: “Money that is raised elsewhere in the UK is used for the benefit of people in Scotland, just as money raised in Scotland is invested elsewhere in the UK. This pooling and sharing of resources is only made possible by our strong social union.”

Darling added: “Projects and groups in Scotland have received substantial funding from the National Lottery. It’s a cross-border relationship that works, but only because we are part of the UK. Leaving the UK would fundamentally change that.”

Camelot comments

A Camelot spokesperson said: “Any decisions about the future shape of the National Lottery following a Scottish vote for independence in the referendum would be a matter for the respective governments, not Camelot. This also applies to the arrangements in place for distributing funds to National Lottery good causes.

“To date, National Lottery players have raised over £31bn for the good causes, with more than 420,000 individual awards made across the UK – an average of 135 lottery grants for every postcode district.”

Darling was speaking at the SCVO event The Gathering in Glasgow last night.