The UK Government has urged Aberdeen supporters to vote against independence – saying it would cost them the price of three season tickets at Pittodrie.
The pitch to Dons fans who are voting in September’s referendum has been made on a list of a dozen things Scots could do with their “Union dividend”.
Pro-UK campaigners claim that independence would cost everyone £1,400, and say with that money they could “watch Aberdeen play all season with two mates, with a few pies and Bovrils thrown in for good measure”.
Other examples of ways the money could be spent include buying 636 coffees, treating your whole family to fish and chips for 10 weeks, eating 280 hotdogs, or paying for your haircuts for the next three-and-a-half years.
Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander unveiled the £1,400 “Union dividend” figure in a speech in Edinburgh last week.
Lego characters have been used the illustrate the examples detailed on the Treasury’s website.
However, the list provoked a critical response from independence supporters on social media.
Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, said: “If there has been anything more tawdry, patronising and stupid as #legoforno from a Gov’t department, I’ve not seen it”.
Mark McDonald, SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside, joked that the UK Government was trying to deflect attention from the row over Alistair Darling comparing Alex Salmond to Kim Jong-il.
He said: “Frantic scenes at HM Treasury. ‘Quick, how can we take the heat off those Darling remarks?’ ‘Get the Lego out. I have an idea’.”
Another example on the list was travelling by bus between Glasgow and Edinburgh 127 times.
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown said: “Treasury apparently unaware that bus travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh is free for all pensioners and others.”
A Treasury source branded the comments an “overreaction”.