London - The British government scrambled to offer Scotland greater economic autonomy after a shock poll on Sunday put the separatist camp ahead in the lengthy campaign for independence 10 days before the referendum.

Finance Minister George Osborne promised to unveil plans for greater tax and spending powers this week if Scotland would vote to remain in England. Depending on the September 18 turn out, the people of Scotland may see the end of a 300-year-old union with England, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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Minister Osborne told BBC on Sunday that Scotland will emerge as getting the best of both worlds, should it decide to stick with the Union.

The government's offer follows a poll published in The Sunday Times, which indicated 51 percent support for the separation and 49 percent pro-UK support. The YouGov poll results excluded the 6 percent undecided who said they have yet to make up their minds.

The no camp has always been ahead in the polls. While the recent polls' two-point margin may not be very significant, it dramatically changes the stakes ahead of the referendum.

London Mayor Boris Johnson reminded the Scots to keep the Union intact, indicating that Scottish independence would be catastrophic for the country.

"We will all have lost a way of thinking about ourselves, a way of explaining ourselves to the world," The Daily Telegraph quotes Johnson.

This act of self-mutilation would be advantageous for U.K.'s international rivals, explained the conservative Johnson.

Separatists like Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party (SNP), however, dismissed Westminster's offer as a panic measure from the unionist camp.

They've failed to scare the Scots; now they're trying to bribe us," Salmond told BBC.

The Yes Scotland campaign has been heading the separation movement while Better Together, along with three of London's major political parties, is behind the push for the Union.

TagsScotland referendum, United Kingdom, Scotland