Scots are to vote in a referendum on independence in September, and the move by Ms. Rowling, who said in a lengthy blog post on Wednesday that she was making a “substantial” contribution to the campaign, provided opponents of a breakaway with substantial financial support and with a welcome celebrity endorsement.
With the referendum in full swing, Ms. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series, said the independence movement was the product of a “fringe of nationalists” who sought to demonize anyone who was not unquestionably in favor of their cause.
Ms. Rowling, a resident of Edinburgh who said that she had lived in Scotland for 21 years, said such people might find her “insufficiently Scottish” to hold a view on the matter because she was born in the west of England and brought up in England, close to the border with Wales.
“When people try to make this debate about the purity of your lineage, things start getting a little Death Eaterish for my taste,” Ms. Rowling added in a post on her blog, referring to elite followers of the archvillain Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter books.
Ms. Rowling did not specify the amount of her donation in her blog post, but the figure of £1 million was confirmed by the campaign against independence, known as Better Together.
The vote is restricted to people who live in Scotland and are aged 16 and older.
Although most opinion polls show a majority in favor of rejecting independence, the “yes” campaign, led by Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, has gained some momentum in recent months.
Those who have supported the pro-independence campaign include the actor Sean Connery, who has described separation as too good an opportunity to miss.
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