ALEX Salmond's failure to set out an alternative to his under-fire currency plans for an independent Scotland is costing the Yes campaign support among women, Labour's Margaret Curran will claim today.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland will say women are backing a No vote because they are unwilling to "take a risk with their family's future".
She will speak out at a Labour-organised summit for women's organisations in Edinburgh.
Her comments follow a report yesterday which suggested the reason fewer women than men intend to vote Yes, as polls indicate, is because they are more uncertain about the consequences of independence.
Responding yesterday, pro-Yes campaign group Women for Independence said one third of women voters had yet to make up their minds.
But Ms Curran will say: "It is now clear that women are backing the no campaign.
"Women are concerned about their own future and their family's future, and Alex Salmond and the SNP haven't given them any of the answers they need."
Citing figures showing only one third of public body board members are female, she will also accuse the SNP of failing to promote the role of women in the workplace.
She will say: "The SNP haven't delivered.
"They know that the SNP only started paying attention to them when they wanted to win their votes."
The latest Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, out yesterday, put support for independence at 31 per cent among women and 43 per cent among men, excluding undecided voters.
The gap was down to greater uncertainty among women, according to an analysis by Rachel Ormston of the ScotCen social research institute.
Jeane Freeman, co-founder of Women for Independence, said: "The key finding in this research is that nearly a third of women in Scotland have still to decide how to vote.
"This means that women's hearts, minds and crucially, their votes are still there to be won in the referendum.
"We are pleased to see support for independence among women increasing by four per cent in the last year.
"Clearly, we are disappointed that the gender gap as a whole remains.
"In key target groups for the Yes movement, however, it is good to see that gap closing."
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