By EARLE GALE in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2021-04-15 09:24 Share CLOSE People walk down a street, amid the outbreak of the COVID-19, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, Jan 5, 2021. [Photo/Agencies] The British government should not deny the Scottish people a referendum on whether Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom, if it becomes clear most people want such a vote to be held, a former Downing Street adviser has warned. Ciaran Martin, who led the UK's National Cyber Security Centre and who was constitution director in the government's Cabinet Office between 2011 and 2014, said in a report issued on Tuesday it would be disastrous for London to force a member nation to stay in the union.