Browse content similar to 17/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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On the eve of one of the biggest political events | :00:00. | :00:09. | |
in modern times, the last push for votes in Scotland's referendum. | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
Yes campaign leader Alex Salmond urges Scots to take their future | :00:16. | :00:17. | |
While the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown urges | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
Let us tell the nationalists, this is not their flag, their country, | :00:22. | :00:29. | |
This is everyone?s flag, everyone's country, everyone's | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
There is no place I would feel more secure than in Scotland because they | :00:35. | :00:54. | |
know and they sense an enormous opportunity. | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
Reaching every corner of Scotland the ballot boxes | :00:59. | :01:00. | |
and polling stations are readied with a huge turnout expected. | :01:01. | :01:02. | |
And the other main stories this evening: | :01:03. | :01:04. | |
A sharp drop in unemployment - the latest figures show the jobless rate | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
It is all worthwhile when you see what is needed actually gets to wear | :01:09. | :01:19. | |
it is supposed to go. Why Alan Henning was | :01:20. | :01:22. | |
motivated to go to Syria. Tonight there are appeals | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
for Islamic State extremists to Pay for the display - The Mayor's | :01:26. | :01:27. | |
going to charge for the New Year's And a man's arrested | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
after wartime bombs and firearms are Good evening and welcome to the | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
BBC News at Six from Edinburgh as Scotland prepares to go to | :01:37. | :01:54. | |
the polls tomorrow. The Yes and No campaigns have spent | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
the day making their final push Scotland's First Minister Alex | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
Salmond has urged people to take their country's future | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
in their hands and vote Yes, while the former Prime Minister | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
Gordon Brown told No voters to As the campaign enters | :02:12. | :02:13. | |
its final hours the latest polls continue to suggest that the outcome | :02:14. | :02:22. | |
is just too close to call. Our Scotland Correspondent James | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
Cook has our first report tonight. Scotland tonight is a nation | :02:26. | :02:36. | |
divided, a country staring into its soul. Day after day, thousands of | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
activists have poured onto the streets, many have taken time off | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
work to fight for their vision of the future. They control education, | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
they control most of the taxes, what else do you want? We get pocket | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
money from Westminster, we want control of our own income and | :03:00. | :03:08. | |
expenditure. The yes campaign said tomorrow is about hope versus fear. | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
The message to the voters is that the choice is simple. Don't be | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
confused, if you want real power and want to stay in Scotland and | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
organise your own government, taxes and future, bowed yet. There is no | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
doubt that the campaign has been divisive but it has breathed life | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
into politics in Scotland. The air is crackling with energy as the | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
country enters the final hours of the campaign. And cometh the hour, | :03:34. | :03:41. | |
cometh the man. Those battling to keep Scotland in the UK have not | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
always match the passion of their components, but they have the | :03:46. | :03:47. | |
passion of their components, but they have today. What we have killed | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
together by sacrificing and sharing, let's no nationalism split | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
is under. Tell them that this is our Scotland. This is not their flag, | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
their country, their culture, their streets, this is everyone's flag, | :04:04. | :04:11. | |
everyone's culture, everyone's streets. The man more than anyone | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
who has brought Scotland's to this points does not agree. Is he | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
standing on the eve of history? There are fundamental changes and we | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
have seen a grassroots campaign with the participation of all. This is a | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
festival of democracy we are seeing in this campaign and it is in the | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
hands of the Scottish people. There is no place I would feel more secure | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
than in the hands of the people of Scotland because they know and they | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
sent an enormous opportunity to take Scotland's future into Scotland's | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
hands. Both Alex Salmond and his opponents have tried to use today's | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
unemployment figures as a reason to vote their way. Everyone who cares | :04:59. | :05:06. | |
about our United Kingdom is nervous but I am confident we have set out | :05:07. | :05:09. | |
how Scotland can have the best of both worlds. A successful economy | :05:10. | :05:17. | |
with a growing number of jobs and a Scottish unemployment rate at 6% is | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
lower than it is in London. The people of Scotland have one more | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
nights to ponder, one more nights to weigh up what to do, and whatever | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
happens, a myth has been dispelled. They say people do not care about | :05:33. | :05:34. | |
politics, but they are wrong. Well, it's taken | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
two years to prepare for this referendum and with a huge turnout | :05:40. | :05:42. | |
expected - there's a massive operation in place now to gather all | :05:43. | :05:45. | |
the votes - by air, sea and road. All over Scotland thousands | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
of people including volunteers and police are readying | :05:50. | :05:51. | |
the ballot boxes, polling stations and counts for tomorrow as our | :05:52. | :05:53. | |
correspondent Lorna Gordon reports. In every corner of Scotland, the | :05:54. | :06:08. | |
ballot boxes are being delivered. Calmly, methodically, work has been | :06:09. | :06:12. | |
continuing to ensure tomorrow goes without a hitch. From the cities to | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
the islands, the challenges have been worked through. We have been | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
using ferries like this, a normal very. We have also chartered a | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
special ferry, and the plane. There are only 121 voters on this island | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
but it is important everybody has an equal chance to place a vote. The | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
significance of this referendum is not lost on those heading to the | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
islands. The best of luck tomorrow. People down the pub are talking | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
about it, everybody is talking about it, there is a lot of excitement. It | :06:51. | :07:00. | |
is very important. We will have to wait and see. There are some who may | :07:01. | :07:06. | |
have other things on their mind. But not many. No classes for these | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
children tomorrow as it will become a polling booth. This will be one of | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
the busiest in the country and work to transform it is getting underway. | :07:20. | :07:27. | |
Thousands could turn out to vote in this one Glasgow school alone. They | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
aim to make sure it runs smoothly. I am proud to be playing a little | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
parts in history. It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me. | :07:40. | :07:43. | |
This is where the final result will be made known. Announcing what that | :07:44. | :07:50. | |
is will fall to one person. Do you have a flutter in your stomach? I | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
would not be human if I was not nervous and I want everybody to have | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
a really good experience on polling day with no impediments to voting | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
and everything going smoothly. Then we will get an accurate result that | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
everybody can trust. The safety and security of voting stations and | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
voters will be paramount tomorrow. The police say their arrangements | :08:17. | :08:23. | |
will be appropriate. This could be the largest turnout Scotland has | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
ever seen as voters lay their part in making history. | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
Emotions running so high now. Last-minute campaigns for both sides | :08:32. | :08:42. | |
tonight, have you seen anything like this? I have never seen like this. | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
People tell me that politics is boring, but not here and not now. If | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
you live in Aberystwyth or Accrington or Antrim, wherever you | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
are in England or Wales, I can see why it may be baffling or boring, | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
but it is not like that here. For those who are going to vote yes | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
tomorrow, this is the end of a huge journey. A journey of decades for | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
people like Alex Salmond. And being a mere country to a self-governing | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
nation, and nation that takes its own decisions and has to live with | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
them. If you are part of the no campaign, it is the end of something | :09:24. | :09:31. | |
so valued. Gordon Brown discover the passion today. -- discovered. Ponder | :09:32. | :09:39. | |
this, though, if you are watching outside Scotland. It will take about | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
2 million votes from the Scottish people to win this referendum. That | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
is 4% of the British electorate. Whichever way it goes, it will | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
change the lives of the 96% of viewers watching elsewhere. | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
And for more on the referendum, the issues, the polls and the | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
And I'll have more later in the programme but for now, | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
In the day's other news, unemployment has fallen again with | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
official figures showing it fell by 146,000 to just over two million in | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
Allowance has also dropped below one million for the first time | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
in six years as our correspondent Simon Gompertz reports. | :10:28. | :10:36. | |
More jobs, more vacancies, and another sharp fall in unemployment. | :10:37. | :10:45. | |
It peaked at over 2.6 million three years ago after the ravages of the | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
recession but now with the recovery, it has dropped close to the 2 | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
million mark, but there is a long way to fall to what it was before | :10:55. | :11:01. | |
the financial crisis. Youth unemployment is down by a record | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
amount is. Calvin had help from a government funded work experience | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
scheme and now has a job in a Hotel. I was starting to get down and | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
annoyed that then the scheme made me realise that there are plenty of | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
fish in the sea and you can get to where you want to go in life. With | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
young people moving into work, claimants for jobseeker's allowance | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
has dropped to below 1 million for the first time in six years. | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
Unemployment is in young people has reduced by 40%, and that figure in | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
this region is higher than the national picture so we know that | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
what we are doing works. Scotland is doing best with an unemployment rate | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
of 6% exactly. Next comes England with the highest rates in Northern | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
Ireland and Wales. People are moving into jobs much more rapidly and that | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
is something that ministers are celebrating. Labour complains that | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
the same figures show wages moving at a snail's pace. There may be work | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
on offer but you could still find yourself struggling to keep up with | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
the cost of living. Wages are up just 0.7%, excluding bonuses. The | :12:19. | :12:24. | |
latest inflation figures show prices going up by double that. Employers | :12:25. | :12:32. | |
can find people they need, and we are not creating any extra value per | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
person so we need to obviously pay them more. Stagnant pay is having an | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
influence on the Bank of England committee which sets interest rates. | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
Discussions published today say most lenders won the cost of borrowing to | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
stay low for the moment. -- lenders want. | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
British Muslim leaders have called | :12:57. | :12:57. | |
today for the immediate release of Alan Henning, | :12:58. | :12:59. | |
the hostage threatened with death by Islamic State extremists in Syria. | :13:00. | :13:02. | |
The BBC has obtained previously unseen footage of Mr Henning | :13:03. | :13:04. | |
describing why he wanted to deliver aid to Syria. | :13:05. | :13:07. | |
There's also been an appeal for his freedom from those who travelled | :13:08. | :13:10. | |
with him to Syria as our Special Correspondent Lucy Manning reports. | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
Alan Henning, nicknamed gadget, was all smiles as he travelled on the | :13:17. | :13:24. | |
aid convoy to Syria last December but he would go from charity worker | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
to hostage. In this unseen video, he is filmed heading into Turkey and | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
was clear about why he was making the dangerous journey. It is | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
worthwhile when you see what is needed actually getting to where it | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
is supposed to go. That makes it worthwhile. The sacrifice we do is | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
nothing compared to what they go through every day. Moving words | :13:48. | :13:58. | |
given his current plight. With aid for Syria tattooed on his arm, Alan | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
Henning had been in Syria for less than an hour when he was abducted. | :14:04. | :14:09. | |
The man on the convoy with Alan Henning told BBC News about the | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
moment his friend was captured. All of sudden, these masked gunman came | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
onto the compound and we did not know what was happening. One by one, | :14:22. | :14:28. | |
they called all of us out and asked us our date of birth. They were | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
trying to find out if we were spies. They came to the conclusion that he | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
was a spy because he had a chip in his passport. He handed over his | :14:38. | :14:44. | |
passport to show that is just how passport are. He has this message | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
for Islamic State. Please, please, please, show him some mercy. | :14:52. | :14:58. | |
Understand he is a humanitarian aid worker and not a fighter. He is not | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
here for a political reason. He is helping people. Now the charity who | :15:03. | :15:09. | |
Alan Henning travelled with, and who are being investigated about the | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
actions of one of their fundraisers in Syria, have appealed to the | :15:16. | :15:19. | |
Islamic State. You have the ability to spare the life of this man. We | :15:20. | :15:33. | |
beg you to tread the path of justice and ensure compassion that is in | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
your heart. Ministers have been clear the | :15:38. | :15:49. | |
options are limited because they do not know exactly where he is being | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
held. The time is a quarter past six. Our top story this | :15:54. | :15:59. | |
the Yes and No campaigns have spent the day making their final push for | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
every last vote. And still to come, police investigating the deaths | :16:04. | :16:05. | |
of two British tourists in Thailand are questioning two brothers from | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
evening, later on BBC London, we will debate what impact the Scottish | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
referendum could have on the capital. And getting access to | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
London's transport network, as Southern trains launches a smart | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
card that can be used on trains and buses. | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
Trials of a potential new vaccine against the Ebola virus | :16:29. | :16:30. | |
If they are successful, it could be used to immunise health | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
With the latest figures showing nearly 5,000 people infected | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
by the virus, President Obama is now calling it "a potential threat | :16:43. | :16:44. | |
Nearly 2,500 people have died during the current outbreak, with half of | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
Our Medical correspondent Fergus Walsh has more. | :16:51. | :17:02. | |
Could this be what finally stops Ebola? This vaccine has never been | :17:03. | :17:12. | |
tested on humans until today. Ruth Atkins heard the call for volunteers | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
on the radio while driving home from work, and became the first of 60 | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
people in Oxford to have the jab. Fantastic. It is that one step and I | :17:23. | :17:29. | |
am part of that first step and it gets that vaccine, they know they | :17:30. | :17:32. | |
have the right vaccine and they can start giving it and that will make a | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
difference to people's lives, big time. To be effective, the vaccine | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
must trigger antibodies against in bowler in the victim's -- against | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
Ebola in the victim's blood. Normally it would take years of | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
human trials before a completely new vaccine was approved for use, but | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
the research here in Oxford is being fast tracked at an astonishing rate, | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
and all being well, by the end of the year, around 10,000 doses of the | :18:02. | :18:07. | |
jab will be available to immunise health workers in west Africa. This | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
is why the vaccine is so desperately needed. In Liberia, the health | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
service has been overwhelmed. Men, women, children, the virus has | :18:20. | :18:27. | |
claimed the lives of all ages. Eight key question for the scientists | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
heading the Oxford trial, is the vaccine said? There is absolutely no | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
risk of this vaccine giving anyone Ebola because nothing came out of | :18:38. | :18:41. | |
the Ebola virus and went into this vaccine. We have used modern | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
technology where you use a carrier, another virus, that is safe, and | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
being used for lots of vaccine types, and just put one DNA | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
sequence, a tiny fraction of the Ebola genomics to it. The vaccine | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
can't come a moment too soon for West Africa, where communities and | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
whole economies are threatened with collapse. | :19:03. | :19:05. | |
Police investigating the deaths of two British tourists in Thailand | :19:06. | :19:07. | |
are questioning two brothers from the UK. | :19:08. | :19:09. | |
The pair were stopped from leaving the country | :19:10. | :19:11. | |
The bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on the | :19:12. | :19:20. | |
From there, our correspondent Jonathan Head has sent this report. | :19:21. | :19:32. | |
The police are still here in force on Koh Tao, searching for evidence | :19:33. | :19:41. | |
on the spot where Hannah Witheridge and David Millar died, but this | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
crime scene was never sealed. It is unlikely they will find much now. | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
Instead, they believe forensic examination of the bodies will give | :19:51. | :19:52. | |
them what they need to track down the killer. British embassy | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
officials were invited to the pleas hospital in Bangkok to hear what | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
progress they are making. They are also now holding two British men for | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
questioning. Christopher Ware, and his brother James, spent time with | :20:08. | :20:11. | |
the two victims in the days before they were killed. Christopher Ware | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
was written by police on Monday, but then allowed to leave the island. | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
The Thai authorities are still looking into the possibility of the | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
killer could be a local man. They are continuing to question Bernie 's | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
workers on Koh Tao. All options appear to be open. TRANSLATION: With | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
the information we have, I think we can identify the murderer. However, | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
we must wait for the test results to come out. Three days on, and you get | :20:38. | :20:45. | |
the sense now of an investigation that is kicking into a higher gear. | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
After some pretty mixed messages from the police, you have to wonder | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
whether opportunities and perhaps even evidence to help solve the | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
crime might have been missed. Thailand's tourist industry has | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
already been hit hard this year by political turmoil. These horrific | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
murders are another blow. The pressure is on the Thai police to | :21:09. | :21:11. | |
solve this crime quickly and credibly. | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
More now on the referendum in Scotland, with Sophie in Edinburgh. | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
Two years after this independence referendum was announced, there are | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
just hours to go before the people of Scotland decide on their future. | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
The Yes and No campaigns have been mounting | :21:29. | :21:30. | |
First Minister Alex Salmond has been urging on the Yes campaign. | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
"Wake up on Friday morning to the first day of a better country". | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is right | :21:43. | :21:44. | |
He's telling supporters to "stand up and be counted tomorrow," | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
and, a new poll by Ipsos-MORI has been released, which suggests that | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
the Yes campaign is on 49% and the No campaign is on 51%. | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
That's broadly in line with other polls. | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
Well, there have been a number of key issues during the campaign. | :22:05. | :22:07. | |
One is whether promised new powers can be delivered in the event | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
But first, the arguments over the currency that an independent | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
To talk about that, I'm joined by our Business Editor, Kamal Ahmed, | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
Well, Sophie, as you say, the currency goes to the heart of the | :22:21. | :22:35. | |
future of Scotland if there is a Yes vote tomorrow. There are four main | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
options, the first is actually a currency union. That's where | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
countries or states agreed to share a currency and negotiate and agree | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
on a port of matters like interest rates. We have examples like that, | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
the Euro or the dollar. In this scenario, the Bank of England would | :22:56. | :22:58. | |
stand behind Scottish banks and would support the Scottish economy, | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
but the three big Westminster parties have said they don't support | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
that. Now, Alex Salmond, the First Minister, has said it is not a | :23:07. | :23:09. | |
matter for the Westminster parties, it is a matter that will be | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
negotiated. He also says that a currency union would not only be | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
good for Scotland but would also be good for the rest of the UK, because | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
there would be no transaction costs, and trading would be easier. The | :23:21. | :23:31. | |
second option, ugly word, sterlingisation, where Scotland news | :23:32. | :23:34. | |
as the pound but not in arrangement with the rest of the United Kingdom. | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
Third option, the Euro, Alexandre and has ruled that out, because he | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
does not want to join the European Union. The third would be a new | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
radical currency with the Scottish bank. That probably won't get off | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
the drawing board, because Alex and has said he will use sterling if | :23:54. | :23:54. | |
Scots vote yes tomorrow. Another big issue is whether | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
Westminster can deliver promised new powers to the Scottish government | :23:59. | :24:01. | |
in the event of a No vote. Our Deputy Political Editor, | :24:02. | :24:04. | |
James Landale, is in Westminster. James, are we now clear what | :24:05. | :24:06. | |
the government would offer the Sophie, I think the direction is | :24:07. | :24:17. | |
clear, the detail is not. The leaders of the three largest parties | :24:18. | :24:19. | |
in the UK have promised that Scotland will get more powers over | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
its tax, spending and welfare. They have promised to publish draft | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
legislation in January to make this happen. But the Conservatives, the | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
Lib Dems and Labour all have different ideas about what this | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
might mean in practice. So first of all, David Cameron, Ed Miliband and | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
Nick Clegg will have to agree amongst themselves. They will also | :24:39. | :24:41. | |
have to get the agreement of their own parties, and that cannot be | :24:42. | :24:44. | |
guaranteed. Many MPs are worried about what they see as rushed | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
constitutional reform. Many Tories believe that now English MPs alone | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
should decide legislation that affects England. In Wales, there are | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
fears that fixing Scotland's funding formula will mean no extra money for | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
the Welsh, and in Northern Ireland there will almost certainly be calls | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
for corporation tax to be given to the Stormont assembly. So none of | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
this will be easy. The dilemma facing voters who are undecided | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
tonight, thinking about voting no, is this: Can they guarantee a new | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
Scotland with new powers within the union? | :25:20. | :25:21. | |
Well, the people of Scotland are within | :25:22. | :25:23. | |
hours of one of the most important political events of modern times. | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
Whatever happens here tomorrow could set Scotland, | :25:28. | :25:29. | |
and the United Kingdom, on a different course for centuries. | :25:30. | :25:32. | |
"Should Scotland be an independent country?". | :25:33. | :25:42. | |
Edinburgh has never seen anything like it, and neither has anywhere | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
else in Scotland. Yes or no? It's the question that has sparked so | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
much passionate debate. More than 4.2 million people have registered | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
to vote, that's 97% of those eligible, making it the largest ever | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
electorate in Scotland. And among them will be 16 and 17-year-olds | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
scum who will be voting for the first time in any national election | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
in the UK. In the next few hours, they will be putting up the signs | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
here. This is one of the many polling stations, in fact there are | :26:15. | :26:17. | |
more than 5500 polling stations across Scotland, but many people | :26:18. | :26:25. | |
have already voted. Almost 790,000 people had registered for postal | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
votes. The polls will open at 7am and close at 10pm tomorrow night. | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
There will be no exit poll. Instead, you will have to wait until all the | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
votes are counted. 32 Scottish councils will report the local | :26:40. | :26:47. | |
totals to the central count in Edinburgh. The bulk of the result | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
are expected between two and five in the morning but nobody knows when we | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
will get the answer to shore. One thing is for sure, the world will be | :26:56. | :26:59. | |
watching when Scotland heads to the polls in the morning. | :27:00. | :27:00. | |
Our Scotland Political Editor, Brian Taylor, is in Glasgow. | :27:01. | :27:02. | |
Brian, you've been tracking this referendum from the start. | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
On the eve of the vote, what has it taught us | :27:06. | :27:07. | |
We have had weeks, we have had months, we have had years of | :27:08. | :27:15. | |
campaigning on this. It was intriguing today, I attended a | :27:16. | :27:18. | |
couple of rallies in Glasgow on either side, and pitch on either | :27:19. | :27:25. | |
side, those who support independence say that independence would energise | :27:26. | :27:28. | |
the people and empower them to produce a prosperous and just | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
Scotland. On the other side, those who support the union said the | :27:33. | :27:35. | |
genuine patriotic perspective for the people of Scotland is to have a | :27:36. | :27:40. | |
more powerful parliament within the union, formally within the union. | :27:41. | :27:43. | |
Those two options go before the people, a momentous, monumental | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
decision, but the people will choose, not the politicians. Time | :27:48. | :27:53. | |
now for a look at all of the weather. | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
High pressure has been dominating so far this month. It has actually been | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
the driest start to September for over 50 years. Just 7% of the | :28:05. | :28:08. | |
expected rainfall was that it has been one as well buy a couple of | :28:09. | :28:11. | |
degrees, a little bit cool at times on the east coast, had it like | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
today, where we have had this persistent low cloud, and that is | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
coming inland overnight, bringing more mist and fog, especially to | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
hills and coasts in the east where there will be a bit of light rain or | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
drizzle. Another warm night thanks to the increasing cloud, one or two | :28:29. | :28:31. | |
sharp showers and the far south-west. Tomorrow starts Gray for | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
many of us, misty too. We should see the sunshine breaking through for | :28:37. | :28:39. | |
most places, still rather do dowel and damp -- go and damp. For | :28:40. | :28:46. | |
Scotland, sunshine likely in the West, Easton area still dull and | :28:47. | :28:49. | |
damp, rather cool as well. Across Northern Ireland, it may take a | :28:50. | :28:52. | |
little longer to get the sunshine. It won't be quite as funny as this | :28:53. | :28:55. | |
afternoon but we should see an improvement to the north-west of | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
England. The other side of the Pennines, still rather cool. | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
Very few thunderstorms, most places will be drivers that we are more | :29:06. | :29:12. | |
likely to get some showers on Friday. These could be heavy and | :29:13. | :29:16. | |
thundery, but again, a bit hit and miss, and maybe pushing up not just | :29:17. | :29:19. | |
across southern inland but into Wales and the Midlands. Altogether, | :29:20. | :29:22. | |
a cloudier looking day altogether, we could get a few showers in | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
western Scotland and Northern Ireland too, those temp just not | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
quite so high. As we head into the weekend, we should eventually push | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
those showers away. I pressure is building in yet another one pushing | :29:35. | :29:41. | |
in across the UK, drying things off and hopefully we will see eventually | :29:42. | :29:42. | |
an apartment in the north-east. | :29:43. | :29:46. |