:00:21. > :00:25.There's been a frenetic round of campaigning for votes
:00:26. > :00:28.in the last weekend before Thursday's Scottish referendum.
:00:29. > :00:31.A rally in Edinburgh in support of the union was joined by thousands
:00:32. > :00:35.of people from all over the United Kingdom, while campaigners for a yes
:00:36. > :00:37.vote started delivering leaflets to more than 2.5 million homes.
:00:38. > :00:46.This report from our Scotland correspondent, James Cook.
:00:47. > :00:56.On Scotland's streets, politics has come alive. They will do a better
:00:57. > :01:04.job of it. So they are better than us? Passion aplenty, as a nation
:01:05. > :01:07.debates its future. We will try and persuade one more go for fellow
:01:08. > :01:13.citizens to join this great Yes Campaign. Will you do that? Yes
:01:14. > :01:19.campaigners, for so long the underdogs, are now fired up. The
:01:20. > :01:24.First Minister, Alex Salmond, is touring town after town this
:01:25. > :01:29.weekend. He continues to dismiss concerns about the cost of
:01:30. > :01:32.independence. What people want to hear from all campaigners and what
:01:33. > :01:37.they will hear from the Yes Campaign is a positive vision about the
:01:38. > :01:43.future of Scotland. On that ground we stand and we are winning. From
:01:44. > :01:49.the Highlands to the lowlands, Scotland today is a nation frantic
:01:50. > :01:51.with political activity. This is the busiest day's campaigning in the
:01:52. > :01:58.history of the country as it tries to decide. In the heart of Glasgow,
:01:59. > :02:04.campaigners against independents were out in force. Their message, we
:02:05. > :02:11.are as patriotic as the next Scott what we do not want disruption and
:02:12. > :02:14.disunity. The Better Together campaign say they have one Thousand
:02:15. > :02:22.St stalls the length and breadth of Scotland. Political foes from right
:02:23. > :02:27.and left have come together to campaign for the same cause. I am
:02:28. > :02:32.confident of victory but not complacent. I am working as hard as
:02:33. > :02:37.everybody in the campaign. We are all doing an immense amount of work.
:02:38. > :02:43.The silent majority is finding its voice as we enter the closing
:02:44. > :02:50.stages. I am looking forward to the result, confident, but there is work
:02:51. > :02:52.to do. For Scotland, the stakes are getting higher, the referendum ever
:02:53. > :02:53.closer. Well, today there have been further
:02:54. > :02:55.warnings about the possible negative consequences
:02:56. > :03:00.of Scottish independence. Deutsche Bank said
:03:01. > :03:02.a yes vote would be comparable to the mistakes that led to the
:03:03. > :03:05.Great Depression of the 1930s. It's a claim rejected
:03:06. > :03:19.by the pro-independence It has been a week of bleak
:03:20. > :03:22.headlines and dire warnings from big business. Banks said they would move
:03:23. > :03:28.south, retailers said prices would go up, and now another, possibly the
:03:29. > :03:31.most pessimistic. It would be catastrophic, bordering on the
:03:32. > :03:36.possibility of depression in Scotland that would last for a
:03:37. > :03:40.number of years. The first reason would be that Scottish national
:03:41. > :03:44.institutions, banks, would lose access to borrowing from a central
:03:45. > :03:48.bank, the Bank of England. The Deutsche Bank board also said that
:03:49. > :03:53.companies and Scottish shoppers would stop spending due to the
:03:54. > :03:56.uncertainty of the yes Ford. That was echoed by a letter from large
:03:57. > :04:01.retailers, who warned today that families would have to spend even
:04:02. > :04:06.more on their weekly shop as prices would rise. That was dismissed by
:04:07. > :04:10.companies in favour of independence. It said that cuts -- that Scotland
:04:11. > :04:16.would be one of the richest countries in the world. They are
:04:17. > :04:20.talking about an economic tidal wave if we vote for independence on the
:04:21. > :04:26.basis of the financial risk from the banks. The banks have will move the
:04:27. > :04:30.registered offices to London under certain circumstances. They will
:04:31. > :04:36.have protection from the lender of last resort in England. There has
:04:37. > :04:39.been a sudden realise from financial centres in London that the break-up
:04:40. > :04:45.of the UK would have massive consequences. Many of the largest
:04:46. > :04:49.companies in the UK have warned of the dire economic consequences for a
:04:50. > :04:51.yes vote Mac. But they will not decide the matter, the people of
:04:52. > :04:53.Scotland well on Thursday. Well, let's go live now to Edinburgh
:04:54. > :04:56.and our correspondent, Iain Watson. Iain, in the scramble for votes
:04:57. > :05:11.in these final days there are some That is right. Our former Prime
:05:12. > :05:14.Minister who presided over the setting up of the Scottish
:05:15. > :05:20.parliament in Edinburgh, Tony Blair, has made his views known. He said it
:05:21. > :05:25.would not be sensible to rip up the UK, economically or emotionally. His
:05:26. > :05:31.views are not a surprise but the rhetoric is getting ramped up.
:05:32. > :05:34.Gordon Brown said that an independent Scotland, if it did not
:05:35. > :05:39.pay its debts, could end up like Weimar Germany. It was an economic
:05:40. > :05:46.basket case that led to the rise of Hitler. There are always dire
:05:47. > :05:54.consequences about the consequences of electing one party. Here, Alex
:05:55. > :05:56.Salmond is trying to portray these interventions to his advantage,
:05:57. > :06:05.since he is the underdog standing up to the police. -- to the bullies.
:06:06. > :06:08.The family of a British aid worker being held hostage by Islamic State
:06:09. > :06:10.militants have urged his captors to contact them.
:06:11. > :06:13.Earlier this month, the extremists threatened to kill David Haines
:06:14. > :06:15.unless the United States halted air strikes against them in Iraq.
:06:16. > :06:21.Here's our correspondent, Philippa Thomas.
:06:22. > :06:22.The family of British aid worker David Haines,
:06:23. > :06:26.kidnapped 18 months ago, are urging his captors to talk to them.
:06:27. > :06:28.They say, we have sent messages to you, to
:06:29. > :06:34.We are asking those holding David to make contact with us.
:06:35. > :06:37.The 44-year-old husband and father, seen here working
:06:38. > :06:40.for a German aid agency in Croatia, was no stranger to warzones.
:06:41. > :06:45.He had worked in South Sudan and Libya and he was taken last
:06:46. > :06:49.year while helping to deliver aid to refugees in the North of Syria,
:06:50. > :06:56.It is hoped that Haines' commitment to humanitarian work could help
:06:57. > :07:00.There are quite a lot of foreign nationals that were
:07:01. > :07:08.involved in the hostage gatekeeping, or the holding of those hostages.
:07:09. > :07:11.To try and get them to turn around to seeing that this, as with any
:07:12. > :07:17.hostage, is a normal human being, someone's son, someone's father.
:07:18. > :07:23.Today in Cairo, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has been
:07:24. > :07:27.talking about Washington's plans for a bigger military offensive
:07:28. > :07:30.against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, an offensive that could, in
:07:31. > :07:35.The British government is already supplying weapons to
:07:36. > :07:43.It has made it clear that it disapproves of paying ransom
:07:44. > :07:46.for hostages, cash that could go directly to the jihadists' cause.
:07:47. > :07:48.That said, the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond,
:07:49. > :07:56.has said that it will do everything it can to protect David Haines.
:07:57. > :08:00.Ukrainian government troops say they have repelled an attack
:08:01. > :08:04.by pro-Russian rebels on the airport in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
:08:05. > :08:06.Government forces control the area despite victories by
:08:07. > :08:13.Artillery and rocket launchers were reportedly used.
:08:14. > :08:15.The violence has renewed pressure on the ceasefire which was declared
:08:16. > :08:22.A 36-year-old man has been charged with the murder
:08:23. > :08:27.of mother-of-five Pennie Davis in the New Forest in Hampshire.
:08:28. > :08:30.Mrs Davis was stabbed to death as she tended her horses in the
:08:31. > :08:35.The accused, Justin Robertson, will appear in court on Monday.
:08:36. > :08:38.Sport, and the Premier League Champions, Manchester Cit, grabbed
:08:39. > :08:44.a late equaliser against Arsenal as they finished 2-2 at the Emirates.
:08:45. > :08:52.Martin Demichelis scored in the last ten minutes for City as they avoided
:08:53. > :08:57.Arsenal hope Danny Welbeck can be the striker to make
:08:58. > :09:00.Manchester United let Welbeck go because he did
:09:01. > :09:05.He was handed a chance to open his Arsenal account early on, just
:09:06. > :09:12.Man City were outplayed for 25 minutes but in Sergio Aguero
:09:13. > :09:18.His third goal of the season gave the champions the lead.
:09:19. > :09:21.Arsene Wenger was becoming frustrated with his side but when
:09:22. > :09:25.things clicked in the second half, they produced something special.
:09:26. > :09:30.Jack Wilshere's fine finish drew them level.
:09:31. > :09:34.Arsenal were in the ascendancy and Sanchez made their dominance count.
:09:35. > :09:39.His sweet volley left City staring at a second straight defeat.
:09:40. > :09:42.But resilience is a defining trait of champions and Martin Demichelis
:09:43. > :09:51.City came closest to winning it but the post twice denied them, and
:09:52. > :09:58.the draw proves that the new look Arsenal can live with the best.
:09:59. > :10:01.There's more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel.