11/09/2014 Scotland 2014

Prices could go up in an independent Scotland.

That's the warning from some supermarket bosses today.

And its an intervention that might mean

a lot more to voters than all that endless debate about the currency.

Scaremongering, bullying and intimidation.

That's how Alex Salmond brushed off the news that every

Scottish-based bank might move its HQ out of an independent Scotland.

But it's harder to dismiss the warnings from supermarket bosses

who say prices in the shops might go up if Scotland votes yes.

So has a week that started with jubilation

despair? I'll be talking live to Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to

the Treasury and John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Minister.

The biggest live debate ever staged in Scotland gave first time voters

the chance to hold the grown ups to account.

I'll be asking three teenage voters who were at the debate if any

And the lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone tells us she'll leave

I am so passionate about Scotland, I can't tell you...

But if I don't believe in something, I'm not going to sit around

What do RBS, TSB, Lloyds, Clydesdale and Tesco bank all have in common?

They all have their registered head quarters

in Scotland and they all say they are making plans to move them out

Won't make any difference say the Yes campaign who insist no jobs

or taxes will be lost to Scotland as a result.

And while Waitrose and Asda may not seem to have very

much in common, they both said today that they might have to put

their prices up in an independent Scotland, after the Prime Minister

In a moment, I'll be asking John Swinney and Danny Alexander

Today, the battle centred on the banks. There has been plenty of

political heat about the future of some of Scotland's biggest flag

bearers. It is nothing but has not been implied before, but today there

has been confirmation that the five banks with offices in Edinburgh

would move. If Scotland vote "yes", RBS, Lloyds, Royal Bank of

Scotland, and Clydesdale say they plan to move south of the border

into England. Most of these banks already have offices in England, so

it would not be difficult to do, and they are of all rushed to reassure

staff in Scotland that jobs would not be at risk. So does it really

matter? The two sides of the referendum campaign don't agree. I

think the problem lies entirely with the No campaign. They have been

caught red-handed as being part of a campaign of scaremongering. It is

not about brass plates, it is about brass tax. This will cost us jobs,

and funds that we need for the health service and for schools. In

some ways, it would be business as usual. But it is likely to have an

impact in another area. Tax. Pay tax is not a clear issue, as we saw with

Amazon. It is much easier and more profitable to pay the bulk of its

taxes in one country, and that often centres on where the company is

registered. It is impossible to quantify an amount, but it is fair

to say that Scotland will get less money in taxes without those big

tank is that if they kept them. -- big banks. But there could be other

benefits. There is a risk that RBS may need a second bailout, so if it

is domiciled in London, that is something that the Scottish

Government would not have to take responsibility for all stop

arguably, that is a benefit. So why make the announcement now? RBS and

Lloyds has said that they are responding to demand from customers

and the market. Earlier this week, after the news of the first poll

which put the Yes campaign ahead, stock slipped in value. The

announcement today seem to work. At the end of the Day today, RBS and

Lloyds prices were both up. Others don't think that independence would

impact the financial industry. I think it is quite a business risk to

announce it beforehand, but I suspect that RBS are 80% owned by

the government, and Lloyds are mainly headquartered down here

anyway, so I think it is a sensible move by both of them. For any bank,

their profits and their customers are there are trees, and each of the

big institutions to date CV best way to protect those as moving out of an

independent Scotland. -- two dates either.

And in our Edinburgh studio we have the Finance Secretary, John Swinney,

And the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander.

We are getting news of a new poll that will be any newspapers

tomorrow, which have the No Camp at 52% and the Yes camp at 48. This is

significant because it 52% and the Yes camp at 48. This is

ball which gave the Yes camp 52% and the Yes camp at 48. This is

at the weekend. John 52% and the Yes camp at 48. This is

must be very disappointed to have lost you read? What I said at the

weekend was that it was the one poor but at Sean is to be a head, and

this poll shows that we are a challenger. It will simply encourage

others to mobilise and motivate all of our people, the hundreds and

thousands of people who are working throughout Scotland for a yes vote

to work even harder. Danny Alexander, they like being the

underdog. You can see that they are almost pleased that they are back

behind, because it means they can motivate people to get out on the

streets. Is there a danger of complacency in the No campaign?

Absolutely not. It is very close at the moment, so we are going to be

getting out as much as we can around Scotland to make the case that there

are more powers for Scotland within the UK available if we vote no. That

is a safe way to deliver the change that Scotland once, and there are

enormous economic risks of independence, and I think over the

last few days, people have started to understand and get those messages

across to them, and my sense is that there is a quiet majority in

Scotland who wants to keep the UK together, but we cannot take that

for granted, we are going to have to work constantly to win every vote we

can. John Swinney, there was an onslaught of bad news for you today,

with every Scottish bank who have their legal headquarters in Scotland

saying that they are making contingency plans to move them out

of Scotland if there is a yes vote. That is not exactly a vote of

confidence, is it? I think it demonstrates that the issue that

concerns the banks is about the establishment of a currency union

between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, after a yes vote,

and that is the policy position of the Scottish Government, and if we

get a yes vote, there will be an endorsement of that approach, which

will get the UK parties round the table, and give us the opportunity

to pursue what is in the common interest of both an independent

Scotland and the rest of the UK. What is also clear from today is

that the banks and recognise that the strength of their customer

service, of airport performance, is based on the talented individuals

who are based here in Scotland, and that will remain in terms of the

decisions have -- that the banks have made today. In terms of the

economic activity that stays in Scotland, does it make any

difference really headquarters are? I think it does make a big

difference. It depends where the are controlled from and regulated. Many

countries in Europe discovered this during the financial crisis, that

having all of the banks in your financial system regulated by a

foreign country, was not a strong place to be, because banks look to

where they are regulated to take their decisions, and I think there

is no doubt that jobs would be affected, and over time, with the

control and decision-making of these banks moving to what would be a

foreign country, then inevitably jobs and economic activity would

drift that way. Today there was a report from one of the premier

international banks making the point that because of the changes to the

financial system that we would experience, the adverse changes,

then we could expect a fit to GDP of between 1% and 4%, which reflects

the scale of the economic challenge that we face under independence. I

think a lot of people look at these announcements and say that these are

direct indications from companies who have been in Scotland for

hundreds of years and don't want to move, that independence is extremely

dangerous business. Let's move on to what voters may the more concerned

about. Prices in the supermarkets. From Asda to Waitrose telling us

that there is a good chance that they might go up. If anything is

guaranteed to lose you bought it is the thought of food prices going up.

This is a curious one, because the BBC has revealed tonight that in an

amazing coincidence, the Prime Minister has had the leaders of

supermarkets in an amazing coincidence, the Prime Minister has

had the leaders of supermarkets in to see and to encourage them to

speak out on this ago, said the exact opposite of what has been said

today. Of course, better together or putting leaflets through the door is

suggesting that Tesco was my prices would go after independence, and

last weekend, Tesco said that there was not any truth in that. That is a

problem, isn't it? Because of that mistake, which they asked you to

kick back, people find it harder to believe it when he hears stories

about anybody else saying they're putting their prices up. I had

Charlie Mayfield, who runs the John Lewis on the phone this morning, and

he said that when you're in a place with higher costs, and you are a

separate country, so those costs are not shared over the whole of the

United Kingdom, with distribution cost that we have and so on, then

those costs will be passed directly on to consumers, and I think it is

important that people here and these statements from these companies, who

make up their own mind about what basic, they are not pushed into it

by anybody, they are important businesses in who take decisions in

the right way, but what this reveals is that independence would hit you

where it hurts, right in the wallet in terms of higher prices, higher

taxes, and higher mortgage costs. These are some of the many financial

risks that we would all be running this country votes for independence

next week. Thank you very much. Today,

more than 7500 16 and 17-year-olds took part in one of the biggest

televised debates in history. All of them will be able to vote

in referendum and many of them Tonight they got to demand some

answers from the adults Our political correspondent

Lucy Adams was watching. It is not the usual recent working

age is not the usual recent porting agers to it has been billed as one

of the biggest ever televised political debate in history. 7500

young people from across Scotland, from schools in a North, to the

south. They are all here to ask how should they vote on I want to find

out as much as I can, because I don't know how to vote. I want to

know why the Westminster government did not allow devo max to be on the

ballot paper? For me, society works from Iraq now in Britain, -- works

for me right now in Britain. It is the venue more accustomed to big

concerts. This is for young people to be able to scrutinise the

campaigns. It is about engagement, and thousands of photographs. Behind

me, 500 young people are ready and boys with their questions. They say

they came for answers, and the questions came thick and fast. How

can you claim we are better together when one in three children in

Glasgow are in poverty? We already have an NHS and free education, so

why risk everything? Patrick Harvie and restoration fees. -- addressed

to wish these. You can be given a deal where you can be given higher

education, but if you're going to be in terrible debt by the deadly

finish, I think that is a scandal. George Galloway talked about

desperation. Children are living in poverty throughout this land, and I

am not prepared to slam the door and leave them behind. I am as concerned

about food banks in Birmingham or Bradford or Newcastle and Liverpool

as I am about them in Glasgow. The most heated debating was between

Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon. The Secretary of State for Scotland

said that more powers for Scotland was a red line for Westminster. The

question was, who prevented more powers being on the ballot paper,

and the answer is the Westminster government, that is why you can't

trust them to deliver more powers now? You voted for more powers.

Don't tell is that we don't fulfil our promises, because we did.

It was too hectic. Everybody was screaming about each other. It's

about independence but also our right to vote and have a say. It has

awoken something in us. Did anyone when? It seems the audience did.

And Lucy is here for us from the side of the Clyde.

So far, we have heard an awful lot from politicians and people who are

well beyond school age but for these 16 and 17-year-olds, this is about

their choice next week, and this is a remarkable thing in that normally,

they would not be allowed to vote, so this is unprecedented. Figures

suggested that at least 100,016 and 17-year-olds will be voting next

week, so for them, it is incredibly important.

What else have we learned from these young voters?

We learned a lot in terms of their engagement in politics and the BBC

also did a questionnaire. More than 1000 responded and they talked

about... They were asked to rank the 11 most important issues. Tuition

fees was the top issue. After that came the economy. This is ranked

generally as an adult's most important issue so it is the fact

that all demographics say the economy is what really matters to

them. Fifth in that ranking came pensions, which is interesting,

given the age of the people. They also talked about the fact that

three quarters said celebrity endorsements would not sway their

vote one way or the other. Very interesting for an event which is

usually for enormous concerts. Politics not normally such a rock

'n' roll topic but the referendum is changing all that.

Three young adults who were at the debate and will be voting

Baraat Boataleb, who is planing to vote Yes, Max Yuill, who's a No,

What did you make of the debate? I thought it was very informative. I

felt it reinforced my decision. I thought Nicola Sturgeon was very

good at fighting for the Yes campaign. You didn't hear other

arguments that persuaded you? I didn't think George Galloway was as

persuasive. Nicola Sturgeon made a very good argument. Did Nicola

Sturgeon stirred you at all? She said interesting things but I think

Ruth and George Galloway both made good points to counter it. It

confirmed my vote. It was a great day to experience and see first

hand. Sarah, did it help you make up your mind at all? To a certain

extent, yes. I think Nicola and Ruth were two of the best debaters

because they engaged with the audience more than the other two.

What will it take to make up your mind? More information. A lot of us

don't have... In schools, we don't talk about it. Just some more

information. Maybe we'll see all again.

Earlier this week, we heard from the Yes campaign supporter Alan Cumming.

And tonight, it's the turn of the Scottish businesswoman

The first time she voiced her opinions on the referendum,

she received a lot of abuse on social media.

When I caught up with her in our London studio, I asked how she felt

Of course I am nervous but I am so passionate about my country and I

just feel, like anyone out there, it's a free country and you should

be allowed to express your opinion without being threatened, without

being threatened by violence or anything like that. We just can't

have the discussion. It doesn't have to turn into anger. You have even

said you don't feel safe in Scotland as a result. If anyone was getting

the amount of abuse and threats that everyone can see on my Twitter,

anyone would be nervous. It's just human nature. It's an interesting

feature of this debate that a lot of big businesses have come out and

said they support a No vote were as entrepreneurs and small and

medium-sized enterprises are more likely to support a Yes vote. You

are one of a small number of self starting entrepreneurs who have come

out for a No vote. I love being Scottish, tour around the world, I

love having business in Scotland. But at the end of the day, I think

it will be really hard, not being part of the UK. We don't know what

will happen to our Armed Forces or what will bring money into business

as well. There are so many questions, Sarah, there have been

unanswered. The pound, for me, is a real worry because the Bank of

England have said that the pound is not ours. How can we say it is? Once

we... If we were to become independent, do we go through all

this hassle for two or three years? Meanwhile, right now, people are

holding back, saying, don't invest in Scotland until we see what will

happen. Inward investment will not happen for many years to come until

everything calms down. Will it ever come back? I don't think so. The

Scottish Government are promising that if there is independence,

corporation tax will always be 3p lower than the rest of the UK. That

would be great news for businesses like yours. Yes, but there are so

many other things as well. What Gordon Brown has announced is that

we will get more power, we can deal with the issues in Scotland but we

don't have to vote for independence. It doesn't mean to say that if you

vote no because you don't know the questions, you don't know the

answers to the question is, it doesn't mean to say that if you vote

no, you are not passionate about Scotland. I am so passionate about

Scotland and love Scotland to death but I don't think this is the

answer. If you vote no, don't think it is saying you don't love

Scotland. People have to sit back, look at all the facts, do their

homework over the next number of days and have to say, what will this

mean for me and my job and the income for my family and inward

investment into Scotland and about us losing big contracts that have

already been spoken about? Too many issues, too much risk. If there is

too much risk in any business, don't do it. Isn't that hard to say that

you passionately love Scotland and yet you also say he would leave the

country if the vote doesn't go your way? That's my belief and I don't

want to be part of something I don't believe in. I am so passionate about

Scotland, I can't tell you. I fly the flag everywhere I go but if I

don't believe in something, I will not sit around and watch everything

crumble. I do love the people of Scotland and Scotland but I really

do think that this is a big mistake and I am not saying for one minute

that mean making a decision to go will make any difference because it

won't. Joining me now to discuss the rest

of the day's news are former SNP MSP and now regular co-host of

Radio Scotland's Crossfire programme Andrew Wilson and

Professor of Public Law and Better Let's talk about this latest poll we

have the details of tonight. No on 52% and yes on 48%. Are you

surprised? It is not where we have been for a big part of the summer at

all. There has been a definitive shift in sentiment towards yes.

Whether it is enough remains to be seen but people are buoyant,

optimistic and it appears that hope is conquering all the fears we are

hearing from politicians from London. This is close to being

within the margin of error and it could mean things are absolutely

neck and neck. Do you think that is the truth? It's better to be in

front and behind. I would rather be 52%, 48% up than down. My view is

that this is pretty close. Both camps recognise it is pretty close

and both camps are working flat out and the energy is there on both

sides. You can see what Labour were doing today when they put 100 MPs on

a train up to London and they all came up to Glasgow en masse to come

and knock on doors and speak to people in the street. They just

about filled up a virgin train. It's something like that, which looked

like a stunt, going to help? I don't know. Both campaigns need a lot of

Panton mine and fun and colour as well as serious hard work and

arguments. In the last five or six days, things will really boil down

to whether we have the answers to basic questions. When I go

canvassing, that is what folk want to hear, they want to know what the

currency will be, what the future security of their kids will be and

it is all about... There is lots of televisual stuff and hard work going

on and on the street. Our bed together going to spend the next

week telling people there are huge economic risks? -- art Better

Together. It will reinforce that sense of economic risk for people.

Better Together have spent the entire campaign telling people that

the world will end tomorrow. They have been caught out each and every

time. The banks did not say that. They said they would move their

legal entities from Scotland to London but the chief executive of

RBS to all staff it would not affect their jobs or operations. You cannot

be saying it makes no difference at all where they are headquartered.

Eventually, the gravitational pull of the brass plaque in London will

mean the company will feel like an Englishman. Let's see what will

happen. Hopefully, we will have a vibrant Scottish economy. A big part

of the case for yes is that over decades, businesses have left

Scotland to relocate to London, talent has left Scotland. We want to

tip the playing field back in our direction. What is unforgivable is

that the Prime Minister and others will not come up and engage properly

with voters but will spend their time using the offices of Downing

Street to persuade in control as we found out from Robert Preston

tonight to say what they want to say. I don't think people buy it.

London woke up to what is happening only this weekend. Their tactics

have varied from the almost frenzied, laughable attempts to

quite irresponsible. The fact that Andrew is trading in conspiracy

theories just shows how panicked the Yes campaign. The No campaign are

looking pretty panicked as well. Gordon Brown out every day at the

moment. Hinting today he might return to front line politics. I was

there to listen to Gordon Brown and he gave an absolutely compelling

speech. I will tell you what is driving him back, it is the

outrageous lies we have heard in the last 7-12 days from the Yes campaign

on the future of the NHS, which is the worst example of scaremongering

we have had in the entire campaign. That is what is driving him back to

front line politics. Do you think you will stand as a front line MSP?

I don't know. The one thing that is clear is that one of the things that

has triggered the rise of support for the No campaign in the last

couple of weeks is the outrageous lie we have about privatisation of

the NHS from the Yes campaign. I don't know where you got that from.

Gordon Brown is already a front line politician. Again, it killer is how

it all comes to the fore. On the NHS, what is what is true is what we

have argued all along, that the budget is at risk. That is why there

was a massive demonstration in Trafalgar Square this week. Did we

all miss a meeting? There is something going on when the NHS

budgets are linked. The truth of it is that Scotland needs to have

control over all resources at its disposal so we can take these

decisions for ourselves. We don't need to trust the Ed Miliband will

beat David Cameron to win the next election because most people in

Scotland don't trust either of them. Do you trust the new powers promised

by the Unionist parties? Or three Unionist parties have now delivered

devolution for Scotland. Voters should absolutely trust in that.

I'll be back at the same, early time of 10pm on Monday.

more than 400 international competitors.

No strangers to battle, all have served their country.

Prince Harry has challenged them - now they will challenge each other,

pushing their bodies to the limit in the quest for glory.