Generation 2014 Scotland Decides

You join us in Glasgow at the start of the 16 week campaign period, just

as this independence referendum debate starts to heat up. Most 16

and 17`year`olds across the UK are deciding what to wear in the

morning. In Scotland they have an important question to answer on

September the 18th. Before then they have lots of questions of their own

about Scotland's future and we have created a photo booth for them to do

that. Would it be able to afford all the things it has been promising?

Why words David Cameron debate the question with Alex Salmond? What

would an independent Scotland's relationship be like with the rest

of Europe? Will Scotland have a strong enough military force? Who is

pulling the strings in the better together campaign? You join us in

Glasgow at the start of the 16 week formal campaigning. It is a campaign

that seems to have been going on for years in Scotland. With us we have

50 young people the BBC has been following for the last year and will

continue to follow them until September. First of all, which is

the yeast team. I am voting yes because it will be better off for

our country as a whole, economically, socially as well. As a

culture as well we will thrive better as an independent country.

Are you not worried about some of the scaremongering we have heard,

that Scotland cannot afford to go it alone? Of course they do worry me.

Can we afford it? I feel personally we would thrive as a country

personality and we are drained by the rest of the UK. As an

independent country we could prosper ourselves. Natalie, you are one of

the no voters. Better together would say they are just telling people the

facts. Is that what you believe? I am not sure. I think either side is

going to be biased. If you do not want to make a decision, you need to

look at the facts and look at the statistics. If a better together

statistic is coming from a really popular part of England where they

want Scotland to stay as part of the United Kingdom, that will be biased.

On the other hand, if the yes campaign do a poll and in Scotland

people feel they get ignored by Westminster, you get a very

different statistic. Look at the facts, but also look at where the

facts come from. If we go to an undecided, you are finding it hard

to make up your mind? The better together campaign is so negative and

they go on about how our economy can't work, one of the members is

quoted as saying, if we are so bad, why do they still want us? The yes

campaign is far too positive and better together is far too negative

and there has to be a better middle ground. Has anybody got a real fact

they can tell us within the campaign. When it comes to the

economy we have had a whole week of campaigning. One side says it would

be better off staying in the UK and the other side says we would be

better going independent. Who do we believe? I would say currently I do

not believe any of them. I am stuck, where do I go? I am leaning towards

a yes vote and that is just because the yes campaign are promising lots

of good things. It is all very promising, but there is also the

question of affordability. Can we afford all this, that they are

promising? The no campaign is like, you need us, but in actual fact they

need us. Down there they need Scotland for many things. That is

why I am leaning towards a yes vote. We can be a good country

independently if we have the money and resources. Let me clarify, you

were going to vote no. What is it that has persuaded you? Is it

Eloise? She has been persuading me and she has been pushing and

pushing. She has persuaded me to a yes. Is that the difference between

the campaigns? Yes, I think so. Both of them present completely different

statistics, so you have to think for yourself which one you are going to

believe or if you are going to take the middle ground. That is what I am

doing. I am not taking either side particularly, but I am listening.

The people around you influence how you are going to vote. She has been

affected by Eloise. But I am quite an individual person so I like to

make up my mind on what I have seen. I do not think I have seen enough to

make me sway either way. If you had to vote tomorrow, what would you

vote? I would vote no. Both campaigns have done their fair share

of campaigning. The yes campaign is giving a positive picture of the

things they hope to achieve, but at the same time they have been

described as a talking shop. I am not fully convinced the power is

with them. Even if we are given independence, they have the

challenge of promising and delivering on all of those things.

Taking on the debt they would gain from leaving and I am not convinced

with oil being a finite resource as well. There is still tonnes of it

out there, but there will be a point when we ran out and Scotland has to

come up with another main export and I am not fully convinced they can do

it. That is an economic argument, that is something many people in

Scotland are trying to grapple with. You are a yes supporter, but do you

believe Scotland can go it alone? Oil is a finite resource, but in the

past 50 years Westminster has squandered that resource. If you

look at Norway, they set up an oil find and they are debt free compared

to us and we have billions of pounds worth of debt. They have come out

and said from day one we can set up an oil fund and that will be a

back`up for generations to come. I know it is going to run out,

everyone knows that, but we have got renewable energy. You look at the

Moray Firth, the tidal powered for half of Scotland. It is not a case

of whether we will survive or not. David Cameron has said there is no

doubt we could survive on our own, and I believe that will be the case.

You compare it to Norway. I know nothing about Norway. It is all very

well saying they are debt free, but what is their poverty rate? Do they

have things like council housing? The benefit system? I am not saying

they do not, because I do not know. A lot of countries do not and four

poor people in Britain, yes, there is a high poverty rate, but there

are so many things out there to help people. Just because somebody told

us does not mean it is because the Government would help them.

Sometimes they will not accept the help. I heard somebody talking about

it on the radio saying, yes, I offered a homeless person a night in

my house as long as the next day they went to the housing office.

They went to the next day and she refused help. One of the things the

SNP would like us to look at is welfare in Scandinavian countries

and taxes are higher there, but the public services are said to be a lot

higher and they have had that oil fund. Jack? She was talking about

the negative side and the poverty in Britain, but should that not be

something to push people towards yes? People are saying it is the

best of both worlds being here, but that is a is flying around. If you

look at areas of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, people are not

living the best of both worlds. Westminster is not providing for

people in Scotland the way they should be. An independent Scotland

would care about its own population. You cannot say the poverty is just

type in Scotland? There is poverty in England, but if we had the

opportunity to make Scots in our own country better off, should we not

take that opportunity? But can we afford to? That will be one of the

questions many of the people who are undecided are grappling with. Much

of the campaign is based upon dealing with some of the poorest in

society and some of the problems Scotland may have. Do you think that

is something that would swear you either way? Definitely. I think

dealing with the Government in Westminster and the fact is

Conservative governments are out to help rich people. Scotland did not

vote for the Conservatives at all. The Government we have in power in

Westminster is not one that Scotland voted for, so it is not helping

Scotland. But, on the other hand, I do not know if an independent

Scotland is the solution. That will bring problems no matter what

because let's face it the economy globally is a mess at the moment. I

do not think the Conservative Government in Westminster is doing a

good job, but should we be setting up a new country at the time of a

great global economic recession? I do not trust either party. You are

in a quandary? No. You are not alone. I have spoken to a number of

undecided voters who are the same. You would quite like the romance.

Why is that? I am disappointed it was not an option on the ballot

paper, Devo Max. We want Scotland to make decisions for itself, but we do

not want to lose the benefits of being part of the UK. If that seems

to be a well spoken about topic and an option for people, why has it not

been considered? Although the yes campaign is not all about the SNP,

the SNP either front running party and the majority Government

currently. I feel like if they went round every person in Scotland and

asked them would it be a concern to completely leave the UK or stay with

Devo Max where they could still get powers from Westminster and

Westminster would be like an overseer, but not a deciding factor

in all the decisions, I feel not being given that option is already

having our fate is decided for us. With all the competing visions we

have seen from the two campaigns, is it difficult to decipher fact from

what is campaigning, even if you are a yes or an avid no voter? Do you

find it difficult to decipher what is real and what to trust?

Absolutely. At the end of the day politics is always going to be the

same, there will never be clear fact that I completely true. That's from

either side are biased. We all understand that is something that

will never change, but it is who you choose to believe and who you trust

with your future. At this point in time I have to trust the yes

campaign. I cannot see how Scotland, and I am just talking about Scott in

Scotland, how we are going to be better off. It is selfish, but you

have to think about yourself and your own country first. You both

nodded, it is one thing you can all agree on, that it is difficult to

decipher what is real. This week I heard in the same news bulletin that

the better together campaign said the taxpayer in Scotland would be

?1000 worse off. Immediately afterwards the yes campaign said the

taxpayer would be ?1000 better off if Scotland became independent.

Great, that has got me from nowhere to nowhere. I think especially with

the thing about being ?1000 better or worse off, it would be nice to be

?1000 better off in an independent country, but we cannot guarantee we

are going to lose or gain money in the UK, so neither side can say

definitely if we stay in the UK you will be the same or better off. No

one has a crystal ball and no one can say for definite, yes or no.

Aside from the economy, what is your question when it comes to

independence? Coming from Dumfries and Galloway, we are concerned about

the substation and the EU. The SNP said they would try to cover it. But

free childcare, the NHS free scholarships and stuff like that, I

cannot add that on with the amount Scotland needs in subsidies to

survive. We have just had the EU elections and the EU is a hot

topic, will we be allowed automatic entry? The SNP say yes, the Better

Together say no. When it comes to the EU, would you like to remain in

or out? Definitely in. Would that be a defiant `` deciding factor for

you? Voting yes, there might be a question over EU membership. We did

not vote UKIP, but in England there was a lot of UKIP MEPs. So now they

could be voting yes for Europe. I want to be in Europe and that is it

for me. What country am I voting for that will keep me in Europe?

Scotland did vote for one UKIP MEP, but the vote division was about 10%

for UKIP compared to quite a lot higher south of the border. Do you

watch the political divide and with the election, have you noticed the

political divide and is that a factor when you are making your

decision? The rise in Euclid is a big worry and a factor pushing me

further towards yes. `` rise in UKIP. If that many people are voting

for UKIP how many people will vote for out of Europe? And Scotland's

votes have not had an effect on the party elected to govern them since

the 1940s. We will not be able to influence whether we are in Europe

or not if there is a referendum. That is a big worry and I think we

have more chance of staying in Europe if we become an independent

Scotland. Is there anyone here for leaving Europe? Not a single person.

Only 33% of the pop elation, and I am not sure whether that includes

the UK. 33% of Scots voted. If more than half of us cannot be bothered

to vote in the first place, we cannot moan about what happens. If

more of us had voted against UKIP, they might not have got in. It is a

possibility. Talking of the vote, this is for the first time gives you

a say in something that could change and shape your future. How do you

feel about the decisions and making them in the run up to September? I

am ready to vote, well not ready, ready but I want to vote. It is a

big responsibility and everyone is saying 16 and 17`year`olds will use

their vote carelessly. But now the figures are out, only 33% have

voted. What does that say about the rest of Scotland. You cannot just

say 16 and 17`year`olds will not vote when more than half of a nation

was not voting. Would you have voted in the Euro elections? I definitely

would have done. vote when more than half of a nation

was not voting. Would Every vote will go toward something and if you

don't vote, you cannot moan about the decision afterwards. If you have

an opinion towards something, you have to vote for it and fight for

that. You cannot moan about it afterwards and say you are not happy

with what has happened when you have not said or voted in any way. This

could be the biggest electoral turnout, according to the polls and

around 70 to 80% of people will turn out. What does having to vote mean

to you? I like having the vote but I think it is interesting we are

getting it for the referendum. If SNP strongly believed, they have

been in power for a long time, and it is interesting when it comes to

the referendum 16 and 17`year`olds are allowed to vote. Have they just

allowed us to vote to get some swing? I

allowed us to vote to get some swing? know a lot of people do think

the SNP gave us the vote because they thought young voters, easily

influenced and we can get them on board. Scottish Labour also said

they wanted 16 and 17`year`olds to vote. They have been in power for a

while and they did nothing about it. At least the SNP did something about

it. It can be seen that way, but I don't think that was the reason. I

think they had the guts to stand up for what they believed in and gave

it to the 16 and 17`year`olds. If that is it, why is it only for the

referendum? After the election you can change after five years. We

cannot change this. It is a convenient time to suddenly allow us

to vote? Yes, but this is something that will not change. You will be 18

in four years time so you can vote in the next election. If you are not

of age, that is it you cannot vote. This is something we cannot say, if

we were over 18 we would have voted against it. Because then we cannot

do something about it. You sound quite cynical about politicians in

general. Is their mistrust when it comes to both sides? I have a major

mistrust of politicians. I have been following the Edward Snowden files

that were leaked. Very cynical. You have to see both sides of the

argument because there is an old terrier motive for letting us vote.

One last question, there is a saying that Scotland is one big argument.

You seem to have bonded as a group of generation 2014, are you enjoying

the process of the argument? You are all nodding. If you enjoy it, why is

it? I enjoy debating with people. It rings and another level to 16 and

17`year`olds, especially in education. It has raised a lot of

questions and people are more involved in the political system

which is something that was needed. 18 to 25 are the lowest turnout of

voters. That is due to mainly, people that age, they have never

been brought into the political system. It has never been a question

that has been raised with them. The younger we bring people into that so

they understand, it will make it easier in years to come when we are

18, 19, we will understand it better and bring a lot of young people into

the system. Does everybody agree with that? It has been great to meet

everyone. We all come from different parts of the country. Sometimes it

is easier for others to make a point about something when it is OK for

them. It is like saying, if tuition fees go up, it would not matter

because my family can pay it. But that is not the same for everyone.

You meet people from different walks of life who are in different

situations to yourself and they help you understand what happens to them

in their own life and you can shape your own vision of what you thought

was right before and your views on the world itself. It helps when you

want to make a decision on something. The stereotypical image

of 16 or 17`year`olds is of people locked in their bedrooms. That is

not the truth. In reality, we're not all blindfolded to the world around

us. We do pay attention and we do care. Some people who are 16 and 17

don't care and think it will not affect them anyway. But there will

be people of all ages, 16, 20s, 30s and I think it is good to show we

are not all media freaks, we do care about the outside world. We are very

glad you have come to give your views today. Thank you all. If you

have a question for the referendum booth, you can go on the website.

The other thing you can go to is the BBC website where you can find lots

of information and questions and answers from these guys about what

could happen in Scotland on September the 18th.

Lots of sunshine around and a sunny start to June. The first day of

meteorological summer. A number of areas in the north`west of the UK,

we have weather fronts coming in and this cloud will