:00:22. > :00:23.Tonight, Alex Salmond claims Scotland is
:00:24. > :00:27.on the "cusp of history", just a week before referendum day.
:00:28. > :00:30.The First Minister plays down the issue of banks relocating
:00:31. > :00:44.For the first time in Scottish history, on the 18th of September,
:00:45. > :00:45.we, the people, hold our destiny in our own hands.
:00:46. > :00:48.Dozens of Labour heavyweights campaign on the streets of Glasgow
:00:49. > :00:58.From right across the United Kingdom, we are proud to say no. We
:00:59. > :01:04.are proud to stand here in solidarity will stop `` solidarity.
:01:05. > :01:08.With just a week to go before referendum day Alex Salmond
:01:09. > :01:10.says he's confident that the people of Scotland will vote Yes.
:01:11. > :01:14.In a speech in Edinburgh he invited people to take the next step towards
:01:15. > :01:21.The First Minister played down reports that a number of financial
:01:22. > :01:25.institutions could relocate to London if there's a Yes vote.
:01:26. > :01:27.Tonight the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Mr Salmond is
:01:28. > :01:31.continuing to ignore warnings about the possible impact of independence.
:01:32. > :01:37.Let's hear some of what the First Minister had to say this morning.
:01:38. > :01:48.Scotland is on the cusp of making history. The eyes of the world are
:01:49. > :01:53.upon Scotland. What the world is seeing is an articulate, peaceful,
:01:54. > :01:57.energised debate. Scotland will vote yes next Thursday. And it will vote
:01:58. > :02:02.yes because last`minute cobbled up promises from the no campaign which
:02:03. > :02:05.unravel at the slightest scrutiny will not fool anyone in this
:02:06. > :02:12.country, and neither will the blatant bullying and intimidation of
:02:13. > :02:18.the Westminster government. The no campaign is in terminal decline. In
:02:19. > :02:21.contrast, a yes vote is the opportunity of a lifetime. An
:02:22. > :02:28.opportunity to build a fairer, more prosperous country, and today marks
:02:29. > :02:33.a special moment in Scotland's home`rule journey. It is exactly the
:02:34. > :02:38.17th anniversary of Scotland voting yes to reconvening to the
:02:39. > :02:40.restoration of a Scottish parliament in 1997.
:02:41. > :02:42.Meanwhile, dozens of Labour MPs were in Glasgow to try
:02:43. > :02:47.Speaking beside the statue of former First Minister Donald Dewar, Ed
:02:48. > :02:59.Let us be clear, it is because of the achievements of Donald Dewar,
:03:00. > :03:11.because of devolution, that the NHS in Scotland is run by the people of
:03:12. > :03:17.Scotland. And so, don't listen to the words and scaremongering of the
:03:18. > :03:23.SNP. The only person who can privatise the NHS in Scotland is
:03:24. > :03:34.Alex Salmond, and that is the proof that the people of Scotland know ``
:03:35. > :03:36.the truth. Labour cherishes the NHS, so vote for a stronger National
:03:37. > :03:47.Health Service. Right across this country, from
:03:48. > :03:54.right across the United Kingdom, we are proud to say no and proud to
:03:55. > :03:56.stand here in solidarity. We are proud to stand up and fight for
:03:57. > :04:03.jobs, the NHS and for our country. The SNP's Treasury spokesman
:04:04. > :04:17.at Westminster Stewart Hosie joins RBS, Lloyds, Clydesdale, DSP, Tesco
:04:18. > :04:19.bank, all saying that they may relocate their registered
:04:20. > :04:23.headquarters outside of Scotland if there is a yes vote. It is a
:04:24. > :04:27.terrible vote of no`confidence in the economic plans `` TSB. No, I
:04:28. > :04:32.don't think that's a good characterisation all. They're
:04:33. > :04:38.already headquarters in London and as for relocating... WELL, they are
:04:39. > :04:41.talking about moving that. No what is relocating any jobs operations,
:04:42. > :04:46.no one is planning to change the way in which banking is done at all. The
:04:47. > :04:51.only thing they intend to relocate is a brass plate from one building
:04:52. > :04:55.to another. The key thing is the way in which the no campaign have played
:04:56. > :04:59.this through the campaign. They will scaremonger, they will have every
:05:00. > :05:04.single job loss threat blown up out of all proportion. Listen to what
:05:05. > :05:09.the banks themselves have said will stop this is a technical matter and
:05:10. > :05:13.it does not affect a single job or operation, or the way that banking
:05:14. > :05:17.is done. That is the truth of it, and I think the Scottish people know
:05:18. > :05:20.that. It's an astonishing argument. You are in the middle of the
:05:21. > :05:23.campaign arguing that Scotland should be a separate and independent
:05:24. > :05:28.country, saying that it doesn't matter whether the banks in Scotland
:05:29. > :05:31.operating are effectively Scottish or not, because that is what
:05:32. > :05:36.reregistering their headquarters would do. Nono of the banks have
:05:37. > :05:42.been Scottish and meaningful sense of the decade. RBS is 83% owned by
:05:43. > :05:49.the UK Government at the moment. It is also a bit odd. Santander and our
:05:50. > :05:53.Spanish. HSBC by another name. People will use banks were a variety
:05:54. > :05:57.of reasons because the services are good and the rate of interest they
:05:58. > :06:01.get is good. Where they are registered or where they are
:06:02. > :06:06.ultimately owned is of little consequence in an international and
:06:07. > :06:09.globalised world. People will care very much about the price they are
:06:10. > :06:13.paying for groceries. We had warnings from John Lewis, Waitrose
:06:14. > :06:20.and Asda saying prices might go up in an independent Scotland. The real
:06:21. > :06:25.news on this is that David Cameron had the supermarket bosses into
:06:26. > :06:28.number ten, no doubt to twist the arm and intervene in the debate.
:06:29. > :06:33.Morrisons have also said prices could go down. There is actually no
:06:34. > :06:38.reason whatsoever why a single price in a single supermarket should
:06:39. > :06:43.rise. Instead of sneaking in the shadows... You cannot be suggesting
:06:44. > :06:45.that the Prime Minister had them into Downing Street and asked them
:06:46. > :06:50.to lie about what was happening to prices. He might have asked them to
:06:51. > :06:54.talk about it now, but they might be telling the truth if they say prices
:06:55. > :06:59.will govern. I'm not accusing them of lying at all. I said the Prime
:07:00. > :07:02.Minister has had them into number ten to intervene in the debate. What
:07:03. > :07:05.I am pointing out is that previously, some of the supermarkets
:07:06. > :07:12.have said that prices could fall. Asda said that their prices follow
:07:13. > :07:17.cost, so as the costs are being planned to be reduced, there could
:07:18. > :07:20.be a fall. The bottom line in the supermarket story is that David
:07:21. > :07:25.Cameron is twisting arms behind the scene instead of having the guts to
:07:26. > :07:28.have the debate themselves, which is what has happened through the
:07:29. > :07:33.campaign, absolutely shameful behaviour by David Cameron, and
:07:34. > :07:37.nobody would believe that either. If bad news comes in threes, you had
:07:38. > :07:40.the banks, the supermarket, then the governor of the Bank of England
:07:41. > :07:43.right into the Commons committee today confirming how many billions
:07:44. > :07:47.of pounds he thinks the Scottish Government would need to keep in
:07:48. > :07:51.reserves if you did not have a formal currency union with sterling,
:07:52. > :07:55.and it could be anything up to ?4000 per person. That doesn't seem to
:07:56. > :08:00.have been taken account of in your plans. What the governor was asked
:08:01. > :08:04.to do yesterday on the committee, and I was at the hearing, was to
:08:05. > :08:09.provide a range of numbers based on what other countries do, that is
:08:10. > :08:14.countries which share a currency, without a formal currency union. The
:08:15. > :08:17.governor provided information to the Treasury Select Committee today, and
:08:18. > :08:23.it has been published. But as you know, we are not proposing to do
:08:24. > :08:25.that. Our favoured option is a formal currency union because it is
:08:26. > :08:32.in the best interests of both Scotland and the rest of the UK, and
:08:33. > :08:35.the governor was at pains yesterday to make sure that everything he said
:08:36. > :08:39.yesterday, and the things he has published, our stuff that was
:08:40. > :08:42.already in the public domain. Nothing has changed from the central
:08:43. > :08:47.bank's technocratic assessment based on the speech even in Edinburgh
:08:48. > :08:50.earlier this year, and we remain absolutely confident that with a yes
:08:51. > :08:55.vote on the 18th, calm heads will come together and the negotiations
:08:56. > :09:06.on `` on the union of currency will start in earnest without the
:09:07. > :09:13.political baggage on the 19th. When you look at the economic headlines,
:09:14. > :09:18.it looks bad. The First Minister give a robust defence of the news
:09:19. > :09:22.about the banks. The campaign on the ground has gone from strength to
:09:23. > :09:26.strength. The fact that the Prime Minister is having to strong arm
:09:27. > :09:32.supermarket bosses and the Labour Party are having to bring up English
:09:33. > :09:39.MPs to Glasgow tells us the state of panic in the no camp. I am afraid I
:09:40. > :09:40.do not agree with your assessment of the campaign. Thank you for speaking
:09:41. > :09:43.to us. Today thousands of 16 and 17 year
:09:44. > :09:46.olds who will be voting for the first time ` have been taking part
:09:47. > :09:49.in the biggest political debate that Whatever the outcome of
:09:50. > :09:53.the referendum, these teenagers will It'll be
:09:54. > :09:56.the first time that anyone their age has been given a vote in a national
:09:57. > :10:00.election ` in any part of the UK. And because of that ` there's been
:10:01. > :10:03.a huge focus on their views. Our Scotland correspondent
:10:04. > :10:14.Lorna Gordon reports. This is not your usual day trip away
:10:15. > :10:20.from school. Thousands of first`time voters from across Scotland coming
:10:21. > :10:26.together to discuss their future. There are some arguments about who
:10:27. > :10:31.is voting what way. Some posters go up, some come down. 100,000
:10:32. > :10:36.teenagers have registered to vote and it will be the first time at the
:10:37. > :10:41.ballot box and they will make it count. I like the fact that we are
:10:42. > :10:47.getting involved in something political, because so often you get
:10:48. > :10:55.a disconnect in teenagers from politics. This is what today is all
:10:56. > :11:01.about. This venue is normally packed with people who are here for pop
:11:02. > :11:07.concerts or sporting events, but these teenagers are here to watch,
:11:08. > :11:11.listen and engage with prounion and pro`independence politicians who are
:11:12. > :11:17.debating with each other and with them. How would independents affect
:11:18. > :11:22.job opportunities? If we have control over our economic levers, we
:11:23. > :11:29.can create more opportunities. There are many jobs in Scotland because we
:11:30. > :11:36.work with people in other parts of the UK. Questions on jobs, tuition
:11:37. > :11:41.fees and their. What statement would be yes and no campaigns make to help
:11:42. > :11:47.me make my decision? We will have challenges, we have huge control
:11:48. > :11:53.over our health and their education and policing. We stand together with
:11:54. > :11:57.other people as well. Big issues for the next generation and in seven
:11:58. > :11:59.days time, these teenagers will vote for the first time in a referendum
:12:00. > :12:03.which is all about their future. Stay with BBC News for the latest
:12:04. > :12:07.on the Scottish referendum... You can watch "The Big,
:12:08. > :12:10.Big Debate" tonight at 9 ` as thousands of first time voters
:12:11. > :12:15.have their say on the referendum. You can get the latest online `
:12:16. > :12:18.including today a look at how the referendum result might
:12:19. > :12:26.affect Scottish sport? James Cook will be here tomorrow
:12:27. > :12:28.evening with a round And I'll be back on Monday
:12:29. > :12:32.at 7.30 and 9.30. Alex Salmond predicts Scotland is
:12:33. > :12:46.on the "cusp of making history" and accuses
:12:47. > :12:53.his opponents in the independence Oscar Pistorius is cleared
:12:54. > :12:56.of murdering his girlfriend