17/09/2014 Scotland Decides

Tonight, the final countdown to referendum day with just

With the polls showing it's still too close to call, Alex Salmond

appeals to the electorate to take the future into their own hands.

When people go into the polling station tomorrow and they want to

vote for something, not against something...

Standing by the union ` Better Together supporters give

Speak like a to say no is for our children and the generations to

come. We like Scotland, that is why we are voting no.

We meet the woman who has the biggest job of all `

After months of tireless and at times acrimonious campaigning,

the opposing sides in the Scottish independence debate have just

a matter of hours to convince those who remain undecided.

Both sides have been out in force, making a final push for votes,

with the campaign leaders addressing the last of the big rallies ahead

In a moment, the message from Better Together.

But first, this was the call from the First Minister and his deputy.

We are seeing a festival of democracy in this campaign and that

is a marvellous thing, that has changed Scotland fundamentally

already for good. It is that sense of opportunity that we have. To

build a more prosperous economy but also a more just society. And it is

that positive vision that is propelling yes forward. Negativity

cannot compete with that. When people go into the polling station,

they want to vote for something and not against something. There is a

real sense of optimism and opportunity, people are realistic

and understand that independence is not a magic want but they know if we

vote yes, we take control of the decisions and powers and resources

we need in Scotland to build a better country for the next

generation. To make sure we're not bystanders again in the decisions of

governments in London. At a rally in Glasgow this morning

the Better Together leader Alistair Darling, alongside

the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Scots that voting Yes

provided no certainty at all. The risks of separation are very,

very clear. Remember this ` when we go to the polls tomorrow, we're not

voting for a one or a 1 term government, we are voting about

Scotland's future forever. It is that important. If we vote to leave,

there is no going back. ICT you this, if you have such a momentous

decision to take, you need to have certainty and what is very clear at

the end of this long campaign from the nationalists side, there is a

certainty at all. Have confidence and say to our friends, for reasons

of solidarity, sharing, justice, pride in Scotland, the only answer

for Scotland's sake and for Scotland's future is to vote no.

So with the polls still tight, both sides have been out

in force on doorsteps and high streets today, trying to

Christian Fraser was out and about with both sides in Livingston.

The last day, the last push, and everything still to fight for.

Since the weekend, millions of leaflets have been pushed through

Opinion polls tell us there are tens of thousands who

The men have made a decision and they are more fixed.

The women are inclined to be looking at the whole scenario, and trying to

make a judgement that they feel is honest and true for themselves.

In Livingston, a Labour stronghold, the no campaign are out in force,

working hard to make sure that the support stays strong.

Are you, you decided while we are here, because of the campaigning?

The campaigning and what I have read in the papers this morning,

It is a frenzied day of activity on both sides but there is a plan.

Each is targeting the areas they perceive can still be

won, ensuring that every supporter goes out to vote.

Do you think it will make a difference in this neighbourhood?

Yes. to vote, so I think it will.

Tomorrow the vote will come down to a gut instinct.

For many, the last moment in the polling booth.

What will they decide, faced with the choice.

With me now to discuss the final day of campaigning is

Shiraz Ahmed, who'sa Labour party activist who'll be voting no.

And in Holyrood is the author and playwright Alan Bissett,

Thank you for joining us. How has it been for you? Very intense. There

was a very slow burn over the last 18 months but the last ten days have

escalated and you can see the raw passion on display. I have been in

Dundee and Edinburgh and Glasgow and on roadsides, there is a lot of

passionate folk out there who deeply care. Alan, have you been enjoying

yourself? Yes, I have been having the time of my life. Pretty

exciting. This is a week we will all remember forever, but every side you

are on. We will all have memories of this week. And it is important to

remember that no matter which way the vote goes, history will judge

Scotland on how we dealt with it afterwards. And it is important at

this stage to weigh up the pros and cons and think carefully about

footing but also think about how we will deal with disappointment and

the victory and I feeling as both sides should agree to be generous in

defeat and start to come back together. That is the stage were up

by. Do you think your supporters will be generous in defeat?

Absolutely, there has been passion on both sides but also a genuine

sense that were both campaigning for what is best for Scotland and we

might disagree and I have had conversations on doorsteps and the

debates I have had, people from the yes side trying to convince me and I

have discovered a great blow for this country and its people and I

think Alan and myself are both fighting for a more socially just

and more prosperous Scotland and there will be a need for

reconciliation, of course. There are idiots on both sides who don't

represent the wider movement and on Friday there will be reconciliation

and they not concerned that there will not be, I think Scotland will

be all the better it. The yes campaign, this will be picked over

by history, is there anything you could have done differently? No!

Everybody in this campaign and also in the No campaign has put

everything they possibly can enter it and there are activists are given

their entire lives, people have been consumed by it and in a positive

way. It has been life changing for everybody involved and who knows,

ten years down the line, we can say we might have pushed that stronger

or pulled back on that but the main thing is, everybody has given their

heart and soul and you cannot say more than that. If there is the yes

vote, the postmortem with the No campaign will last for a very long

time. What could they have done differently? There will not be a yes

vote, I believe it will be no, I don't budge faith in the recent

opinion polls. I think we have recent elections to show you should

be careful about taking opinion polls at face value so I believe it

will be no. You don't think that that together left it late to come

up with promises of more devolved power? The Labour Party introduced

devolved power in March this year so we have introduced them and the

Scotland act was in 2012. With more devolution to Scotland. That is a

myth. This big panic. The MPs coming north over the last week because of

that. Do you think there was a panicked reaction to the poll what

that put the 'Yes' camp ahead? Yes, I was in London doing a show last

week, those polls came out showing that 'Yes' was making games, the

media was freaking out. We have been discussing this for three passionate

years, longer, decades. One poll means that all of a sudden the

London elite are paying attention and the washing up year to promise

everything. That suggests to me that one member of the family hasn't got

a clue what is going on with the other member. Now they know, that is

great, but where were they? In the event that there is a 'Yes' vote,

Alex Salmond has said that he wants people from Better Together, the

whole country, to join together as he goes to Westminster to negotiate

the Independence. Can you see Better Together supporters joining the

team? I can see Scots uniting regardless of the result. Scots will

unite from both camps. That is a bit of a myth, we are going to this

referendum based on one person, Alex Salmond. You have lots of different

groups in this. An avowed homophobic in that group. They want a blank

slate, they all have different aspirations, I can't see someone

like the Socialist party having the same agenda as some of the more

right`wing folk in the SNP. The only person who has a mandate is Alex

Salmond. There will be disappointed people which ever way it goes,

people not involved in politics before now energised by this

campaign, not finding the vote going their way, will that leave them

disenchanted? There is a danger of that, a lot of people have become

politically aware and conscious as a result of this campaign. They have

found intelligence that they maybe didn't know they had. Suddenly,

ordinary people, who didn't pay any attention to economics all their

relationship to the British state are now full of this chapter, that

is wonderful, a Democratic flowering. The whole of Scotland is

open, Scotland are buffered Scottish people are talking to other. ``

Scottish people are talking to each other. As disappointed as I will

be... We'll have to leave it there, thank you for joining us.

Finally tonight, let's hear from the woman with the biggest job

Chief Counting Officer Mary Pitcaithly will announce the overall

She's been speaking to Graham Satchell

It is exciting but I'm focused on making sure the process goes well.

If people don't like the result, I hope they at least trusted as

accurate. It is my job to ensure that the integrity of the process,

the robustness of the processes brings trust. Can I bring you the

question about you, there is a possibility of you being replayed

over a game for ever. 'No' I tried to think about that, I wouldn't be

`` I try not to think about that, I just want the processes to go well,

that is only one point in time for what will be a very long day.

Stay with BBC News for the latest on the Scottish referendum.

Tomorrow night I'll be joining Huw Edwards and Nick Robinson

for a special programme "Scotland Decides, The Result".

We'll have correspondents at counts across the country.

That's here on BBC News from 10.35pm, and through the night.

You can get the latest online and on your mobile device,

including today, a look at how the polling organisations

So now after weeks, and indeed months, of campaigning, it'll soon