The Result

:00:00. > :00:11.The polls have closed. One of the most remarkable chapters in our

:00:12. > :00:42.country's history is about to be written by you.

:00:43. > :00:50.Hello, good evening and a warm welcome to BBC Scotland's results

:00:51. > :00:55.studio. We would become an independent country, or with the

:00:56. > :00:58.majority of Scots vote to stay in the United Kingdom? After an

:00:59. > :01:02.electrifying campaign that has engaged people like never before,

:01:03. > :01:05.the outcome is finely balanced. The only thing we can say for certain is

:01:06. > :01:10.that nobody really knows how to night will go. Every vote, every

:01:11. > :01:16.count, every moment. The ballot boxes are arriving at all 32 count

:01:17. > :01:23.centres and we are live at everyone. Wherever and when it happens, we

:01:24. > :01:28.will bring it to you. From the heart of Glasgow, with a momentous

:01:29. > :01:32.decision before us and the eyes of the world upon us, we will guide you

:01:33. > :01:36.through the story. With reaction from the key players at home and

:01:37. > :01:42.abroad. We have a range of talent at our disposal. My colleague, Brian

:01:43. > :01:49.Taylor, has touch screen technology at his fingertips to explain the

:01:50. > :01:57.story as it unfolds. In the absence of talent you have

:01:58. > :02:02.got me. We have got a mass of data. It will help put the results in

:02:03. > :02:07.context. Our graphics will help to tell you the story of the vote you

:02:08. > :02:12.have delivered today. To avoid any party clashes to get -- altogether,

:02:13. > :02:18.we are using a new colour scheme tonight. We will turn our map of

:02:19. > :02:31.Scotland into this. Green for a yes, Redford no. -- red no.

:02:32. > :02:34.We will keep a close eye across all 32 local authorities. It would not

:02:35. > :02:42.be a newsworthy O'Casey Millett Jackie Bird.

:02:43. > :02:48.It is from here that we will bring you an overview of this momentous

:02:49. > :02:53.night. I will bring you regular news summaries throughout the evening. If

:02:54. > :02:58.you have two leave your sofa and perhaps miss a cant or a key moment,

:02:59. > :03:05.our bulletins will keep you up-to-date. -- miss a cant. I will

:03:06. > :03:12.also be following the main players and bringing you all of the news and

:03:13. > :03:15.gossip from the camps. For added value, you can keep up-to-date with

:03:16. > :03:21.news as it happens along the bottom of your screen. We have a political

:03:22. > :03:24.analyst, Professor Charlie Jeffrey, vice principal at Edinburgh

:03:25. > :03:34.University. What are you looking out for a? I am looking for a turnout in

:03:35. > :03:38.West Central Scotland. The Yes side has expended tremendous efforts. If

:03:39. > :03:43.turnout is high, it could be a key to the whole evening. In every

:03:44. > :03:48.single part of Scotland, from Stornoway to Kelso, Lerwick to

:03:49. > :03:55.Dumfries, and everywhere in between, we are at the heart of the story.

:03:56. > :03:58.That is the scene. Counting is getting underway. We have reporters

:03:59. > :04:03.at every count centre. This is the biggest operation in our history.

:04:04. > :04:09.Wherever you are watching, we have got it covered. The results will all

:04:10. > :04:14.be approved and totals and -- at a central counting point in Ingliston

:04:15. > :04:25.just outside Edinburgh. Laura Baker is there. Good evening. We are just

:04:26. > :04:30.outside Edinburgh. The city's votes are already being counted as we

:04:31. > :04:34.speak. As you mentioned, this is where all of the votes from around

:04:35. > :04:40.the country, from all 32 local authorities, will be verified. This

:04:41. > :04:45.is where we will find out how you have answered the question, should

:04:46. > :04:48.Scotland be an independent country? No referendum night programme would

:04:49. > :04:57.be complete without some politicians and pundits. A warm welcome to all

:04:58. > :05:02.of those on our panel. Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to

:05:03. > :05:05.the Treasury in the UK comment. Hams who use of. The leader of the

:05:06. > :05:09.Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson. And Patrick Harvey, the

:05:10. > :05:17.co-convenor of the Scottish Green Party. To an interesting development

:05:18. > :05:27.this evening already. Some problems with the count in Stornoway. Angus

:05:28. > :05:32.MacDonald can bring us up to date. There is some tension here in that

:05:33. > :05:38.we are not quite sure if the votes from the Southern Isles will make it

:05:39. > :05:43.according to plan. The council had planned an aircraft would take them

:05:44. > :05:49.to Stornoway. But we have been played all day by fog. We gather the

:05:50. > :05:54.plane has made it and hopefully it will take off once the ballot box

:05:55. > :05:59.has been collected. -- once the ballot boxes have been collected.

:06:00. > :06:03.They will have to wait for the weather windows. At the moment they

:06:04. > :06:08.are quite optimistic they will stay according to schedule. But they do

:06:09. > :06:15.not know which way the fog will blow and whether it will come in again or

:06:16. > :06:22.not. Any idea when the results from the Western Isles will now come in?

:06:23. > :06:29.They are expecting it, if all goes according to plan, between two and

:06:30. > :06:32.three o'clock in the morning. If things do not go according to plan,

:06:33. > :06:38.the ballot boxes will have to be brought up to Harris by fishing boat

:06:39. > :06:46.and then to Lewis. That will take the count to between five and six in

:06:47. > :06:50.the morning. If it is extremely tight in the country, this area

:06:51. > :06:54.could be the deciding factor in the referendum. That is what they say on

:06:55. > :06:59.the floor. We will bring you that and every other cant when it comes

:07:00. > :07:04.in. We are hearing about problems for offshore workers unable to vote

:07:05. > :07:07.because of weather problems and helicopter flight cancellations.

:07:08. > :07:14.More details as the programme develops. Now let us talk to Brian,

:07:15. > :07:20.who can talk us through how the count will work. It has been a

:07:21. > :07:23.momentous day. It has been a momentous couple of years. The

:07:24. > :07:28.question we are answering tonight, the question you are answering, is,

:07:29. > :07:33.should Scotland be an independent country? Nearly 4.3 million of us

:07:34. > :07:42.registered to vote in this referendum. Here is what we are

:07:43. > :07:45.saying. It is Yes or no. That will determine the future of Scotland and

:07:46. > :07:52.the future of the United Kingdom. The votes will be counted at council

:07:53. > :07:55.areas across the country. We will bring you the results from every

:07:56. > :08:06.single count as they are declared. From Lerwick in Shetland, to Dundee

:08:07. > :08:13.and Dumfries. As each area concludes its count, we will change the colour

:08:14. > :08:19.on the map. You can see how each part of the country has voted. If an

:08:20. > :08:33.area votes Yes, it will turn teal. It -- if it votes no, it will turn

:08:34. > :08:37.Fushi. -- Fushi. Every single vote counts. All those votes being

:08:38. > :08:43.counted tonight. All of them are added to the totals. Just began --

:08:44. > :08:48.just because a council area of votes yes by a majority, that does not

:08:49. > :08:54.mean that the no votes in that area are ignored, and vice versa. We will

:08:55. > :09:00.be keeping a running total. You will be able to see if the yes votes are

:09:01. > :09:02.approaching the winning line, and vice versa. Every result will be

:09:03. > :09:09.confirmed at Ingliston outside Edinburgh, where this woman will

:09:10. > :09:14.play her part in Scotland's history as chief accounting officer for

:09:15. > :09:18.Scotland. She will become a familiar face to us this evening. Ultimately

:09:19. > :09:24.it is the voice of the people which counts. Stay with us to find out

:09:25. > :09:27.what that voice is saying tonight. Let's find out what our panellists

:09:28. > :09:33.are hearing from their sources around the country. Is it going to

:09:34. > :09:39.be your night? We certainly hope so. It is a victory for democracy. All

:09:40. > :09:46.of us will be agreed on that. A high level of turnout. It has been

:09:47. > :09:51.nothing short of electrifying. It has been an honour and a privilege

:09:52. > :09:55.to be part of that. Yes, of course we are confident. The Yes campaign

:09:56. > :10:02.has been -- in the civic grassroots movement. We had 12,000 events,

:10:03. > :10:06.35,000 volunteers. It has been an exciting, energetic campaign. I wish

:10:07. > :10:10.politicians could take the credit but it has been a grassroots

:10:11. > :10:20.movement. People write in the thick of it. Frankly it is a case of don't

:10:21. > :10:24.know who knows the least and who knows the most. None of us knows

:10:25. > :10:29.because we have never been in a position like this before. You

:10:30. > :10:37.mentioned the high turnout. What is the wisdom on a high turnout? Does

:10:38. > :10:42.it benefit yes or no? None of us really know, is the truth. We cannot

:10:43. > :10:46.say that often enough at this stage of the evening. We think that a high

:10:47. > :10:51.turnout works from our point of view. We have strong support across

:10:52. > :10:59.Scotland. That support has been turning out. People say the Yes

:11:00. > :11:04.supporters are motivated to go out. A higher turnout may marginally

:11:05. > :11:08.favour the No campaign. It has been a real triumph in terms of the level

:11:09. > :11:13.of engagement. Frankly that is proper given that this is a

:11:14. > :11:15.once-in-a-lifetime choice. It will affect our country for many

:11:16. > :11:25.lifetimes. It is right people have turned out to vote. There has been a

:11:26. > :11:28.negative side to it, too. That is something we have to learn lessons

:11:29. > :11:32.about, too. I have certainly been in the Highlands today going around

:11:33. > :11:38.polling stations. A very high turnout experienced there. That is

:11:39. > :11:41.good. It is good that people have chosen to exercise their vote in the

:11:42. > :11:49.most important decision and each of us will ever make. What about the

:11:50. > :11:54.energy generated? How do you capture that and keep it involved in

:11:55. > :12:00.politics and the decision-making still to come? Thank you for sparing

:12:01. > :12:03.me the question about how it is going! This is perhaps one of the

:12:04. > :12:11.most important thing is that is still relevant whether it is a Yes

:12:12. > :12:15.or no result. That public engagement. They will be a pure

:12:16. > :12:19.channel for it in the event of a Yes mode. We will be entering a period

:12:20. > :12:24.of debating what a written constitution looks like, how we

:12:25. > :12:29.manage the transition. If it is a No vote, it becomes necessary, vital,

:12:30. > :12:32.to hold the West Minister political clique to account for the promises

:12:33. > :12:38.they have made. It will be harder to find clear ways of channelling that

:12:39. > :12:44.publish -- public engagement. It is something we have to try to do. It

:12:45. > :13:01.becomes a big challenge. The votes are being counted, and the

:13:02. > :13:06.ballot boxes are starting to arrive. This picture is being replicated at

:13:07. > :13:10.counting centres across the country. Ruth Davidson, do you think that

:13:11. > :13:18.this referendum has changed our politics, and if so, in a positive

:13:19. > :13:23.way or not? I think it has. I think that the status quo has been smashed

:13:24. > :13:28.whatever the outcome. Scotland will change because of this. I think the

:13:29. > :13:37.last two years has been a positive experience. We have had the biggest,

:13:38. > :13:42.broadest conversation, and it has been a conversation we have needed

:13:43. > :13:46.to have. This has been an undercurrent in our politics for 40

:13:47. > :13:51.years. I'm glad you are mentioning ballot boxes being opened. During

:13:52. > :13:55.the campaign, we have had postal votes, and they will be enormously

:13:56. > :14:02.important in this campaign, about 18% of the vote will be postal

:14:03. > :14:05.ballots, and we have had sample opening, and have been incredibly

:14:06. > :14:13.encouraged by the results from that. There are caveats, that it is more

:14:14. > :14:18.often elderly or more organised voters, but going into today, our

:14:19. > :14:23.side would have had the lead, and we have a quiet confidence that the

:14:24. > :14:28.majority of Scots have spoken today. Is it not the case that postal

:14:29. > :14:33.votes, whilst verified, not opened until ten o'clock on the night? They

:14:34. > :14:41.are not counted, but different authorities have had openings around

:14:42. > :14:47.the country, but it is illegal to talk about them until after the

:14:48. > :14:53.polls closed. But sample results have been positive for us. Thank you

:14:54. > :14:56.very much. Our panel will change throughout the evening, but let's go

:14:57. > :15:16.around the country. We will keep a close I all of the counts. Andrew,

:15:17. > :15:23.will this be the birth of a new country? That is what the Yes

:15:24. > :15:32.campaign are hoping for. The count here is under way, and the yes

:15:33. > :15:38.campaign are confident. They have dubbed Dundee the Yes city. For

:15:39. > :15:42.decades, Dundee was solid Labour, thanks in part to a large

:15:43. > :15:47.working-class population and large sprawling council estates. In recent

:15:48. > :15:52.years, those loyalties have slipped, and have gone to the SNP. So at the

:15:53. > :16:00.moment, the SNP hold both of the Holyrood seat in Dundee, and also

:16:01. > :16:05.one of the Westminster seats. They have also controlled the council

:16:06. > :16:08.since 2012. Added to that that 7000 new voters have gone on to the

:16:09. > :16:14.electoral roll for this referendum in recent weeks, and if Dundee

:16:15. > :16:16.doesn't deliver a Yes for independence, it will be a

:16:17. > :16:21.devastating blow for the Yes campaign. But what is the picture

:16:22. > :16:28.likely to be in other parts of the country? Let's go to the Borders. We

:16:29. > :16:36.have horse racing here in Kelso yesterday, and the strong feeling is

:16:37. > :16:43.that the odds are on the Scottish Borders returning a strong No vote.

:16:44. > :16:51.There has been a history of feuding and fighting, reading over history

:16:52. > :16:55.and days gone by. But this relationship between people living

:16:56. > :17:01.both north and south of the River Tweed these days is much friendlier.

:17:02. > :17:05.People cross the border almost without thinking about it these

:17:06. > :17:14.days. So the bookies have the Scottish Borders firmly down as a

:17:15. > :17:26.strong No vote. A recent ComRes poll for ITV had it down as 67 for No and

:17:27. > :17:32.33 for Yes. We hope to get the results here around five in the

:17:33. > :17:38.morning. Let's cross to Glasgow. Never mind your horse racing in the

:17:39. > :17:41.Borders, I am at the arena where the amazing cycling was at the

:17:42. > :17:47.Commonwealth Games, and boy do we have a race here tonight. There is

:17:48. > :17:50.not far short of half a million people who have decided they wanted

:17:51. > :17:56.to vote in this referendum, they had registered in Glasgow, and that is

:17:57. > :17:59.far more than ever before. If the bulk of them have turned out today

:18:00. > :18:03.at polling stations throughout Glasgow, and we are hearing reports

:18:04. > :18:07.about them being very busy indeed, it will be way into the wee small

:18:08. > :18:16.hours before we know who has taken Glasgow. If Yes do, it bodes well

:18:17. > :18:23.for them in the morning. If Note take it, they will be delighted.

:18:24. > :18:26.Glasgow has been a fierce battle ground this campaign, so it will be

:18:27. > :18:32.a few hours yet before we know who has won here. That is the picture

:18:33. > :18:41.here. Let's go a little further down the Clyde to Inverclyde. I'm here in

:18:42. > :18:51.Greenock Thomert the fifth smallest count in Scotland, just under six to

:18:52. > :18:57.2500 -- 62,000. It could be one of the first to declare. This is

:18:58. > :19:03.typical Labour territory. The towns grew up on shipbuilding and sugar

:19:04. > :19:15.refining, those jobs largely gone, and the Labour vote has been

:19:16. > :19:18.dwindling fast, too. The yes campaign are confident that they

:19:19. > :19:25.have persuaded vast numbers of Labour voters to vote Yes. The Prime

:19:26. > :19:29.Minister is in Downing Street tonight, and therefore as throughout

:19:30. > :20:00.this evening, Luiz Stewart. What is the mood there, Luis? -- Louise. As

:20:01. > :20:08.you saw with the Yes vote in the polls, it really galvanised the

:20:09. > :20:19.politicians here, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, to go up to Scotland and

:20:20. > :20:23.almost love bomb them. What is at stake for the rest of the United

:20:24. > :20:28.Kingdom in Scotland did choose to go for independence? I think the

:20:29. > :20:31.ramifications are huge, and we are hearing that the banks will be

:20:32. > :20:36.meeting very early tomorrow morning, before six, most of them.

:20:37. > :20:39.Mark Carney, the head of the Bank of England, will be putting out a

:20:40. > :20:42.statement very early, because there is a real fear that it will give the

:20:43. > :20:49.jitters to the financial markets if it is a yes vote. Even if it is a No

:20:50. > :20:54.vote, there will be more powers for Scotland. That will rattle more

:20:55. > :21:04.cages down here, it has to be said. Not all MPs agree. The Prime

:21:05. > :21:08.Minister, it is felt by some, has had to concede too much at the start

:21:09. > :21:13.of this campaign. We will catch up with you later. As Brian mentioned a

:21:14. > :21:16.week or two ago, a certain chief accounting officer will be making

:21:17. > :21:30.history has after night. She will be at the National count centre at

:21:31. > :21:38.Ingliston. Welcome to the tense floor of the world Highland Centre.

:21:39. > :21:40.These are some members of the youth Parliament who couldn't vote but

:21:41. > :21:54.have guest passes to be here tonight. We have yes supporters, and

:21:55. > :21:57.we have No, Thanks supporters. But one woman, the chief accounting

:21:58. > :22:05.officer here, has a very important job. The big night is here. How you

:22:06. > :22:11.feeling? There is a huge sense of anticipation. A big job to be done,

:22:12. > :22:18.but we are ready. There have been a few issues to sort out. With things

:22:19. > :22:21.sorted out such as people come into the polling station with their card

:22:22. > :22:28.and finding that their name is not on the list? There are always

:22:29. > :22:33.hiccups like that on polling day, and these things can usually be

:22:34. > :22:37.sorted out. Has the day gone quite smoothly? It was a huge issue to get

:22:38. > :22:44.everything prepared. Things have gone very smoothly. Polling has been

:22:45. > :22:47.brisk everywhere. I am not aware of significant cues. When people turn

:22:48. > :22:51.up in large numbers, there might be a small queue, but I don't think

:22:52. > :22:59.there have been many major issues. Talk us through the big night. How

:23:00. > :23:06.will it result be announced? Behind me you can see Edinburgh setting up

:23:07. > :23:09.their count. They will bring all of the boxes in, open and count them

:23:10. > :23:17.here. The same is being replicated right around the country in 31 other

:23:18. > :23:20.count centres. They then give me information about the number of

:23:21. > :23:24.votes they accounting, they are authorised to release that, and that

:23:25. > :23:35.is how you work out what the turnout is. Then they turn the votes into

:23:36. > :23:39.yes, no it's doubtful. So you will know the result before anyone else

:23:40. > :23:42.in Scotland? Amat is the theory, yes. How you feeling about

:23:43. > :23:49.announcing that results millions around the world? I am just focused

:23:50. > :23:53.on getting it right and everyone having confidence that what I am and

:23:54. > :23:58.is the result. They may not like the result, but I want them to be

:23:59. > :24:03.confident that it is accurate. And are you confident about how the

:24:04. > :24:09.process has worked? Yes, because I have 32 colleagues who are very

:24:10. > :24:11.experienced, of accounting officers and electoral registration offices,

:24:12. > :24:15.and the teams that each of those people has behind them, a huge

:24:16. > :24:19.amount of experience and huge commitment to doing this properly. A

:24:20. > :24:24.huge amount of work for everyone involved. A massive amount of work,

:24:25. > :24:28.but we are nearly there. We can see the finish line, just one last

:24:29. > :24:33.effort to get through the count, and our job is done. Thank you very

:24:34. > :24:50.much. A very calm and confident Mary Pitt

:24:51. > :24:56.-- Pitcaithly. And David Miller is over here for us. This is the

:24:57. > :25:00.international media Centre here in Edinburgh, it is filling up nicely.

:25:01. > :25:05.A little quieter than we expected at this stage, but make no mistake, we

:25:06. > :25:10.have heard a lot about the eyes of the world being an Scotland tonight.

:25:11. > :25:14.And that is indeed the case. You may have thought that maybe political

:25:15. > :25:17.exaggeration, journalistic hyperbole, but if you look around

:25:18. > :25:22.this hall and hear the accidents, here where international colleagues

:25:23. > :25:28.have come from, and it is clear that this story is being reported right

:25:29. > :25:31.around the world this evening. Journalists from around the globe

:25:32. > :25:37.awaiting the decision of the people of Scotland. Very busy scenes in the

:25:38. > :25:43.centre of the capital through the course of the day, news crews from

:25:44. > :25:46.around the globe covering the story in great detail, trying to piece

:25:47. > :25:51.together what exactly has been happening. It is a complicated,

:25:52. > :25:55.difficult story for them to relate to overseas audiences, and of

:25:56. > :26:02.particular interest is Catalonia, the Basque country, they are

:26:03. > :26:06.particularly interested. My job here tonight is to watch them watching

:26:07. > :26:09.us, to hear from foreign correspondence as they respond and

:26:10. > :26:19.react to the story which will unfold here at the National count centre.

:26:20. > :26:23.You can probably see the ballot boxes arriving behind me. They are

:26:24. > :26:28.arriving in crates, and they're being watched eagerly by both sides.

:26:29. > :26:34.This national conversation that we have had over the last two years is

:26:35. > :26:39.coming to an end, and we will find out the results here at the Royal

:26:40. > :26:46.Highland Centre. We will be watching every step of the way. I should tell

:26:47. > :26:50.you that that final result will come, we think, at breakfast time

:26:51. > :26:54.tomorrow, but we should have an indication of which way things are

:26:55. > :26:59.going long before then. Here are some of the ballot boxes arriving

:27:00. > :27:07.around the country. Those pictures live from Angus, and that is the

:27:08. > :27:13.count centre in the County of Angus. Even though it says Belfast on your

:27:14. > :27:20.screen! Pictures coming to us from all 32 count centres. A huge

:27:21. > :27:29.operation all across Scotland to get the ballot boxes sealed up at 2600

:27:30. > :27:34.polling stations around the country and brought the central counting

:27:35. > :27:40.centres for the results. Let's have a chat with those on our panel. We

:27:41. > :27:44.heard from Ingliston about the international interest in the

:27:45. > :27:49.Scottish referendum. What messages do you think we have been sending

:27:50. > :27:50.out in the final stages of this campaign to the people watching from

:27:51. > :28:03.around the world? One of the messages is one of panic

:28:04. > :28:08.by the UK establishment, both political and media to a certain

:28:09. > :28:11.extent. Those based in London have given the impression of only waking

:28:12. > :28:18.up to the referendum as a story in the final stages. I think more

:28:19. > :28:21.broadly, if Scotland makes the decision I hope it is going to make,

:28:22. > :28:29.it will be a profoundly defining moment. I cannot remember an

:28:30. > :28:35.electoral event which is as defining as this. The idea of a nation simply

:28:36. > :28:42.deciding to take a very clear choice of direction for its future. I

:28:43. > :28:48.cannot remember any election being as significant as this. That is why

:28:49. > :28:54.we Eric -- that is why we are seeing this extraordinary turnout. That is

:28:55. > :29:02.a profoundly empowering moment. How do we make the most of this moment

:29:03. > :29:07.in the spotlight? First of all, we have two look at behaviour at the

:29:08. > :29:10.top. No matter what happens, there is an incumbency on political

:29:11. > :29:14.leaders to be very clear that if Scotland has spoken, we must listen

:29:15. > :29:18.to that result, and also to bring the country back together again

:29:19. > :29:20.afterwards. This has been an overwhelmingly positive experience

:29:21. > :29:31.which has energised Scotland, but it has divided Scotland, too. The

:29:32. > :29:35.country will not come back together again by accident. People will have

:29:36. > :29:39.to work at it. Myself and many others in the campaign have placed

:29:40. > :29:55.to do just that. I hope we will see that going forward. There was 100%

:29:56. > :29:59.turnout in one area. It is the first time I have ever heard that in

:30:00. > :30:08.however many years I have been watching politics in Scotland. CNN

:30:09. > :30:13.had a pull-out that declared it 52-48. That is the first 100%

:30:14. > :30:20.turnout box I have of heard ever. That was in Angus. There has been an

:30:21. > :30:27.on the day poll conducted by YouGov. A pall of around 3000 people who

:30:28. > :30:35.have already been contacted. It found 54 for No and 46 for a Yes. Is

:30:36. > :30:42.that worrying? It is not an exit poll. It is one poll. We have been

:30:43. > :30:48.the underdogs. We have relished that status. You have to remember that

:30:49. > :30:54.just six weeks ago some polls for putting the No campaign 22 points

:30:55. > :30:58.ahead. We have seen a narrowing of the polls. A panic from the other

:30:59. > :31:06.side. People actually realising that this may well happen. It is not an

:31:07. > :31:10.exit poll. It will not take into account the high numbers we are

:31:11. > :31:16.hearing about across the country. I saw the daily record reporting that

:31:17. > :31:19.the leader of Inverclyde Council says it is far too close to call.

:31:20. > :31:25.Everybody looking to see what happens. Briefly, Danny Alexander? I

:31:26. > :31:31.think the result is going to be very close. That is what everybody seems

:31:32. > :31:36.to expect. We only have to wait a few hours until we get the actual

:31:37. > :31:38.result. Either way this is a defining moment. It is a rare

:31:39. > :31:42.opportunity for a country to consider its future in this way.

:31:43. > :31:47.Whether we have decided to be independent or recommit ourselves to

:31:48. > :31:52.the United Kingdom under new terms, change is for Scotland. Our job is

:31:53. > :31:57.to bring people together again after the referendum in the event of a No

:31:58. > :32:01.vote. We have to make sure those powers are delivered according to

:32:02. > :32:04.the process set out as quickly as possible. Make sure everybody in

:32:05. > :32:08.Scotland understands there is a new settlement the way.

:32:09. > :32:12.Jackie is here with the first of many news updates.

:32:13. > :32:22.They shut up shop just over an hour ago. The country's polling

:32:23. > :32:27.stations. People turned out in record numbers. 97% of the

:32:28. > :32:31.electorate. When can we expect the first result? There is usually a

:32:32. > :32:37.race to be the first count. Tonight is No difference. -- different.

:32:38. > :32:45.Tonight, a few problems. The declaration could be delayed in one

:32:46. > :32:49.polling station because of fog. The plane is flying at the moment. That

:32:50. > :32:55.possible delay has been averted. It could change if it cannot land.

:32:56. > :32:58.There are reports that some offshore workers have been unable to vote

:32:59. > :33:02.after dozens of helicopter flights fell victim to the weather. Where is

:33:03. > :33:07.the first declaration likely to be? It could be in Clackmannanshire,

:33:08. > :33:13.with a population of just over 50,000. The smart money could also

:33:14. > :33:15.be on Inverclyde. Of course it is the big centres of population that

:33:16. > :33:24.will make the biggest difference. Let's take a look at these scenes in

:33:25. > :33:28.Glasgow were Scotland's biggest council area has nearly half a

:33:29. > :33:37.million votes. We expect the result of around 5am. The other big ones,

:33:38. > :33:48.Edinburgh and Fife. That could be around 4am. The most recent poll

:33:49. > :33:52.predicts a victory for No -- No. The debate has been running on social

:33:53. > :33:56.media for the last couple of years. You can use the hash tag if you want

:33:57. > :34:03.to get involved. More than 7 million tweets have been sent the first

:34:04. > :34:09.televised debate on August five. -- August the 5th. We have got the

:34:10. > :34:15.Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who has tweeted that the people of

:34:16. > :34:20.Scotland have cast their votes and he sincerely hopes they remain part

:34:21. > :34:28.of the family of nations. Kenneth MacDonald, reporter, he tweeted that

:34:29. > :34:35.George Square was like the World Cup had been won. And the Deputy First

:34:36. > :34:41.Minister posted that polls have closed, what an amazing,

:34:42. > :34:49.motivational -- emotional, inspirational day of democracy.

:34:50. > :34:55.Jackie, thank you. We will be back to Jackie throughout the night.

:34:56. > :35:02.Plenty of interest from right around the world in what is happening here.

:35:03. > :35:06.A little bit closer to home tonight's proceedings are being

:35:07. > :35:12.keenly watched in Belfast. Mark Devenport is at Stormont. What is

:35:13. > :35:16.the view from there? It is being keenly watched. The constitutional

:35:17. > :35:20.status of Northern Ireland and the future of the union has long been a

:35:21. > :35:26.central theme of politics here. It has been hotly disputed and

:35:27. > :35:30.violently fought over. People are watching very carefully. It is a

:35:31. > :35:36.great exercise in democracy. The kind of exercise we saw here in 1998

:35:37. > :35:39.when we had an 81% turnout in the referendum that followed the Good

:35:40. > :35:45.Friday Agreement. Unionists have come that Scotland should remain in

:35:46. > :35:49.the UK. Nationalists, by and large, have been playing their cards rather

:35:50. > :35:53.more closely to their chests, saying it is up to the Scottish people to

:35:54. > :35:56.decide and they will not enter into the argument. You do tend to get the

:35:57. > :36:03.impression that secretly they would like a Yes vote as part of their

:36:04. > :36:06.campaign to erode the union. Whatever happens tonight, it seems

:36:07. > :36:11.that the Scottish parliament will become more powerful. Will that lead

:36:12. > :36:19.to demands from politicians in the building behind you for more powers

:36:20. > :36:24.there, too? To some extent. It is a complex picture. There is one power

:36:25. > :36:26.the politicians here have been campaigning for for some time,

:36:27. > :36:31.control over local rate of corporation tax. That is because we

:36:32. > :36:42.compete with the Irish Republic, which has a lower rate of 12 point

:36:43. > :36:47.percent. -- toil -- 12.5%. Unionists will be concerned that if they take

:36:48. > :36:50.a raft of other powers, that may be a thin end of the wedge

:36:51. > :36:55.constitutionally. Thank you very much.

:36:56. > :36:58.Let us cross again to Brian for details of the areas we should be

:36:59. > :37:09.paying particularly close attention to. Every vote counts. In other

:37:10. > :37:14.parts of the country where people are more inclined to vote for

:37:15. > :37:17.independence or the contrary? Professor John Curtis has had a go

:37:18. > :37:21.at highlighting key areas of Scotland to watch out for as the

:37:22. > :37:27.votes come in. Let's bring up our map of Scotland. Let's look at areas

:37:28. > :37:42.where the SNP has done particularly well. The Western Isles. Dundee,

:37:43. > :37:58.Angus, Stirling and Falkirk. -- Moray. The strongest shading is in

:37:59. > :38:01.the Western Isles. It is not going to be too much of a surprise if Yes

:38:02. > :38:08.Scotland do pretty well in these areas. Where the shading is more

:38:09. > :38:12.green, the other end of the spectrum, were support for the SNP

:38:13. > :38:18.is at its weakest. Shetland and Orkney in the north, the Scottish

:38:19. > :38:22.Borders, Dumfries and Galloway. If Better Together does not perform

:38:23. > :38:26.very well here, that campaign could be in trouble. Let's talk about

:38:27. > :38:32.areas with a high percentage of people who were born in the rest of

:38:33. > :38:39.the UK, born outside Scotland. Arguably these people may be more

:38:40. > :38:45.inclined to want to keep the union. The second placed one is actually

:38:46. > :38:51.Moray. A high percentage of people born outside Scotland. That is

:38:52. > :38:55.perhaps because of the history of the RAF races. Will that factor

:38:56. > :39:04.counteracting part of the SNP heartlands? Dumfries and Galloway

:39:05. > :39:08.also in there. Edinburgh also showing strongly in this category.

:39:09. > :39:14.Upwards of 13% born in the rest of the UK. The other end of the

:39:15. > :39:22.spectrum entirely, less than 5% born in the rest of the UK. Might those

:39:23. > :39:30.people be more likely to vote yes? The third factor is deprivation.

:39:31. > :39:39.Relative deprivation. Let's touch on this one. Opinion polls suggest that

:39:40. > :39:43.people from poorer backgrounds are more inclined to back independence.

:39:44. > :39:45.We have taken a map of Scotland and we have shaded according to the

:39:46. > :39:51.Scottish index of multiple deprivation. Here you can see that

:39:52. > :39:56.Glasgow, Inverclyde and Dundee all featured strongly, with Shetland,

:39:57. > :39:58.Aberdeenshire, East Lothian at the other end of the spectrum among

:39:59. > :40:05.those parts of Scotland with the least relative poverty. These

:40:06. > :40:12.remember these are just indicators. Every single vote counts in every

:40:13. > :40:16.single area. As Brian says, Moray is something of a curiosity. A strong

:40:17. > :40:22.SNP voting pattern. Will that translate into support for

:40:23. > :40:28.independence? Our correspondent is there. What do you reckon? It is a

:40:29. > :40:34.difficult one to call. We are in a coastal village CROWD CHEER. Fishing

:40:35. > :40:42.is huge. Agriculture. And there is whiskey. This should be solid Yes

:40:43. > :40:46.territory. It has been too close to call. There is a big army base, a

:40:47. > :40:52.big RAF base. That may have an impact. Ramsay MacDonald, the first

:40:53. > :41:04.Labour MP, was born just along the coast. The turnout has been massive.

:41:05. > :41:11.92% of the postal vote is being counted. 86% have made their mark

:41:12. > :41:16.today as well. Just along the coast is where Macbeth met the three

:41:17. > :41:19.witches. They made incredible predictions about Scotland's

:41:20. > :41:27.future. It would be a brave which he makes a prediction tonight.

:41:28. > :41:30.-- witch. Which local authority will be a bellwether for what has

:41:31. > :41:35.happened across the country? Could it be the Kingdom of Fife? Lisa

:41:36. > :41:44.Summers is there. Look behind me and you can see there is a pile of

:41:45. > :41:48.activity going on. We have 180 counters. They are counting the

:41:49. > :41:53.votes into bundles of 100, to give us a gauge of turnout. That probably

:41:54. > :41:57.will not happen for the next hour or so. It is one of these parts of

:41:58. > :42:04.Scotland where we just don't know what the answer is going to be. We

:42:05. > :42:07.talk about the Kingdom of Fife being Scotland in miniature. In the

:42:08. > :42:11.north-east we have the more affluent farming communities. As you head

:42:12. > :42:20.into the coastal communities there are a lot of retired people. There

:42:21. > :42:25.is a love of depravity and poverty in this area. If you are asking me

:42:26. > :42:29.this question ten years ago you would probably be saying that given

:42:30. > :42:35.the tradition of supporting Labour in this area, we would expect a No.

:42:36. > :42:39.We just do not know. Given this is the third largest local authority

:42:40. > :42:43.area in terms of population, about 300,000 people registered to vote,

:42:44. > :42:45.we're expecting the vote at about 4am. It could be a gauge of how the

:42:46. > :43:12.nation will vote. Two other significant areas are in

:43:13. > :43:17.North and South Lanarkshire. This is Ravenscraig sports facility, still a

:43:18. > :43:24.name that everyone associates with the steelworks, that iconic image of

:43:25. > :43:31.Scottish industry and the demise of that industry. Labour heartland

:43:32. > :43:36.here, are than average number of working-class voters, people in

:43:37. > :43:40.social housing, long-term unemployed compared with other parts of

:43:41. > :43:46.Scotland, all of which the yes campaign have been targeting. They

:43:47. > :43:57.have been making inroads in recent years while all of the MPs here are

:43:58. > :44:03.Labour. Count boxes are still coming in. They're coming across the

:44:04. > :44:09.football pitches outside. We have 266 people counting away, and we

:44:10. > :44:14.hope to have a result around 2am. Thank you, and from Motherwell to

:44:15. > :44:26.East Kilbride for the South Lanarkshire account. I just over the

:44:27. > :44:33.border from Pauline, and this is a vast local authority area. There are

:44:34. > :44:38.over 260,000 people registered to vote here. The boxes are still

:44:39. > :44:42.coming in. Somewhere in straightaway because there was a polling station

:44:43. > :44:52.just down the road, but others won't be in until it least quarter past

:44:53. > :45:01.11. This is a big area with a diverse geography, big towns,

:45:02. > :45:08.Hamilton and Cambuslang, but also vast rural areas, and also the

:45:09. > :45:12.political situation. In the past, this has been traditionally Labour.

:45:13. > :45:19.Three of the Westminster MPs here this evening are Labour MPs, but

:45:20. > :45:24.there is another one, the only Scottish Conservative MP and

:45:25. > :45:36.Scotland, he represents part of the local area, too. Since 2011, several

:45:37. > :45:40.Labour areas went to the SMP, -- SNP, so maybe the tide has turned,

:45:41. > :45:48.and we really need to keep an eye on this area this evening. We are

:45:49. > :45:54.expecting to hear the turnout at a quarter to one. These counters are

:45:55. > :46:05.famous for their speed, and they think they can declare by 3am will.

:46:06. > :46:11.We certainly have had a measure in the last week also about the

:46:12. > :46:16.international attention being paid to the referendum as the polls have

:46:17. > :46:23.got tighter. We will go to Jon Sopel in Washington in a moment, but first

:46:24. > :46:29.to Brussels and Gavin Hewitt. How is the Scottish debate being viewed

:46:30. > :46:35.from there? With huge interest. Europe really is

:46:36. > :46:45.paying attention. Flemish national here in Brussels putting candles

:46:46. > :46:51.down on the Scottish flag. But there isn't much keenness here in Brussels

:46:52. > :47:01.for the idea of member states breaking up. It has taken 50 years

:47:02. > :47:08.to build this Europe, it is said, and now there is a danger of

:47:09. > :47:13.deconstructing. Yesterday we had the Spanish prime minister, who said

:47:14. > :47:16.that these independence movements were rather like a torpedo

:47:17. > :47:22.underwater, aimed at the very European spirit. Europe is about

:47:23. > :47:26.integration, not fragmentation. We know why he would say that, because

:47:27. > :47:29.he is concerned about Catalonia. So there is great interest in what will

:47:30. > :47:36.happen tonight in Scotland here in Europe.

:47:37. > :47:39.Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, saying it has been an

:47:40. > :47:42.emotional day for democracy. Alistair Darling, the leader of

:47:43. > :47:47.Better Together saying he is increasingly confident that his side

:47:48. > :47:54.of the argument will win. If it were to be a Yes vote, if that were the

:47:55. > :47:58.outcome, what is your understanding of what would happen in terms of

:47:59. > :48:03.Scotland seeking membership, unbroken membership, of the European

:48:04. > :48:09.Union as an independent member state?

:48:10. > :48:13.The first thing I am clear about is that an end independent Scotland

:48:14. > :48:20.would have to reapply for EU membership. That was said to me last

:48:21. > :48:24.week by Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming president of the European

:48:25. > :48:27.commission. The question is how long this would take. Alex Salmond

:48:28. > :48:32.talking of it perhaps taking 18 months. But people here say that

:48:33. > :48:35.what would have to happen first would be the negotiation between

:48:36. > :48:39.Edinburgh and London, and only after that with the negotiations begin

:48:40. > :48:43.with Brussels. And the difficult issue is that there are countries,

:48:44. > :48:58.Spain is one, that would see no interest in fast tracking Scotland.

:48:59. > :49:09.Yesterday, the Spanish prime Minister Rojoy. The message from

:49:10. > :49:12.here is that yes they would expect at some stage down the road and

:49:13. > :49:15.independent Scotland would become part of the EE you. Great

:49:16. > :49:20.uncertainty about the timing and how long this will take.

:49:21. > :49:23.Thank you for that update from Brussels. The Scottish government

:49:24. > :49:27.argues that an arrangement would be made, that it would be possible for

:49:28. > :49:31.them to negotiate independent Scottish membership within the 18

:49:32. > :49:37.months of negotiations that they would intend to have with the United

:49:38. > :49:43.Kingdom Government. Let's go to Washington, Jon Sopel is our North

:49:44. > :49:51.America editor. President Obama was tweeting about this last night. It

:49:52. > :49:55.is highly significant that Barack Obama chose to tweet on the eve of

:49:56. > :50:02.polling, and it is the second time that he has entered the fray on this

:50:03. > :50:04.debate. Whilst saying that is is of course a matter for the Scottish

:50:05. > :50:08.people, he said we have a deep interest in making sure that one of

:50:09. > :50:15.the closest allies that we will ever have remained strong, robust, United

:50:16. > :50:17.and an effective partner. That was him leading from the White House,

:50:18. > :50:22.but if you look across the political elite in Washington, whether it is

:50:23. > :50:27.in economics, finance or the narrow world of politics, everyone does

:50:28. > :50:30.seem to be speaking with one voice. They seem to think that Scotland

:50:31. > :50:36.should remain part of the United Kingdom. One official I was speaking

:50:37. > :50:44.to said we are rubbing our eyes in disbelief at the possibility that

:50:45. > :50:51.the United Kingdom could break up why should it matter in the United

:50:52. > :50:54.States? Look at the agenda and how closely the United Kingdom and the

:50:55. > :51:04.United States work together? Islamic State, for example. If nuclear

:51:05. > :51:25.weapons won't be sited in Scotland, then where? We talk about a

:51:26. > :51:29.free-trade area for Europe. We have this uncertainty that is brought

:51:30. > :51:34.about by separation. So there is a great feeling that there is only

:51:35. > :51:42.downside risk attached to this. They are not getting into the whys and

:51:43. > :51:45.wherefores, they are just seeing the narrow economic and political terms.

:51:46. > :51:49.Britain's place as a permanent member of the Security Council,

:51:50. > :51:52.would that be put in jeopardy if Britain suddenly becomes a much

:51:53. > :51:57.smaller place and loses a sizeable chunk of its land mass? So I think

:51:58. > :52:00.in America in general, I would love to be able to say there is massive

:52:01. > :52:05.interest in this. The only story last week from the United Kingdom

:52:06. > :52:16.was Kate Middleton being pregnant. There was no discussion about the

:52:17. > :52:23.referendum. But now the news seems to be flowing in one direction, that

:52:24. > :52:28.they hope it is a No vote. Good to hear from you, Jon Sopel and

:52:29. > :52:33.Gavin Hewitt. Let talk live now with Jim Murphy, the Labour MP and shadow

:52:34. > :52:42.Cabinet minister. He is live in East Renfrewshire.

:52:43. > :52:57.It is going to be a long night and a fascinating night. It has been a

:52:58. > :53:02.remarkable day. Here in East Renfrewshire, more people vote in

:53:03. > :53:07.this constituency than the whole of the UK generally. We're expecting a

:53:08. > :53:15.huge turnout. 77% of people usually vote here in election time. I am

:53:16. > :53:19.confident there will be a very big No vote. Is most remarkable you can

:53:20. > :53:26.still speak to us at this stage having been to 100 towns in 100 days

:53:27. > :53:29.on the campaign trail? Yellow macro I enjoyed that. I have enjoyed this

:53:30. > :53:37.campaign more than anything else I have done in politics. I'm on the

:53:38. > :53:41.media roto until eight o'clock in the morning. See how I am doing

:53:42. > :53:52.then. I have enjoyed this campaign more than anything else. It has

:53:53. > :54:00.involved young people in this school and schools across the country.

:54:01. > :54:07.It is hard to envisage a time when you would have to go back to being

:54:08. > :54:11.18 to vote. I wonder whether there is still time, even if it is any a

:54:12. > :54:15.few months away, if we can cut the voting age to 16 across the whole of

:54:16. > :54:20.the UK, because I think what Scotland has shown today that young

:54:21. > :54:23.folk here are engaged, passionate, informed and clever, and I think

:54:24. > :54:30.that will be the same across the whole of the UK. I think right away

:54:31. > :54:34.the rest of the UK could take on board votes at 16 for the whole of

:54:35. > :54:37.the electorate. That would be a significant change, but no matter

:54:38. > :54:40.which way it goes tonight, do you think Scotland and the rest of the

:54:41. > :54:49.United Kingdom and the relationship between the two will be the same

:54:50. > :54:53.again? I am not going to try to rerun the referendum debate, that

:54:54. > :54:58.was this morning's argument. But if it is a Yes vote, there will be

:54:59. > :55:02.dramatic and I would argue disruptive change. If there is an No

:55:03. > :55:07.vote, they will be substantial change as well. We will have to get

:55:08. > :55:11.used to having much more power and more decisions made in Scotland. The

:55:12. > :55:17.House of Commons will have to get used to that, and the rest of

:55:18. > :55:22.England will, too. I think what has come up in this the people all

:55:23. > :55:28.across the whole of the United Kingdom is the disparity and the

:55:29. > :55:47.distance between West missed in so many.

:55:48. > :55:53.I am not going to dictate what that should be. But England will change

:55:54. > :56:00.as a consequence of Scotland's changing. The promise is for further

:56:01. > :56:06.devolution for Scotland. Are you saying there needs to be a redesign

:56:07. > :56:10.of the whole of the United Kingdom? That is my preference. I am in

:56:11. > :56:16.favour of an elected House of Lords, a Bill of Rights, a written

:56:17. > :56:19.constitution, the end of some laws in terms of secession. I have said

:56:20. > :56:25.those things before. How England chose to govern themselves is not

:56:26. > :56:30.for me to dictate. There is a general sense that having watched

:56:31. > :56:36.the biggest decision the UK has ever taken, albeit in our part of the UK,

:56:37. > :56:44.I think there is a sense in England, how can they do politics

:56:45. > :56:47.differently? I just get a feeling that England will look at this and

:56:48. > :56:53.say, how can we do politics a little bit differently and take some power

:56:54. > :56:58.away from Westminster? How come we boost turnout in elections? Is about

:56:59. > :57:05.votes mattering and decisions mattering. In England's great cities

:57:06. > :57:07.tonight and tomorrow there will be a sense of learning from what has

:57:08. > :57:12.happened in Scotland. Let's take some of our own decisions. They will

:57:13. > :57:20.look at it a fresh. Thank you for joining us live. Let's

:57:21. > :57:25.talk now with Professor Charlie Jeffrey and our political editor,

:57:26. > :57:31.Brian Taylor. Any thing you have spotted so far? The turnout is going

:57:32. > :57:35.to be huge. We expected that. It is whether there is a differential

:57:36. > :57:38.turnout. There was an expectation in early part of the campaign that

:57:39. > :57:52.perhaps if it was a huge turnout it may benefit yes. There was an

:57:53. > :57:55.estimation it was worth as many as 1% or 2%. I am not sure that is the

:57:56. > :58:02.case. Everybody is so enormously energised by this that factor will

:58:03. > :58:16.have weighed. That is a factor if you are at lower levels of turnout.

:58:17. > :58:25.But this level of turnout... Ruth Davidson had said about one

:58:26. > :58:32.village... One village reported 100%. A massive turnout. Huge

:58:33. > :58:42.interest in the outcome. Very good to hear Mary Pithcaithly saying the

:58:43. > :58:46.whole of the electoral process so far conducted with dignity. She also

:58:47. > :58:57.said she was focused on getting it right. We had a suggestion of a

:58:58. > :59:02.turnout in Moray of 92%. Sky is saying that the turnout in Edinburgh

:59:03. > :59:07.could be as high as 89.6%. How would turnout of that sort compare to what

:59:08. > :59:14.we are used to and what has happened in Scotland and the UK down the

:59:15. > :59:23.years? Record-breaking. The highest turnout in Scotland has been in

:59:24. > :59:28.Dundee East back in 1950. 88.6%. The highest Scotland wide turnout has

:59:29. > :59:30.been just over 80% at the UK election in 1951. I think we are

:59:31. > :59:38.going to be above that Scottish record. We may even see some places

:59:39. > :59:43.exceeding the Dundee East record. Perhaps we will talk about why that

:59:44. > :59:48.should be in a little while. That crossed to Aileen Clarke at the

:59:49. > :59:55.count in Glasgow. Some intelligence about how turnout is shaping up? I

:59:56. > :00:00.have been talking to people from both sides. What I am being told is

:00:01. > :00:08.that in places where traditionally the turnout has been shockingly

:00:09. > :00:14.low, Glasgow problem, the last turnout was in the low 30s... Listen

:00:15. > :00:20.to this. This is anecdotal and individual. I am being told in some

:00:21. > :00:27.polling stations they have a 64% turnout on maybe have passed it to

:00:28. > :00:34.night. Round about the same time, 70% in Pollokshields. 75% in Pollok.

:00:35. > :00:38.Up to 80% in some areas. That is a tremendous result for people turning

:00:39. > :00:42.out in Glasgow when you think about how traditionally low the turnout

:00:43. > :00:46.here can be. I'm afraid what we do not know, and Brian will be

:00:47. > :00:51.disappointed, I don't know who that will benefit either. What I can tell

:00:52. > :00:57.you is that all of the ballot boxes have arrived in Glasgow. They are

:00:58. > :01:03.now here at the count centre. That is as far as we have got. I do have

:01:04. > :01:07.two say an apology to badminton fans who have been tweeting me. Colin

:01:08. > :01:12.Campbell, I am sorry I did not mention the badminton. It was

:01:13. > :01:20.fantastic here during the Commonwealth Games. There you go!

:01:21. > :01:25.Thank you very much. We have got two new guests. Henry McLeish, former

:01:26. > :01:35.Labour First Minister, and Leslie Riddoch, a campaigner for a Yes

:01:36. > :01:38.vote. If we are getting really high turnout in areas where people

:01:39. > :01:45.traditionally don't bother voting, is that good for your side of the

:01:46. > :01:51.argument? I would think it was. The Radical Independence Campaign did a

:01:52. > :01:57.lot of campaigning. We are finding a 60%-40% towards Yes. I did a meeting

:01:58. > :02:03.in Castlemilk. The feeling they're very much was that people are much

:02:04. > :02:08.more stimulated by the idea of equality, social justice, trying to

:02:09. > :02:11.move Scotland on in a way. You may argue they have got less to lose

:02:12. > :02:15.from the current setup. They have got more hope that change may

:02:16. > :02:21.something that might mean something tangible. Some of these meetings

:02:22. > :02:25.were extraordinary. I was at a Women for Independence meeting and it was

:02:26. > :02:29.held just around the time mothers were picking their children up for

:02:30. > :02:35.as -- from school. I have never been at a meeting like it. People are

:02:36. > :02:39.constantly coming in, leaving. It was people having Coffey, sitting

:02:40. > :02:44.around tables. People going in shifts, coming in shifts. It has not

:02:45. > :02:49.been like a conventional campaign. I do not know if Henry has found that.

:02:50. > :02:55.It has been a real celebration of democracy. I am on a train speaking

:02:56. > :02:59.to one person and there is a seminar happening. It has been amazing. The

:03:00. > :03:03.great benefit of that is that Scottish people have engaged in a

:03:04. > :03:07.way that No other part of the United Kingdom has engaged in previous

:03:08. > :03:13.election activity. We must be proud of that. I am interested in the fact

:03:14. > :03:21.that the last Holyrood election 50% voted. The last general election,

:03:22. > :03:26.60%. If we are talking about figures of 70, maybe even 80, that really is

:03:27. > :03:30.quite remarkable and can change the complexion of the outcome. The

:03:31. > :03:36.impression I get is that a lot of people who have never voted before,

:03:37. > :03:42.never even considered voting before, are in the ballot, using the ballot

:03:43. > :03:48.boxes this morning. It will be a tight result. The people Leslie is

:03:49. > :03:51.talking about interested in equality and social justice, aren't they the

:03:52. > :03:58.sort of people Labour should be looking after? Very much so. That is

:03:59. > :04:03.part of the issue in Scotland. Allegiances with traditional parties

:04:04. > :04:07.are breaking down. As a consequence of voting patterns may change. We

:04:08. > :04:14.will talk more as the night develops. Let's get more on turnout

:04:15. > :04:20.from Edinburgh. Laura Bicker. I can tell you that I have been told

:04:21. > :04:27.here that 90% of all postal votes were returned in Edinburgh. That is

:04:28. > :04:34.90%. They are expecting a very high turnout across the city. They say

:04:35. > :04:37.the queues and the number of people going through polling stations have

:04:38. > :04:44.been so high, they are expecting a very high turnout. That is quite

:04:45. > :04:54.interesting in Edinburgh. This is an area which perhaps leans more likely

:04:55. > :04:59.to wards No. -- towards. We are being told at the moment, very high

:05:00. > :05:04.turnout expected. We will hopefully get the figure for the whole turnout

:05:05. > :05:09.of around 1am. It is quite a key figure. From there we will be able

:05:10. > :05:15.to work at the halfway point. So that we can find out the magic

:05:16. > :05:19.number that each side has to reach. Yes, the winning line for either

:05:20. > :05:26.side to get across. We will be talking a lot more about that as the

:05:27. > :05:30.night develops. Professor Charlie Jeffrey, I wanted to ask you about

:05:31. > :05:36.turnout and why you think it is so high for an issue like this, a

:05:37. > :05:42.referendum on what country you want to be in, compared to a general

:05:43. > :05:47.election? You gave the answering your question. This choice is much

:05:48. > :05:52.more fundamental than that we have every four or five years in an

:05:53. > :06:00.election. It is about the country we all live in. It is a decision from

:06:01. > :06:04.both sides, negatively from the Better Together campaign, more

:06:05. > :06:09.positively from Yes Scotland. It is irreversible. You cannot reverse it

:06:10. > :06:12.for a very long time. That is an extra ordinary issue on which voters

:06:13. > :06:18.have had to make up their minds. I think the turnout is -- the turnout

:06:19. > :06:20.says they have risen to the challenge. We have heard about a

:06:21. > :06:23.celebration of democracy. A victory for democracy. A carnival of

:06:24. > :06:38.democracy. So all of those that have been

:06:39. > :06:43.persuaded to get involved and get registered and turnout, who perhaps

:06:44. > :06:50.don't normally do that, will they be left disappointed whether it is a

:06:51. > :06:54.Yes vote or No vote, change is unlikely to happen quickly. People

:06:55. > :07:01.know that things won't happen overnight, they are not daft. If the

:07:02. > :07:04.Scots have managed generally to face down the most extraordinary set of

:07:05. > :07:10.threats that have been delivered by the government to a set of people in

:07:11. > :07:13.my lifetime for sure, and have discovered that despite all of that

:07:14. > :07:18.that they have enough backbone Demerai Gray lies that there are

:07:19. > :07:24.bigger fish to fry and another side to every argument, that is quite an

:07:25. > :07:30.extraordinary and heady thing to know about your selves. There will

:07:31. > :07:35.be quickly moves to heat up negotiating tables, and we need to

:07:36. > :07:40.reassure the rest of the UK that if there is a Yes vote, Scotland will

:07:41. > :07:44.be a good neighbour and friend, and I would like to see a demonstration

:07:45. > :07:50.of that. Not like the love bomb in reverse, but something tangible.

:07:51. > :07:57.Mobilising is now very EEC for the Yes vote, because we've been doing

:07:58. > :08:05.it for months. -- very easy. Will there disappointment? I think what

:08:06. > :08:12.we have to take out of this is, if there is as I think, a narrow No

:08:13. > :08:19.vote, it means just less than half what to exit, and just more than

:08:20. > :08:22.half want to remain. I think people should take great comfort from

:08:23. > :08:27.that. There will be disappointment, but it is up to politicians and the

:08:28. > :08:31.civic community to show by example some leadership, that can take this

:08:32. > :08:35.forward. Thank you both. We don't know how it is going to end up, we

:08:36. > :08:39.don't even have our first result yet. But things are moving along

:08:40. > :08:45.nicely in Clackmannanshire. Jamie is there.

:08:46. > :08:50.Things certainly are moving along well here. The count has now moved

:08:51. > :09:01.on to what has described as stage two. That means the yes and no votes

:09:02. > :09:03.are now being separated out. This is the smallest council area on the

:09:04. > :09:16.mainland, an electric of just under 40,000 people -- and electorate of

:09:17. > :09:24.just under 40,000. The boxes were here pretty much about 20 past ten.

:09:25. > :09:32.As for the way it is heading here, hardest day -- hard to say at this

:09:33. > :09:36.stage. I have spoken to some people in the Yes campaign who believe

:09:37. > :09:40.Clackmannanshire may be the most likely place in Scotland to go for

:09:41. > :09:45.Yes based on local demographics, but there has been no local opinion poll

:09:46. > :09:49.so it is hard to stand that up at the moment. It is more of a gut

:09:50. > :09:54.feeling among some of the activists here. Certainly it is a result that

:09:55. > :10:00.will be watched nationally. We are expecting it, good progress being

:10:01. > :10:04.made, it is possible it could be the first in Scotland to declare,

:10:05. > :10:10.although people here insist they are not in a race. We are maybe

:10:11. > :10:20.expecting that results between two and three o'clock. Let's hear more

:10:21. > :10:26.from Brian now and how the opinion polls have been narrowing. Thank

:10:27. > :10:30.you. All politicians everywhere reminders that the only poll that

:10:31. > :10:35.counts is on the day of voting itself. But we always scrutinised

:10:36. > :10:38.the polls very carefully. They have suggested that support has been

:10:39. > :10:48.pretty static for independence up until recently. When the SNP won the

:10:49. > :10:56.overall majority in Holyrood in May 2011, at that point in this poll

:10:57. > :11:02.here, a YouGov poll, and we will use them significantly without this just

:11:03. > :11:18.keeps on record going, they put yes at 29% and Noh at 58. By the time we

:11:19. > :11:28.come to January this year, yes was at 24%, and No at 54. Once the

:11:29. > :11:40.campaign got under way in earnest, the YouGov poll again, No at 55, Yes

:11:41. > :11:47.at 35. August the 15th, the gap is still narrowing. Look at those lines

:11:48. > :12:01.coming together. The very start of this month, this epic month in which

:12:02. > :12:09.we have decided our future, No at 48, Yes at 42. Skip forward to the

:12:10. > :12:23.5th of September, Yes appeared to be in front. And the Don't knows were

:12:24. > :12:30.down to 5%. If they get that narrow majority tonight, they win. Today's

:12:31. > :12:49.papers, after a really big push by the No campaign, they put No ahead

:12:50. > :12:52.on 52, with Yes 148. -- on 48. I don't often borrow words from the

:12:53. > :12:56.politicians, but I will borrow a phrase on this occasion. The poll

:12:57. > :13:02.that counts is the one that took place today.

:13:03. > :13:05.Thank you, Brian. We have two new panellists, Douglas Alexander,

:13:06. > :13:09.Shadow Cabinet minister, Shadow Foreign Secretary for Labour, and

:13:10. > :13:15.Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Minister in the Scottish Government for the

:13:16. > :13:22.SNP. What is your sense of how the night is shaping up? I can't even

:13:23. > :13:25.remember if it is good night for good morning joining the panel. I

:13:26. > :13:30.think it will be a long night, and I think all of us need to feel

:13:31. > :13:38.extraordinary pride in this. It is the story of the early part of the

:13:39. > :13:43.evening. For the moment, I think we should all feel both extraordinary

:13:44. > :13:51.pride and a certain humility when it comes to turn out of this scale.

:13:52. > :13:55.Predictions at this stage in the evening need to be taken with a

:13:56. > :13:59.barrel of salt, not just a pinch. Alistair Darling is saying he is

:14:00. > :14:07.increasingly confident that No will finish on top. The people of

:14:08. > :14:11.Scotland have been on a journey, and it is so energising. People have

:14:12. > :14:17.voted for the first time who have never voted before, people in their

:14:18. > :14:27.50s and 60s, and the turnout will be I think quite staggering, something

:14:28. > :14:32.we have never seen before. In terms of what that means, politics has

:14:33. > :14:36.changed. How you do your politics has changed as a result of what is

:14:37. > :14:44.been happening. And I think the mood is very positive. I have had a great

:14:45. > :14:48.day out in West Lothian. The level of the discussion, debate, has gone

:14:49. > :14:57.right to the edge of the poll itself. It is a great atmosphere out

:14:58. > :15:00.there on the streets. I had the privilege of taking my 17-year-old

:15:01. > :15:05.son to vote, he was making history twice. Not only was he part of a

:15:06. > :15:09.national vote, he was making a decision about the future of his

:15:10. > :15:14.country. It was an exciting day, and a great opportunity, and I think the

:15:15. > :15:22.enthusiasm of that will not be swayed by any result, Yes or No. Has

:15:23. > :15:31.this brought back class politics? Certainly politics has changed. The

:15:32. > :15:36.tradition of the public meeting. It is burst back to life, but that has

:15:37. > :15:40.also been matter should buy social media, so the way people do politics

:15:41. > :15:45.has shifted and changed. Class politics, I'm not so sure. Many of

:15:46. > :15:48.us on the left have argued for many years that class politics is still

:15:49. > :15:54.an important way to understand issues like inequality issues and

:15:55. > :16:04.social justice. That is not new in the lexicon of Scottish politics. We

:16:05. > :16:07.are not in a situation where politicians are immediately held to

:16:08. > :16:10.account for the undertakings they make about social justice or in

:16:11. > :16:15.thing else, but it is different in a referendum, it is a one-off deal.

:16:16. > :16:17.And we will know tomorrow whether Scotland is in the United Kingdom

:16:18. > :16:23.for the future or whether it is leaving. I think understanding the

:16:24. > :16:25.character of that binary question has been a key to the campaign.

:16:26. > :16:40.Let's go back live to Edinburgh. I can tell you that so far all 383

:16:41. > :16:46.ballot boxes are now either here at the counting centre or on their way.

:16:47. > :16:54.So things are certainly getting well under way. With me is Alison

:16:55. > :17:01.Carmichael. -- Alistair Carmichael. How do you think it is going? It is

:17:02. > :17:08.far too early to know. We have the count going on behind us. You might

:17:09. > :17:15.get a bit of information here or there, but it is very early doors

:17:16. > :17:18.yet. The one story we get from across Scotland which is consistent

:17:19. > :17:26.is that the turnout seems to be very high. If you are a Democrat, you

:17:27. > :17:36.can't see a negative in that. What Mac it is pretty close. I you happy

:17:37. > :17:41.with that fact? If you go back over the coverage of

:17:42. > :17:47.this two-year campaign, you will see that I always said it was likely to

:17:48. > :17:52.be close. Frankly, all that is just so much speculation. I know we have

:17:53. > :17:56.a time to fill between now and when the results proper start to come in,

:17:57. > :18:04.but the opinion polls whenever a prediction. Opinion polls that

:18:05. > :18:09.narrow quickly can widen just as quickly as well. We will just have

:18:10. > :18:14.to wait and see. Every single opinion poll could be wrong, and the

:18:15. > :18:21.only one matters is the one that will be announced from the platform

:18:22. > :18:27.here at five or six in the morning. Nervous? Excited? All of these

:18:28. > :18:35.things. This has been a long, gruelling campaign. Referendums by

:18:36. > :18:41.their nature devised the population and count them. It is not always

:18:42. > :18:46.been a great experience. There have been some quite poisonous moments in

:18:47. > :18:52.this campaign. You think of the experience of JK Rowling when she

:18:53. > :18:59.came out. You saw a disgraceful attempt at the weekend to intimidate

:19:00. > :19:02.the BBC... I have to say for the record, as a referendum

:19:03. > :19:10.correspondent, I have never been intimidated at any point. I am sure

:19:11. > :19:13.that you wouldn't be, and that is because you are a proud independent

:19:14. > :19:17.public service broadcaster, as are your colleagues. It doesn't alter

:19:18. > :19:26.the fact that the purpose of that demonstration was to intimidate you,

:19:27. > :19:32.and whether it succeeded or not... Let's move forwards. You have said

:19:33. > :19:37.that Scotland should change, that more powers should come to Scotland

:19:38. > :19:46.if there is a No vote. How do we take that forward? I have always

:19:47. > :19:51.said that once we settled the question, then yes, the completion

:19:52. > :19:58.of the job of devolution, getting the Scottish Parliament the powers

:19:59. > :20:06.that it needs, needs to be done, and it needs more than parties. You need

:20:07. > :20:09.to have the professional bodies, churches, local authorities, trade

:20:10. > :20:15.unions, everybody around the table at that point. That is how you build

:20:16. > :20:21.a consensus. What we have had to night is an important political

:20:22. > :20:22.debate, but it is not altered consensus in Scotland. Alistair

:20:23. > :20:28.Carmichael, thank you for joining me. You are going to come back

:20:29. > :20:31.perhaps for the Orkney result? You may well see me around about that

:20:32. > :20:35.time. I can tell you that certainly the

:20:36. > :20:42.indications we are getting here as I mentioned earlier, turnout is very

:20:43. > :20:43.high, and postal votes were 90% returned, so a lot of votes to

:20:44. > :20:54.count. There is the Justice Secretary,

:20:55. > :21:00.Kenny MacAskill, watching the count as it develops. There are people

:21:01. > :21:05.from both sides of the argument in both campaigns watching very closely

:21:06. > :21:09.to try to build a picture of how the vote is shaping up, and also to make

:21:10. > :21:13.sure the vote is being carried out in a proper way. If they see

:21:14. > :21:18.anything they think is not quite right, they are able to take that up

:21:19. > :21:23.with the counting officer and the staff of the counting officers

:21:24. > :21:28.across Scotland. We are out and about with both campaigns tonight.

:21:29. > :21:35.Ken McDonald is with Yes Scotland at their event in Glasgow. Eleanor

:21:36. > :21:39.Bradford is with the Better Together campaign, also in Glasgow. What is

:21:40. > :21:50.the atmosphere with you, Ken McDonald? I must explain where we

:21:51. > :22:06.are. This is not an official end of campaign party. Thousands of events

:22:07. > :22:13.are taking place in front rooms etc. I have got a microphone! I am ready

:22:14. > :22:22.for everything. As I was saying, there is No central party. There are

:22:23. > :22:42.hundreds of grassroots groups across the country. It is reasonable to say

:22:43. > :22:54.although this is not strictly speaking a Yes party...

:22:55. > :23:00.We are struggling to hear Ken at his count in Glasgow. We have got him at

:23:01. > :23:07.the Yes Scotland event. Eleanor Bradford is at the Better Together

:23:08. > :23:13.campaign party. It is just warming up here. There was nobody here about

:23:14. > :23:23.an hour and a half ago. Better Together have 35,000 workers across

:23:24. > :23:28.the country. You may be able to see drinks on the table. We are in for a

:23:29. > :23:37.long night. They have handed out 1.5 million leaflets, all made 1.2

:23:38. > :23:42.million phone calls. 1.5 doors were not done. 8 million leaflets,

:23:43. > :23:46.actually, they handed out. Is it enough? Have they done enough? They

:23:47. > :23:54.started out so well in the polls and gradually saw that lead ebb away.

:23:55. > :23:58.They are quietly confident here that a silent majority have come out to

:23:59. > :24:05.vote today and they will get the result they are looking for. Quiet

:24:06. > :24:11.confidence in the hall. 150 media have been accredited to be here

:24:12. > :24:16.tonight alone. Media from all over the world. The eyes of the world

:24:17. > :24:19.around Scotland. Our eyes will be on the faces here tonight to see how

:24:20. > :24:25.they change as the night progresses. Thank you very much.

:24:26. > :24:30.Let's go to the north and the south of the country now. Life to Lerwick

:24:31. > :24:34.where the Liberal Democrat MSP tablet Scott is standing by, and

:24:35. > :24:42.David Mundell, Conservative MP, in Dumfries. We expecting some news in

:24:43. > :24:50.terms of the result where you are, David Mundell? I think it will be a

:24:51. > :24:55.while yet because the boxes from Stranraer do not get in here until

:24:56. > :25:00.about one o'clock. I think we will be looking at three o'clock at the

:25:01. > :25:04.earliest for a result. And down in the south-west corner of Scotland,

:25:05. > :25:14.are people more likely to vote your way and vote No, or is there are

:25:15. > :25:18.strong support for Yes? I think everybody recognises if there is a

:25:19. > :25:22.Yes vote in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland will be independent. I am

:25:23. > :25:28.expecting a No vote. The initial signs are encouraging. We have got

:25:29. > :25:34.such a high turnout. So many people who do not normally vote. It is very

:25:35. > :25:39.difficult to make a prediction. Particularly as we do not have the

:25:40. > :25:43.boxes in from Stranraer and the western part of the area. It is a

:25:44. > :25:52.huge turnout, particularly in some of the rural areas where at least in

:25:53. > :25:59.one box, 100% of the people have voted. The Northern Isles have been

:26:00. > :26:04.sceptical of change over the years. What is your sense of what they

:26:05. > :26:07.think about independence? They have been sceptical about constitutional

:26:08. > :26:12.change. It needs to be constitutional change on our terms,

:26:13. > :26:20.not in terms as imposed on the island. I think that is why there is

:26:21. > :26:22.a sceptical nature to the independence proposition. I think it

:26:23. > :26:29.is why Shetland will not accept independence. I take David's point

:26:30. > :26:32.that the sheer weight of the vote is at a scale that none of us who have

:26:33. > :26:36.stood in elections over a number of years have ever seen before. That is

:26:37. > :26:43.a good sign. We are in uncharted waters. Shetland, Orkney, the

:26:44. > :26:47.Western Isles have played their own hand during this constitutional

:26:48. > :26:54.discussion. It seems whatever way the vote goes, more power is coming

:26:55. > :26:59.to these groups of islands? We have discovered over the years that

:27:00. > :27:03.unless we make our case both to London and to Edinburgh, then nobody

:27:04. > :27:09.pays any attention, No government of any political persuasion. We have

:27:10. > :27:12.certainly grasped the attention of the UK Government and the Scottish

:27:13. > :27:18.Government. That is a good thing. What we have got to do, whatever the

:27:19. > :27:20.outcome tonight, is to make sure that we maintain that pays for

:27:21. > :27:25.change and we look hard at what we want, the options we want out of

:27:26. > :27:29.this period that we are going through. That'll be the agenda that

:27:30. > :27:34.I am the council here in Shetland and many others will want to pursue

:27:35. > :27:39.over the weekend and into the coming weeks and months. Those who talked

:27:40. > :27:44.about independence for Shetland if there is a Yes vote, was that a

:27:45. > :27:52.block? I don't know what independence means. I don't know it

:27:53. > :27:57.is right for Shetland. What are think we are interested in here are

:27:58. > :28:03.aspects of how the Isle of Man run themselves, of how the Faroe Islands

:28:04. > :28:06.from themselves. And more generally, how powers that we could deliver it

:28:07. > :28:10.here very sensibly on behalf of our own people, our own citizens, it

:28:11. > :28:14.could be done more efficiently in the islands. That is an agenda we

:28:15. > :28:15.will continue to pursue in Edinburgh and in London.

:28:16. > :28:28.And giggle. -- thank you both. The night is young. We have got a

:28:29. > :28:34.few hours ahead of us all before we get that all-important result. So

:28:35. > :28:43.much happening across the country. Frenetic activity across all 32

:28:44. > :28:48.cans. A record turnout feeding the huge count. Just an hour after

:28:49. > :28:53.polling closed, all 75 boxes from 30 at polling places had arrived at

:28:54. > :28:58.Inverclyde. All ballot boxes were received at East Lothian by 11

:28:59. > :29:03.o'clock. And in Glasgow, all 483 ballot boxes are now being counted.

:29:04. > :29:07.In the Western Isles, the island hopping continues. A few problems

:29:08. > :29:11.due to the weather. The plane landed a short while ago and is expected in

:29:12. > :29:17.Stornoway just after midnight. Hopefully there will not be a delay.

:29:18. > :29:20.Speaking earlier on this programme, Labour's Jim Murphy said whatever

:29:21. > :29:26.the outcome, there will be change. If it is a Yes vote, there will be

:29:27. > :29:30.dramatic and I would argue disruptive change, but that is an

:29:31. > :29:34.argument for another day. If there is a No vote, there will be

:29:35. > :29:37.substantial change as well. We will have to get used to having much more

:29:38. > :29:42.power and more decisions made in Scotland.

:29:43. > :29:47.On social media, frenetic. There have been almost 150,000 tweets

:29:48. > :29:52.about the referendum posted between ten o'clock and 11 o'clock tonight.

:29:53. > :29:57.Something that has just come through to us. The daily record political

:29:58. > :30:02.editor has reported the Queen is due to make a statement tomorrow morning

:30:03. > :30:06.regardless of the outcome. We will try to get that confirmed. The BBC

:30:07. > :30:10.political editor, Nick Robinson, has been keeping an eye on the currency

:30:11. > :30:21.exchange. The markets are betting on No. The pound has risen against the

:30:22. > :30:34.dollar. Our reporters in Inverclyde. The turnout in Greenock is about

:30:35. > :30:38.95%. We are monitoring social media. Incidentally, not everybody is glued

:30:39. > :30:43.to these results. We are being told there is a queue forming in Glasgow

:30:44. > :30:47.tonight outside the city's Apple Store. They just want to get a new

:30:48. > :30:51.phone. I can understand that! Lets talk

:30:52. > :30:55.more with our panel. Perhaps reflect a little bit on the campaign that we

:30:56. > :31:02.have all experienced over a very long period of time. Fiona Hyslop,

:31:03. > :31:10.highs and lows? It has been a very positive campaign. One of the most

:31:11. > :31:15.exciting things for the Yes movement were the different groups and

:31:16. > :31:18.organisations involved. Women for Independence, for example. And I

:31:19. > :31:21.think the grassroots and the sheer numbers of people involved made sure

:31:22. > :31:26.there was an energy about it that nature it was not just about

:31:27. > :31:33.parties. Have there been moments that you would pick out as standout

:31:34. > :31:42.moments? Good or about? From a good point of view, I think having George

:31:43. > :31:47.Osborne coming and telling us what to do backfired quite badly for the

:31:48. > :31:50.No campaign. On the Yes side, I think it was a gradual movement. I

:31:51. > :31:57.think in terms of the momentum that came. By clearly from me, I knew

:31:58. > :32:02.things were moving a week before the second debate between Alistair

:32:03. > :32:08.Darling and Alex Salmond. Things started to shift. You got a sense

:32:09. > :32:16.that more people were becoming engaged and the more we were moving

:32:17. > :32:20.to Yes. There is Cathy Jamieson, the Labour MP, at the count in East

:32:21. > :32:27.Ayrshire. Votes being rapidly counted there, it seems. Lots of

:32:28. > :32:31.people scrutinising the vote and trying to build up as much

:32:32. > :32:37.intelligence as they possibly can with this high turnout. Douglas

:32:38. > :32:42.Alexander, let me pick up on the currency intervention with you.

:32:43. > :32:44.George Osborne saying on behalf of the Government and on behalf of

:32:45. > :32:50.Labour that they would not be a currency union. Did that backfire or

:32:51. > :32:54.was an effective intervention? If you look back over the history of

:32:55. > :32:59.this campaign, what we saw last week, an avalanche of facts

:33:00. > :33:03.engulfing the assertions of the Yes campaign, will have been hugely

:33:04. > :33:07.significant. I frankly doubt that without the clarity brought to the

:33:08. > :33:11.debate about the currency, that we may have seen so many different

:33:12. > :33:16.organisations, some different companies... It is not an incidental

:33:17. > :33:20.issue if you are a Scottish bank, what currency you use. In that sense

:33:21. > :33:24.I think one of the interesting features of this campaign is the

:33:25. > :33:28.range of voices we have heard on both sides of the argument. I

:33:29. > :33:30.probably agree with the honour that one of the most exciting aspect of

:33:31. > :33:35.this campaign has been the capacity of people to come together a party

:33:36. > :33:42.and beyond party. I have spoken in public meetings. There has been an

:33:43. > :33:46.extraordinary level of civic engagement. The idea that you can

:33:47. > :33:51.transcend party politics and do what is best for your nation is very

:33:52. > :33:55.powerful. Hasn't that been a problem for you as a Labour politician,

:33:56. > :34:02.months away from a general election, being seen to be in bed

:34:03. > :34:04.with the Tories? The Communist Party is in bed with the Scottish National

:34:05. > :34:14.Party but nobody thinks the Scottish National Party is a Communist Party.

:34:15. > :34:16.Most people are grown-up enough to realise that you can agree on a

:34:17. > :34:22.particular policy without agreeing on a shared vision for the

:34:23. > :34:26.country's future. The Yes side of the argument, half of them were

:34:27. > :34:29.saying we would be in north Atlantic Singapore, the other were saying we

:34:30. > :34:34.would be a cold water cube. You cannot be both. When you come to a

:34:35. > :34:39.binary issue like a referendum, different sides of the argument will

:34:40. > :34:46.bring together past adversary -- adversaries in politics. Fair

:34:47. > :34:50.comment? No! In a democracy you can have people having different visions

:34:51. > :34:57.of the future and that they can put that to the electorate. There could

:34:58. > :35:00.be a different trajectory, which I think it's what a lot of people on

:35:01. > :35:04.the yes side have been moving towards. They want a trajectory away

:35:05. > :35:16.from what they see in Westminster. You are looking puzzled... Brian

:35:17. > :35:21.Souter seems quite happy. The last opinion polls found that 60% of

:35:22. > :35:25.people found the No campaign negative and 60% of people found the

:35:26. > :35:35.Yes campaign positive. If there is a Yes victory tonight, that is why.

:35:36. > :35:46.Let me make this point... Fair is fair, come on. One of the reasons

:35:47. > :35:49.the Yes campaign have been seen as positive, the leader understood the

:35:50. > :35:54.nature of a referendum, you need to be lucky once, in a single day. In a

:35:55. > :35:58.Parliamentary 's system, if you make pledges and policies, they throw you

:35:59. > :36:02.out. This is to the credit of the yes side, they thought they would

:36:03. > :36:09.deploy any argument, whatever they can, to any constituency in Scotland

:36:10. > :36:15.so they can get the vote on one day in September, September 18. That is

:36:16. > :36:20.insulting to the campaign. You have been a critic on both sides, you

:36:21. > :36:25.were voting no, is that what you went with? Yes, I bare my sword in

:36:26. > :36:30.front of the nation, a reluctant no, but it was a no. And the reason, you

:36:31. > :36:35.have asked about the highlights and the low point, let me make a couple

:36:36. > :36:40.of points about the No campaign: As someone who has been in the party

:36:41. > :36:53.for 40 years, who has been there a long time, I was intensely and wrote

:36:54. > :37:00.in the Europe and NATO. -- I was intensely annoyed by the fear and

:37:01. > :37:05.the scare that was used, I was interested in what they had the

:37:06. > :37:09.Europe currency and NATO. But for the No campaign, that constant

:37:10. > :37:14.holiday-making surge up to Scotland did not pay off. The second point,

:37:15. > :37:18.which I think is important, relative to what might be the final result,

:37:19. > :37:25.the intervention of Gordon Brown. In a sense, he gave the Better Together

:37:26. > :37:30.campaign some cohesion by having a timeline and some issues of policy.

:37:31. > :37:37.Secondly, he... You have got to say that because you are from Fife! But

:37:38. > :37:41.getting back to Gordon Brown... LAUGHTER

:37:42. > :37:44.He galvanised the Labour vote, talking about social justice,

:37:45. > :37:49.quoting Douglas, talking about gravity and ethics in politics,

:37:50. > :37:53.Gordon Brown can do that. He rescued them. In my judgement, he rescued

:37:54. > :37:56.the Labour Party and the Better Together campaign. You would accept

:37:57. > :38:02.that Gordon Brown remains a formidable figure in Scottish

:38:03. > :38:06.politics. Am prompted, people said to me, they could not understand why

:38:07. > :38:12.two days before the poll, there were new promises. Why had that not

:38:13. > :38:16.happened two years before? People thought that they had taken it for

:38:17. > :38:21.granted, no matter how passionate people are, you cannot deny that.

:38:22. > :38:24.People found the timing very odd. Perhaps it was a panic measure,

:38:25. > :38:32.quite clearly, at the end. It worked. Yes, and the reaction I got

:38:33. > :38:37.from people, we do not trust this because it is Westminster style

:38:38. > :38:41.politics, they have bypassed people. People are no longer... Gordon Brown

:38:42. > :38:49.is not seen as Westminster, he is seen as Fife. You would have to ask

:38:50. > :38:52.other people... He lives there. In terms of Westminster style politics,

:38:53. > :38:58.the three leaders and a former Prime Minister, coming together... Telling

:38:59. > :39:04.the people, "what we will do on high"... Last-minute... These were

:39:05. > :39:10.proposals built in Fife, the last time I checked, old and lives in

:39:11. > :39:13.Fife! People are wiser than that, Westminster politician, I disagree.

:39:14. > :39:17.There is a genuine discussion to be had, people will have it over the

:39:18. > :39:21.months and years ahead, should proposals have been put forward at

:39:22. > :39:26.an earlier stage? I strongly argue within Labour that we should set out

:39:27. > :39:28.old and ambitious proposals, I find that spattered across newspapers

:39:29. > :39:31.making the case, head of the conference in March. What we have

:39:32. > :39:38.witnessed in recent weeks in Scotland, I am not sure would have

:39:39. > :39:43.been channelled or captured by an earlier coherent proposal by the

:39:44. > :39:48.three parties. In that sense... In that sense... Let me finish this

:39:49. > :39:51.point, for Fiona to characterise the move is being panic, that says more

:39:52. > :39:56.about their concern that it has proved effective at the point of

:39:57. > :40:02.decision, to be able to say: Here is the safer, better change. This is

:40:03. > :40:06.the timeline. This is outrageous... ! What has happened, postal votes

:40:07. > :40:12.have been cast... You have all had a wee bit to save. Votes were cast

:40:13. > :40:16.without that intervention. There has been no costing on what it would

:40:17. > :40:21.mean to have that come into effect, when there has been the rinse it

:40:22. > :40:27.examination of what they guess would mean, since they published their

:40:28. > :40:31.manifesto. There has been a lot of critique of what the Yes campaign 's

:40:32. > :40:35.have come up with. You have wandered in at the last minute with no

:40:36. > :40:39.particular detail, are we going to get housing benefit? How would that

:40:40. > :40:42.be extracted from universal credit? There is all kinds of specific

:40:43. > :40:50.questions that your guys have never even been in a public forum to ask.

:40:51. > :41:01.It is important to put the new powers before the electors. It is

:41:02. > :41:05.not going to be easy. We have three commissions. Gordon Brown has said,

:41:06. > :41:08.I'm fed up with what is happening, let's go ahead. To be fair to him,

:41:09. > :41:14.he took it by the scruff of the neck. This is not federalism, it is

:41:15. > :41:19.not home rule, it is not devo max, there are more powers. If we are

:41:20. > :41:22.honest, that is where we are. A couple of quick questions, are you

:41:23. > :41:26.saying the three party should have had a joint proposal at an earlier

:41:27. > :41:31.stage? We have got to the right place, we will have a draft bill by

:41:32. > :41:35.January, 2015. Would it have been better if voters knew what they were

:41:36. > :41:40.getting? They know what they are getting already on the basis of the

:41:41. > :41:46.three proposals. You are addicted to your view of your campaign, let me

:41:47. > :41:52.offer my view. If I'm honest, I am trying to recognise the fact that

:41:53. > :41:56.there was such churning sentiment, emotion, questions in people 's

:41:57. > :41:59.minds... I'm not sure that even if Henry's proposals in terms of

:42:00. > :42:02.whether he would like to characterise it as federalism or

:42:03. > :42:06.devo max, if they had been announced by any party is at an earlier stage,

:42:07. > :42:10.whether that would have itself stopped the tightening in the polls.

:42:11. > :42:13.That is hypocrisy, in terms of the Yes campaign, you have said it was

:42:14. > :42:19.for one moment, missed this and that. Thus is -- that is what you

:42:20. > :42:24.have just done in the last few days. Not talking about job creation, not

:42:25. > :42:30.talking about corporation tax, economic parity. It is just the same

:42:31. > :42:32.powers. -- economic powers. We will talk more about this... I am in no

:42:33. > :43:07.doubt, through the wee small hours! the people of Aberdeen. We still

:43:08. > :43:12.have ballot boxes coming in. I have spoken with both sides. The No

:43:13. > :43:16.campaign are saying they would be surprised if Aberdeen went yes. A

:43:17. > :43:21.Yes campaign is telling me that they are very happy they have their vote

:43:22. > :43:28.out. What we do agree on both sides is that turnout had been very high.

:43:29. > :43:32.We heard in Glasgow that one vote was particularly high compared to

:43:33. > :43:36.previous elections. And anecdotally, I have heard that Northfield in

:43:37. > :43:40.Aberdeen, which sometimes makes just the high 20s, 27 was one of the most

:43:41. > :43:47.recent ones, it is possibly up at 80%. That is very high. We are told

:43:48. > :43:54.that the declaration here in Aberdeen may not be until 6am. I

:43:55. > :43:58.hear that the weather is improving in other parts, in the Western

:43:59. > :44:02.Isles, Aberdeen may be the last to declare. It will be difficult to

:44:03. > :44:06.call, that is partly because of the very mixed political map here. The

:44:07. > :44:12.Scottish parliament seats are held by the SNP. Westminster has two

:44:13. > :44:18.Labour MPs. Aberdeen also has pot of gold. That is the Liberal Democrat

:44:19. > :44:23.MP, Sir Malcolm. Gordon, Scottish parliament, held by First Minister,

:44:24. > :44:28.Alex Salmond! We are looking at a declaration around 6am. Should get

:44:29. > :44:33.turnout in about 45 minutes. We will let you know about that. One final

:44:34. > :44:36.thing: I noticed my league Ken McDonald appears to be wearing the

:44:37. > :44:38.same shirt as me, perhaps we should have checked before we went out this

:44:39. > :44:52.morning! Your party shirt? LAUGHTER Turnout of 89%, Clackmannanshire.

:44:53. > :44:56.Very high turnout. The First Minister has said on Twitter:

:44:57. > :45:02."Remarkable day, Scotland's future truly is in the hands of Scotland".

:45:03. > :45:07.It may be that he may turn up at the Aberdeenshire count, that is his

:45:08. > :45:13.constituency local counting area. Stephen, any sign of him so far?

:45:14. > :45:18.Just a wee bit of low-grade intelligence, it has to be said, on

:45:19. > :45:22.Alex Salmond's movements. There was meant to be a marquee event in his

:45:23. > :45:27.home village, about 35 miles from here. We know that has been

:45:28. > :45:30.cancelled. We were told he would be here at the Aberdeen exhibition and

:45:31. > :45:34.conference Centre, now we think he will not. We are also hearing

:45:35. > :45:38.stories of a Learjet being flown between Aberdeen and here, take that

:45:39. > :45:43.with a pinch of salt, because things have been changing. The count in

:45:44. > :45:50.Aberdeen shire, well underway. -- Aberdeenshire. It is a sprawling

:45:51. > :45:56.area, right up to Peterhead. Everywhere in between. It really is

:45:57. > :45:59.a hot all of the parties are represented in some way. The SNP

:46:00. > :46:03.have all of the Holyrood seats, they also have the biggest group of

:46:04. > :46:07.councillors on the Aberdeenshire Council, although they are not part

:46:08. > :46:13.of administration. There has always been a feeling, a sense, that this

:46:14. > :46:17.traditionally conservative area may have some latent unionism to it. And

:46:18. > :46:23.that may come to the surface on a referendum like this and I have

:46:24. > :46:33.spoken with the deputy leader of the Lib Dem 's, Malcolm Bruce, he says

:46:34. > :46:42.he is confident. Aberdeenshire close to call. Turnout, 80%, declaration,

:46:43. > :46:47.some point after 3am. We are hearing the turnout in Dundee may be as high

:46:48. > :46:53.as 90%, and Orkney, confirming turnout of 84%, but that local

:46:54. > :46:59.authority area. Back live to Edinburgh, to the national counting

:47:00. > :47:03.centre. Our reporter, Laura, will be there with guests in just a few

:47:04. > :47:07.moments. Before we do that I'm going to share with you another Twitter

:47:08. > :47:16.post from David Miliband, the brother of the leader of the Labour

:47:17. > :47:21.Party. He has said: "Wonderful to hear of 80 and 90% turnouts in the

:47:22. > :47:29.independence referendum, the Scottish have taught us all a lesson

:47:30. > :47:32.in democracy". That seems to be something that politicians on all

:47:33. > :47:37.sides agree about. We were talking about aspects of the campaign, we

:47:38. > :47:47.ended up focused on the late pledge, the late vow, as it came to be

:47:48. > :47:53.known, for a rapid timetable moving towards further devolution for

:47:54. > :47:58.Scotland. Was that a panic measure? Very late in the day. It came after

:47:59. > :48:05.postal ballots had been cast, as Leslie had noted. That adds a free

:48:06. > :48:10.song of interest to it. I think it was driven by anxiety and by concern

:48:11. > :48:15.that the no side were losing, they felt they had to frame something. --

:48:16. > :48:18.frisson. I'm sure that Alistair Darling was very closely involved in

:48:19. > :48:23.doing it. They felt they had to frame something that would project a

:48:24. > :48:28.sense of unity and continuity to the electorate. While getting around the

:48:29. > :48:32.fact that the three parties do not agree. They have a different

:48:33. > :48:36.perspective on the issue of more powers, and getting around also, the

:48:37. > :48:39.small element, this will have to go through the House of Commons and the

:48:40. > :48:43.House of Lords, if it is to be lamented. And there are folk in the

:48:44. > :48:47.House of Commons and even more folk in the House of Lords who do not

:48:48. > :48:51.fancy it and indeed some of them are saying, up with this we will not

:48:52. > :48:55.put! The counterbalance to that: Gordon Brown drone it, it has now

:48:56. > :48:59.been endorsed by the leader of the Labour Party and the leader of the

:49:00. > :49:01.Conservatives and the leader of the Liberal Democrats. That should be

:49:02. > :49:09.enough to drive it through. That is what they say.

:49:10. > :49:19.Who have you got with you? Dennis Canavan from the yes campaign and

:49:20. > :49:24.the man from Papua New Guinea. But first of all, Dennis, I am glad you

:49:25. > :49:32.are not with Jim Murphy because I may need a cattle prod. How are you

:49:33. > :49:35.feeling? I am these to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Benny.

:49:36. > :49:41.Throughout this campaign I have always pointed out that an

:49:42. > :49:45.independent Scotland would not be cutting itself off from the rest of

:49:46. > :49:51.the world, that we would retain our international solidarity even though

:49:52. > :49:55.West patois is an independent country and hopefully Scotland will

:49:56. > :50:03.become an independent country, we are members of the human race. --

:50:04. > :50:09.Papua New Guinea. International solidarity, here we go. How

:50:10. > :50:14.confident are you of the result? I am optimistic, one of the exit polls

:50:15. > :50:22.was disappointing, but that is just one poll, albeit an exit poll. The

:50:23. > :50:30.ballot boxes that really counts... I am maintaining a degree of optimism

:50:31. > :50:40.as indeed I am sure are the Yes supporters at this stage. Once the

:50:41. > :50:45.result is declared we will know what it is and be able to celebrate or

:50:46. > :50:48.otherwise. Have you been seeing the atmosphere at the polling stations

:50:49. > :50:56.today? All around our cities people were piling in. Yes indeed, over the

:50:57. > :50:59.past few weeks, a lot of places throughout Scotland, and today I

:51:00. > :51:08.have been concentrating most of my efforts in the Falkirk area, my old

:51:09. > :51:13.stomping ground. Falkirk itself and places like Stenhousemuir. The

:51:14. > :51:17.feedback has been very positive. Sometimes campaign workers get a bit

:51:18. > :51:26.carried away, I am more of a realist. I still think it is 50-50.

:51:27. > :51:31.It is there to be won. I am hopeful that in a few hours time we will be

:51:32. > :51:39.celebrating. Let's talk to Benny, this is a wonderful headdress you

:51:40. > :51:43.have got. Why are you here? I am here, as part of the programme

:51:44. > :51:52.facilitated by the Radical Independence Campaign to witness

:51:53. > :51:57.this because I have campaigned, 60 years ago the Indonesian government

:51:58. > :52:05.colonise my people, this is part of sending a message to the government,

:52:06. > :52:09.let my people vote about whether they should separate. This is

:52:10. > :52:14.important for me to witness. How have you felt about the campaign? It

:52:15. > :52:19.is amazing. Today I have walked around all of the polling stations,

:52:20. > :52:27.there are no military personnel and no police, just people without any

:52:28. > :52:31.fear, there is no intimidation. This has educated me a lot and I hope

:52:32. > :52:35.that Indonesia will allow my people to vote fairly. That is why it has

:52:36. > :52:43.been important for me to witness this directly today. I am proud to

:52:44. > :52:48.be here and to be part of this. The whole world is watching. We have

:52:49. > :52:52.media from across the world here at Ingliston. Over 800 journalists. We

:52:53. > :52:56.will see more of them as the night progresses. We are still waiting for

:52:57. > :53:00.the last ballot box to arrive in Edinburgh and then we will have a

:53:01. > :53:09.better idea of the turnout. There is not an exit poll on the referendum,

:53:10. > :53:14.there has been one poll by YouGov which was conducted which puts the

:53:15. > :53:21.No campaign ahead. There are problems there? Yes, hello, what we

:53:22. > :53:33.are hearing is that there has been an accident on the A9 which has

:53:34. > :53:38.closed the road in both directions and what is an accident blackspot, a

:53:39. > :53:42.very sharp bend and a steep hill. The accident was reported by traffic

:53:43. > :53:45.Scotland which has closed the road in both directions and it has been

:53:46. > :53:51.confirmed by the police this evening. It will do lay the ballot

:53:52. > :53:57.boxes getting from Keith Ness down here to Dingwall by an hour and a

:53:58. > :54:04.half, and those ballot boxes were not expected in normal circumstances

:54:05. > :54:09.until 1:25am at the earliest so they will be delayed until 3am. The chief

:54:10. > :54:16.accounting officer was saying that they expected a final result between

:54:17. > :54:19.five o'clock and seven o'clock in the morning, but that could be one

:54:20. > :54:23.of the last in Scotland if not the last. I am afraid that these road

:54:24. > :54:31.problems look like making that even more likely. Thank you for the

:54:32. > :54:35.update. We were reporting delays due to the weather in the Western Isles

:54:36. > :54:40.in ballot boxes having to travel by fishing boat rather than by air.

:54:41. > :54:45.Brian has more touch-screen wizardry to remind us about those topics

:54:46. > :54:54.drawing our attention during the campaign. A whole panoply of things

:54:55. > :55:02.determining the outcome, so what could influence the vote tonight. In

:55:03. > :55:07.February we got your perspective on this and guess, we were looking at

:55:08. > :55:13.the issues underlying the referendum, guess what came out on

:55:14. > :55:18.top. Yes, it was the economy. With pensions in second and welfare in

:55:19. > :55:22.third. People also want reassurances about the pound in their pocket, and

:55:23. > :55:28.we have heard that already from the panel. And how it gets there. It

:55:29. > :55:32.came fifth in the list behind relations with the rest of the UK.

:55:33. > :55:36.That is an interesting one, one that may be worth discussing with the

:55:37. > :55:45.panel in detail, some of the issues on the currency. Will voters believe

:55:46. > :55:49.the prounion parties who say that the Stirling affidavit penance is a

:55:50. > :55:53.nonstarter or will they say that a deal on the sterling is common

:55:54. > :56:01.sense. The and the rest of the UK? Let's look at the issues. -- that

:56:02. > :56:06.the sterling after independence. The future of North Sea oil matters

:56:07. > :56:09.hugely to us all and it has been big in the referendum campaign. That

:56:10. > :56:18.Italy important in Aberdeen or Shetland. -- particularly. Banking

:56:19. > :56:22.and the financial sector is important during the campaign. It

:56:23. > :56:27.could sway voters either way in Edinburgh in particular, Scotland's

:56:28. > :56:32.financial hub. The other issue is defence. Again, either way, could it

:56:33. > :56:43.impact jobs and installations like the Clyde, and also Rosyth naval

:56:44. > :56:46.base and Moray. Thereafter competing promises on Scottish universities

:56:47. > :56:50.which could be significant in places like Dundee with a significant

:56:51. > :56:54.student population. Let's next look at the big Scottish Goodman offers,

:56:55. > :56:57.we have the white paper which was mentioned earlier. There was the

:56:58. > :57:07.offer of a transformational increase in childcare. -- big Scottish

:57:08. > :57:12.government. Maybe even going slightly further in the protections

:57:13. > :57:15.of the welfare state. An improved pensions offer, will it be relevant

:57:16. > :57:20.tonight? We had the offer of scrapping the so-called bedroom tax,

:57:21. > :57:25.hugely contentious through the whole of politics, and during this

:57:26. > :57:29.election. The promise is this: They say they want a wealthy Scotland and

:57:30. > :57:33.a fair Scotland as well. Will voters go for that or will they listen to

:57:34. > :57:39.the doubts raised by opponents who say it is not credible? Let's look

:57:40. > :57:44.to the global issues that have been coming to the fore in this campaign.

:57:45. > :57:47.Scottish ministers say that when they take the global perspective

:57:48. > :57:54.Scotland will be welcomed in the EU, and also in NATO. Will the voters

:57:55. > :57:58.accept that? Scottish ministers say that it would have a proportionate

:57:59. > :58:05.defence Force of up to 90 international offices representing

:58:06. > :58:10.Scottish interests. Will the voters accept that? There are many issues,

:58:11. > :58:14.hundreds of issues, each person deriving interest from a particular

:58:15. > :58:20.point as well. Other issues include immigration, folk coming to these

:58:21. > :58:25.shores from elsewhere. And broadcast, could we still see Doctor

:58:26. > :58:30.Who? Supporters of independence say yes but there are questions from

:58:31. > :58:36.others. And the economy is always above everything. A major issue in

:58:37. > :58:39.the campaign and no doubt we will be reflecting more on that as the night

:58:40. > :58:44.develops. Let's have a word with Charlie Jeffrey, our resident

:58:45. > :58:47.professor of politics. Charlie, we were talking a bit about the

:58:48. > :58:53.campaign and some of the issues which came up. One of the unique

:58:54. > :58:59.features of the referendum is that the franchise has been extended for

:59:00. > :59:04.the first time 216 and 17-year-olds -- to 16 and 17-year-olds in any

:59:05. > :59:09.national vote. What impact has it had? It has had a real impact. Jim

:59:10. > :59:13.Murphy was saying earlier that he thinks we should tear up the rule

:59:14. > :59:20.books for the UK election in May next year and extended to 16 and

:59:21. > :59:24.17-year-olds. It has been very successful and the commitment of new

:59:25. > :59:29.voters has been very high. Also the level of seriousness of debate. I

:59:30. > :59:33.chaired a debate at school in Edinburgh. And I it was one of the

:59:34. > :59:37.more well considered debates of the many we have heard in this

:59:38. > :59:44.referendum. The impact, it is quite interesting. Some special polling

:59:45. > :59:46.has been done on 16-17 -year-olds by my colleagues at the University of

:59:47. > :59:54.Edinburgh and they found that they are, unlike other voters, 30 or

:59:55. > :00:01.under, not more likely to vote yes but more likely than any age group

:00:02. > :00:05.except for pensioners to vote no. We do have young people on the panel

:00:06. > :00:08.and we will talk to them in a while, but let's keep going on our journey

:00:09. > :00:15.around the country as the counter develops. Never mind salt and source

:00:16. > :00:20.or salt and vinegar, the real question in West Lothian tonight is

:00:21. > :00:26.what is happening with the referendum. What can you tell us? I

:00:27. > :00:31.am told this is the line for what is salt and vinegar and salt and

:00:32. > :00:36.source, but we are here in Livingston in West Lothian, and the

:00:37. > :00:40.ballot boxes have appeared very quickly, just after 10pm, and

:00:41. > :00:46.counting got underway. The ballot papers have been verified, the first

:00:47. > :00:50.count has taken place, and now they are on to what they call the second

:00:51. > :00:55.count, so the papers are being put into three piles, the yes pile, the

:00:56. > :01:01.no pile, and also the pile which has to be checked by the accounting

:01:02. > :01:06.officer, it will go over to him for the final say as to whether they

:01:07. > :01:14.will be counted or whether they will be is regarded. -- be disregarded.

:01:15. > :01:17.Interestingly one person said there appears to be a lack of buzz

:01:18. > :01:24.tonight, there seems to be a bit of tension. Both sides are still

:01:25. > :01:27.cautiously optimistic. He said maybe there was not as much because we do

:01:28. > :01:33.not have the personalities that we may have at a Scottish election or a

:01:34. > :01:36.general election. As I said, I am in Livingston in West Lothian and the

:01:37. > :01:42.count is particularly interesting here. We have seven towns in West

:01:43. > :01:48.Lothian and 29 villages and we have Livingston new town where we are at

:01:49. > :01:53.the moment. It is very different from Lithgow, the Royal Borough of

:01:54. > :02:01.Lithgow. A very mixed area that we have here. And also politically it

:02:02. > :02:05.is very interesting. The constituency has two constituencies

:02:06. > :02:11.in Westminster. They have Labour MPs, but there are two Scottish

:02:12. > :02:21.Parliament constituencies and they have SNP MSP is, so it makes it

:02:22. > :02:24.interesting. -- MSPs. It is very close, and both are cautiously

:02:25. > :02:29.optimistic. They are both saying they are hopeful they can win. It is

:02:30. > :02:33.going to be a high turnout tonight as expected. We do not have a figure

:02:34. > :02:41.for that but we do have the turnout the postal votes. 93.9% of postal

:02:42. > :02:45.votes that were applied for have been returned, that is very high as

:02:46. > :02:49.in other parts of the country. We are waiting for the final turnout

:02:50. > :02:53.figure and as I said, both sides are cautiously optimistic at this stage

:02:54. > :03:02.and hopefully we will have a result here at around 3:30am this morning.

:03:03. > :03:06.Another three hours to go. From Livingston, let's date on the trail

:03:07. > :03:16.across the Lothians and go to the Midlothian count. I keep being

:03:17. > :03:20.passed pieces of paper all evening and the last figures have just come

:03:21. > :03:26.in. All 88 boxes for the Midlothian area were in very quickly. They were

:03:27. > :03:34.in by just around quarter past 11, this paper handed to me says that

:03:35. > :03:38.the postal votes, 93.5% of postal votes were returned in Midlothian. I

:03:39. > :03:42.really think that Midlothian is one area we need to keep a very close

:03:43. > :03:48.eye on this evening. And this is why: If you look at all of the

:03:49. > :03:52.social factors on top of those that Brian referred to earlier, how many

:03:53. > :03:59.areas there are of high deprivation and low income households, gender

:04:00. > :04:04.and ethnicity, age, wage, all of these social factors that pollsters

:04:05. > :04:06.like to use to try to predict outcomes in elections, well, when

:04:07. > :04:15.you look at Midlothian, where the figures are, they downed so long the

:04:16. > :04:20.line, the same as that for Scotland, just above and just below

:04:21. > :04:29.average. You could argue that it is a local representation of the

:04:30. > :04:33.national picture. -- dance along. Does it mean that the final result

:04:34. > :04:38.here will be indicative of the final figure? Now, there is a massive

:04:39. > :04:42.caveat and that is that we are, as a few people have said this evening,

:04:43. > :04:46.in uncharted waters. We have not been here before. Nobody knows how

:04:47. > :04:52.much those social factors will play here, how much they will be

:04:53. > :04:54.indicative of the final result. They are interesting to read, and

:04:55. > :05:01.exciting when the pollsters put their spin on it, but they are not

:05:02. > :05:05.cold, hard facts, sadly. Midlothian is one to keep an eye on, we are

:05:06. > :05:09.told that the vote will be back by half past three, quarter to four.

:05:10. > :05:26.Thanks. Let's go to East Lothian. The news is that we could be getting

:05:27. > :05:33.a declaration around 2am, the first of the 96 ballot boxes that came in

:05:34. > :05:39.here, came in just after 10:35pm. All 96 were in by 11pm. They have

:05:40. > :05:43.all been verified. As we have seen, repeated across the country,

:05:44. > :05:49.turnout, especially in terms of postal vote, exceptionally high.

:05:50. > :05:54.16,608 postal votes sent out, 95% were returned, here in East Lothian.

:05:55. > :05:58.I have been having a little chat with the Better Together campaign.

:05:59. > :06:02.They have been doing sampling and they think they could be in for a

:06:03. > :06:09.big Windermere, talking about figures around 60%, possibly 62%. --

:06:10. > :06:13.a big win here. We will be waiting another couple of hours to get any

:06:14. > :06:18.official confirmation that they seem pretty confident they have done very

:06:19. > :06:24.well hearing East Lothian. 700 square calamitous, this area. Urban

:06:25. > :06:31.working class areas, like muscle broke, and further down, affluent

:06:32. > :06:39.areas, like North Berwick, Dunbar as well. -- Musselburgh. 90% of those

:06:40. > :06:45.700 square, it is our farmland, very mixed region, county, if you will,

:06:46. > :06:49.in that sense. Speaking to some of the yes campaigners, they were

:06:50. > :06:57.saying that even a narrow defeat here would give them hope to get

:06:58. > :07:00.across to the rest of the country. The Better Together campaigners are

:07:01. > :07:07.strongly hinting they could be in for a big win. We should get some

:07:08. > :07:11.idea on the turnout figures in the next few minutes, they expect it in

:07:12. > :07:15.the next half hour. A declaration around 2am. Certainly, the Better

:07:16. > :07:22.Together campaigners here in East Lothian, they have the broadest

:07:23. > :07:27.smiles. As somebody who has followed Andy Murray around the world, given

:07:28. > :07:32.that he said he would not intervene in the referendum debate, that he

:07:33. > :07:39.has gone on Twitter and Facebook in the early hours of the morning his

:07:40. > :07:43.support for a yes vote? I was astonished, to be fervently honest.

:07:44. > :07:50.Partly because he kept his counsel for so long. Partly because it came

:07:51. > :07:54.pretty much on polling day, and obviously, there is a lot of things

:07:55. > :07:58.we cannot say on Pollin date, there is not a lot that we can say. To

:07:59. > :08:02.come out and back yes in the way that he did, I was surprised. I

:08:03. > :08:07.spoke with him about this issue in New York a few weeks ago and he said

:08:08. > :08:09.that he would play for an independent Scotland at the

:08:10. > :08:13.Olympics, if Scotland were independent, but he had not given

:08:14. > :08:17.it's too much thought because he was not thinking it was very likely that

:08:18. > :08:22.there would be a yes vote. From what we are hearing here in the whole in

:08:23. > :08:26.East Lothian, certainly this county, does not look like that is going to

:08:27. > :08:31.be anywhere near a yes vote. In terms of what Andy Murray said, yes,

:08:32. > :08:38.game set and match when it came to the astonishment factor! We have a

:08:39. > :08:41.whole new panel: Gordon Wilson, leader of the Scottish national

:08:42. > :08:46.party, he has played a prominent part in the Yes campaign, doing his

:08:47. > :08:52.own thing. Certainly supporting a yes vote. Willie Rennie, member of

:08:53. > :08:58.Scottish Parliament. Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. And a

:08:59. > :09:03.couple of young voters, taking part in the referendum, voting for the

:09:04. > :09:09.first time, Sarah McDonald, and Max Merrill, he was appointing a no

:09:10. > :09:13.vote. -- supporting a no vote. -- Sarah Maguire, supporting a yes

:09:14. > :09:17.vote. There has been a lot of talk from celebrities and world leaders,

:09:18. > :09:23.Andy Murray. Has that had an influence on your thinking? It has

:09:24. > :09:28.not because I like to think, I like to look past who is saying it, I

:09:29. > :09:32.like to think myself. I did not find a lot of surprise when Andy Murray

:09:33. > :09:35.came out in favour of a yes vote, because when you lose is he is

:09:36. > :09:39.Scottish, when he wins he is British... That was always going to

:09:40. > :09:44.prevail, that feeling. When a celebrity comes out, it does not add

:09:45. > :09:48.anything to either side. It gives the site a bit of an ego boost,

:09:49. > :09:51.saying they have a celebrity endorsement, but it does not affect

:09:52. > :09:58.my vote. Who has most influenced your thinking? The people around me,

:09:59. > :10:03.my friends and family. I have read into it, articles and things like

:10:04. > :10:06.that. I think the people who have mainly influenced me have been the

:10:07. > :10:14.people closest to home. The people that are here every day in everyday

:10:15. > :10:17.life. Were they all yes supporters? Have you had fights in the family?

:10:18. > :10:22.LAUGHTER It has been split, 50/50. My

:10:23. > :10:27.immediate family are yes voters, but I have extended family who are no

:10:28. > :10:35.voters. There has been heated debate! Did you begin as a no, and

:10:36. > :10:38.stay that way? From the start I was always a no vote, if anything, I

:10:39. > :10:45.have become stronger as the campaign has gone on. Why is that? As more

:10:46. > :10:49.things have come out on both sides, will it scaremongering, but when you

:10:50. > :10:54.look at all of these things. If you look at what is being presented, not

:10:55. > :10:57.who and what but what is being presented, it makes much more sense

:10:58. > :11:02.that as part of the United Kingdom, we have achieved great things. If it

:11:03. > :11:06.is a no vote, fingers and toes crossed that it is, I think we can

:11:07. > :11:10.and will continue to achieve great things. A great deal of warnings

:11:11. > :11:14.from big business and from others particularly in the final stages of

:11:15. > :11:18.the campaign about some of the dangers that they see in a yes vote.

:11:19. > :11:27.How come none of that has put you off? A lot of it has been not enough

:11:28. > :11:32.and a bit too late. People seem to be panicking and so they are

:11:33. > :11:38.throwing out their last arguments, almost like threats. So that has not

:11:39. > :11:43.influenced me at all. Having looked into it, I think there is a lot of

:11:44. > :11:47.people who would disagree that those things are going to happen. We will

:11:48. > :11:51.see if it is a yes vote, we need to get the first result, we will

:11:52. > :11:53.certainly bring you that live. Now we will cross to the national

:11:54. > :12:07.counting centre. Some of their conversation has been

:12:08. > :12:15.pretty interesting. Figures coming out of your head 's! If I can begin

:12:16. > :12:22.with you, Peter, from YouGov. What is your poll suggest? -- heads. We

:12:23. > :12:31.asked people after they voted how they have voted, and 54% no, 46%

:12:32. > :12:37.yes. There has been a 2-point shift to know, just today, either people

:12:38. > :12:46.swift shifting or no people being especially determined to turn out. I

:12:47. > :12:53.think that it will be pretty close. We are expecting 55/45. Glasgow is

:12:54. > :12:58.very close. Yes need to win it comfortably, if they are to win

:12:59. > :13:05.overall. If it is tight in Glasgow, then no has won Glasgow. How

:13:06. > :13:11.difficult is it to predict? This one has been ready difficult. Because we

:13:12. > :13:21.have not been there before, this is a unique event, it has attracted

:13:22. > :13:26.considerable amounts of properly considerable amount of interest and

:13:27. > :13:34.enthusiasm from voters. That tends to make it slightly trickier for us.

:13:35. > :13:42.It looks like there has been some late movement, as Peter has said,

:13:43. > :13:46.back to know. The story having previously been, that the polls

:13:47. > :13:51.were, that the polls were narrowing in the week or two before. But I

:13:52. > :14:00.would not say, I would not say it is over yet. But, that does appear to

:14:01. > :14:04.be what is happening at the moment. As far as the polling is concerned,

:14:05. > :14:07.we have shown a different picture in terms of swing. Look at the polling

:14:08. > :14:17.for the daily record, and for Better Together. 54% for know, and Peter

:14:18. > :14:29.Zane tonight that his Bolling says 54% for no. -- Peter is saying

:14:30. > :14:33.tonight that his polling. After this is over we need to sit down

:14:34. > :14:38.together. We have had a couple of complete you separate stories told

:14:39. > :14:46.over the last few weeks. YouGov, Mori, so many expected holsters,

:14:47. > :14:52.they have all said there was a big shift to yes, around early

:14:53. > :14:57.September. But newer companies have said that nothing much has changed.

:14:58. > :15:02.We all ended up in roughly the same place, almost exactly, but the story

:15:03. > :15:09.of how we get to there, two different stories. Our story is

:15:10. > :15:13.different to that. We are in agreement, but within agreement,

:15:14. > :15:18.there are differences! We have got 16 polls since February, 14 just on

:15:19. > :15:24.voting potential alone. They have been remarkably stable. That has

:15:25. > :15:27.been driven by the Scottish public really not listening to a lot of the

:15:28. > :15:30.things that the different campaigns are saying, and actually, I

:15:31. > :15:37.personally believe that minds were made up earlier than tonight. All of

:15:38. > :15:41.our pollen may have a difference tonight, the perception that this

:15:42. > :15:46.has been a tough tight race. The media has said that, too close to

:15:47. > :15:50.call, very tight. I think that may have stirred people, the silent

:15:51. > :15:57.majority, some of the no voters, they have realised that it is

:15:58. > :16:03.serious. That is right, it could have a perverse effect. Good news

:16:04. > :16:08.for the yes side, but actually, when the papers say that, it may tend to

:16:09. > :16:13.galvanise the no side out of their slumber and into the polling booths.

:16:14. > :16:18.That could be the effect. We had a poll a couple of weeks ago in the

:16:19. > :16:23.Sunday Times, it was 51/49, guests were slightly ahead, but the panic

:16:24. > :16:27.in the No campaign, the panic in Downing Street. Ed Miliband, Nick

:16:28. > :16:35.Clegg. The panic in foreign exchange markets, extraordinary! It is only a

:16:36. > :16:40.poll, I felt slightly odd! We are not killing people or saving lives,

:16:41. > :16:43.it is simply a poll! We have our differences but compare to some

:16:44. > :16:47.country, pulling in Britain is done honestly, coldly competently. That

:16:48. > :16:52.is broadly why we are trusted, why the exchange markets reacted, they

:16:53. > :16:59.thought what we were saying is real. -- polling in Britain. We have some

:17:00. > :17:03.standards of transparency, if you do not agree with what we are saying,

:17:04. > :17:07.if you are unhappy, you can go through data tables on the website,

:17:08. > :17:11.rubbished promptly, and if you think I am wrong, then you can have a

:17:12. > :17:19.look. If you think Peter is wrong, if you think Mori is wrong. Are you

:17:20. > :17:25.saying... Looking at the way that polling is done... Is that because

:17:26. > :17:28.of the Internet? Happens after every electoral event, we get together and

:17:29. > :17:32.look at what went right and what went wrong, and the depth of that is

:17:33. > :17:37.going to depend upon what the result tonight is, we still do not know. As

:17:38. > :17:42.in so many other walks of life, you must always keep learning. If you

:17:43. > :17:47.were doing a referendum results programme in a couple of weeks, you

:17:48. > :17:54.would think, what happened tonight could be done slightly better. It

:17:55. > :17:59.will all go perfectly! Life is a learning process, if we say we are

:18:00. > :18:06.too arrogant to learn... In our defence, we have not had... For

:18:07. > :18:11.example, ICM, excellent pollsters, tried and trusted method, they are

:18:12. > :18:21.not about to change that method before the general election. We can

:18:22. > :18:24.look at things with a fresh pair of eyes. Maybe that is interesting,

:18:25. > :18:30.maybe it does not matter, but we will find out in 2015. Why change a

:18:31. > :18:35.method that you have relied upon, for election after election, we have

:18:36. > :18:41.the advantage. We have the advantage of not having to have that kind of

:18:42. > :18:44.risk. That can be good. We are always looking at ways to refine and

:18:45. > :18:49.improve and get better. We always want to get more accurate, we are

:18:50. > :18:54.trying to measure opinion. -- we are always looking at ways to refine and

:18:55. > :19:01.improve and get better. Snapshot is a good word to use. It is about that

:19:02. > :19:04.point in time, rather than how things will change in the future.

:19:05. > :19:10.Yesterday, the first time we have done and on the day Paul. We are

:19:11. > :19:14.going to look at that. If we feel that it has got it about right, then

:19:15. > :19:19.I am sure that we will be doing it on future election days. Hopefully

:19:20. > :19:22.opening up the world of polling. Thank you very much.

:19:23. > :19:28.STUDIO: You may have seen allegations of electoral fraud in

:19:29. > :19:38.Glasgow, we will cross live there, the Emirates arena. What can you

:19:39. > :19:43.tell us? These allegations relate to ten votes. Those were ten votes cast

:19:44. > :19:53.in a variety of polling stations across Glasgow today. It seems to be

:19:54. > :19:57.the allegation is "impersonation". Somebody turns up at a polling

:19:58. > :20:02.station and says, I am Joe Bloggs and I want to vote, and they go in

:20:03. > :20:06.and make the vote. Maybe several hours later, when the real Joe

:20:07. > :20:14.Bloggs finishes work and turns up to vote... There seems to be a problem,

:20:15. > :20:16.sir, you have already voted... The allegation is that has happened on

:20:17. > :20:22.ten separate occasions at different polling stations in Glasgow. When

:20:23. > :20:26.something like this happens, what happens is they traced the number on

:20:27. > :20:31.the ballot cast, and when that ballot comes here, do the counting

:20:32. > :20:34.centre, and is spread out onto the table, when the counters go through

:20:35. > :20:40.all of the ballots, they will look out for that one in particular.

:20:41. > :20:44.These ballots will be noticed. One of them was put aside into an

:20:45. > :20:48.envelope and late to one side. That will form part of the police

:20:49. > :20:52.investigation. The police investigation just got going today.

:20:53. > :20:56.We understand it relates to ten votes cast in various different

:20:57. > :21:03.polling stations in Glasgow. Can I remind you, the amount of people

:21:04. > :21:15.registered to vote in Glasgow, more than 400,000! 480,000... 480 6000,

:21:16. > :21:23.219. It is ten votes out of that potential electorate! -- 480 6219.

:21:24. > :21:26.What you think about that? Accusations of this from time to

:21:27. > :21:31.time, there have also been concerns about postal voting, whether they

:21:32. > :21:34.were secure or not, whether other individuals were filling them into

:21:35. > :21:38.people. Of course there are concerns, they must investigate this

:21:39. > :21:45.thoroughly, and try to get the bottom of it. Ten votes out of more

:21:46. > :21:50.than 486,000, that would not be a cause for concern. There has been a

:21:51. > :21:55.tightening in the verification of postal votes. Actually, in certain

:21:56. > :22:01.circumstances, there is not much checking that goes on when you turn

:22:02. > :22:06.up at a polling station to cast your ballot. That is true, British

:22:07. > :22:09.tradition, reflects the way in which we have developed democracy. It

:22:10. > :22:13.seems strange to people outside of this nation, who have got to turn up

:22:14. > :22:20.with formal identification in order to vote. It is largely taken on

:22:21. > :22:27.trust. Yes, and it does largely work. Ten votes out of 480,000, this

:22:28. > :22:33.is not a serious problem at that level. Regrettable but not yet

:22:34. > :22:40.serious. OK... In a moment we will get the latest news with Jackie.

:22:41. > :22:45.First, some news that political editor, Nick Robinson, has been on

:22:46. > :22:50.Twitter about: "1st Minister Alex Salmond has cancelled his appearance

:22:51. > :22:55.at his own count, in Aberdeenshire. That was mentioned earlier on the

:22:56. > :22:59.programme, from the county itself. The expectation is perhaps that Alex

:23:00. > :23:05.Salmond will make a statement in some form after all of the counting

:23:06. > :23:12.has concluded. 32 counts are in, they seem to be waiting. Either way,

:23:13. > :23:17.plans will change for individual politicians. There was mentioned...

:23:18. > :23:24.I thought they were talking about him having cancelled a party in his

:23:25. > :23:30.constituency... That is a helicopter in Argyll Bute, doing the work of

:23:31. > :23:37.the Council, getting the votes from outlying areas to the counting

:23:38. > :23:42.centre, and that is a major job, particularly in moral areas, to get

:23:43. > :23:45.the votes in. As we have been seeing, some problems doing that in

:23:46. > :23:48.the Outer Hebrides, in the Western Isles. A perspective on all the

:23:49. > :23:56.developer and so far, with Jackie. Starting further afield, this

:23:57. > :24:01.referendum, as you would suggest, being watched around the world. BBC

:24:02. > :24:05.Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, reporting that Flemish nationalists

:24:06. > :24:09.have been on the streets of Brussels putting down candles around the

:24:10. > :24:13.Scottish flag! You will recall that on the day Paul from YouGov, we were

:24:14. > :24:21.talking about that with a plethora of pollsters a short time ago,

:24:22. > :24:24.suggesting a victory for no, 54/46. Earlier on the programme, the chair

:24:25. > :24:36.gave his reaction. -- on the day appalling from YouGov. -- on the day

:24:37. > :24:43.following -- polling. This is one exit poll, it is the ballot box

:24:44. > :24:49.which really counts. I maintain, there is a great degree of optimism.

:24:50. > :24:54.I am sure that all of the yes supporters, at this stage, I am with

:24:55. > :24:58.them. The huge turnout has been the main feature of the night so far,

:24:59. > :25:03.until we begin to get the results in. This is how they make the

:25:04. > :25:08.announcement of the turnout in Clackmannanshire. The total number

:25:09. > :25:20.of ballot papers counted in this area, 35,411. The turnout, 88.6%.

:25:21. > :25:25.The count is currently underway, a declaration of the local totals will

:25:26. > :25:29.be made in due course, following authorisation by the chief

:25:30. > :25:34.accounting officer. Thank you. In Orkney, turnout almost 84%. A lot

:25:35. > :25:38.more around those figures. If those numbers are replicated around the

:25:39. > :25:42.country, this will be very nearly the biggest turnout in any UK

:25:43. > :25:50.election since 1950. That was a general election, the turnout was

:25:51. > :25:54.84%. We are on course, could be a record breaker. Official turnout

:25:55. > :25:57.figure in Inverclyde, where we are seeing there, 87%.

:25:58. > :26:06.One of the last local authorities to declare could be Highlands, because

:26:07. > :26:09.the Road has been closed, the canine road, ballot boxes have been delayed

:26:10. > :26:18.from moving because of a road accident. -- the A9. And the word

:26:19. > :26:20.Scotland is trending across the world on Twitter. The first tweet of

:26:21. > :26:26.the night from the First That was his first tweet since the

:26:27. > :26:39.polls closed. It is not all about the politicians

:26:40. > :26:51.and celebrities, we want to hear from you, the voters as well.

:26:52. > :26:58.If you want to share your opinions with us, you can see the hashtag.

:26:59. > :27:08.Trending in New York, indeed! We will see if this panel has

:27:09. > :27:12.international perspective to bring, or certainly from around the

:27:13. > :27:15.country. What issue of feeling at this stage? Interesting listening to

:27:16. > :27:18.the pollsters, talking about was there a swing late on in the

:27:19. > :27:24.campaign or was there not? I certainly felt it. Seven to ten

:27:25. > :27:28.days, before the YouGov Paul, you could see on the doorsteps, there

:27:29. > :27:35.were people going from no, too undecided, two yes. -- YouGov poll.

:27:36. > :27:38.After that, it halted, there was a alarm, and then there was the

:27:39. > :27:43.economic news. That stop the momentum. Definitely there was a

:27:44. > :27:47.swing. I would pull the side with those that suggested a later swing,

:27:48. > :27:59.rather than those who have predicted it all along. Dundee is saying 79%

:28:00. > :28:04.almost, 78% turnout. Alex Salmond during the campaign said it would be

:28:05. > :28:10.a yes city. I would be surprised if it was not. I live in it, I used to

:28:11. > :28:15.represent it. Certainly, support for independence has grown since I was

:28:16. > :28:18.there. My feeling is that if you went into the housing estates, you

:28:19. > :28:25.would find support for independence very high. Do not forget also,

:28:26. > :28:33.Dundee has had an exceptional history of SNP representation, we

:28:34. > :28:36.hold two of the SNPs and one of the Westminster SMPs. It is a distinct

:28:37. > :28:43.community, and quite different from when I started, in 1974, when I took

:28:44. > :28:56.on a monolithic Labour Party. -- Westminster SMPs. -- SNPs.

:28:57. > :29:04.Is a very noisy Marriot hotel here for the Better Together campaign, I

:29:05. > :29:09.am joined by the broadcaster and historian Dan Snow. How do you think

:29:10. > :29:12.the campaign has gone? As somebody who lives in England I have been

:29:13. > :29:18.watching from the outside and fascinated. One of the most exciting

:29:19. > :29:22.campaigns I have ever witnessed. A bit like Al Gore versus George Bush

:29:23. > :29:30.in 2000, I knew it would affect my life but I had no say. It has been

:29:31. > :29:34.fascinating. From my point of view, every time an English politician

:29:35. > :29:37.headed up on a day trip to say something angry to the Scottish

:29:38. > :29:42.voters I would be tearing my hair out because I desperately hope that

:29:43. > :29:48.Scotland renews its bonds of citizenship with the rest of us in

:29:49. > :29:51.the UK. Every time that one of our politicians like George Osborne came

:29:52. > :29:55.up, getting back on the plane to London that afternoon I thought that

:29:56. > :29:58.is extraordinarily counter-productive and very

:29:59. > :30:03.negative, and I cannot understand it. This campaign has been years in

:30:04. > :30:08.the making, the date has been in the diary, those politicians, the Labour

:30:09. > :30:14.and Tory politicians should have been living here and saying, we will

:30:15. > :30:20.fight for what we believe is a United Kingdom rather than coming up

:30:21. > :30:24.on day trips, so from that point of you it is disappointing. Better

:30:25. > :30:30.Together is a positive message but it is hard to be positive about the

:30:31. > :30:34.status quo. I am an historian and I have travelled a lot and I am lucky

:30:35. > :30:38.to live in the UK. We have big challenges but we are one of the

:30:39. > :30:42.most stable, secure, peaceful and wealthy countries on earth. It is

:30:43. > :30:47.not very cruel and that is not how you campaign. Barack Obama claimed

:30:48. > :30:51.he would change everything but his second campaign was flat because he

:30:52. > :30:56.was already president and it is much more boring. When you run as an

:30:57. > :31:00.incumbent, when you run for the status quo it is more difficult to

:31:01. > :31:06.stir up emotions. That is what has happened up here but I would say, as

:31:07. > :31:09.a historian, the union between England and Scotland has been one of

:31:10. > :31:13.the most accessible unions in the modern world, it invented the modern

:31:14. > :31:18.world, amazing things have sprung from it, and I would love to have

:31:19. > :31:23.someone like Gordon Brown articulating that positivity long

:31:24. > :31:26.before now. Do you think this will raise questions about David

:31:27. > :31:30.Cameron's leadership? We do not know which way it will go but if it is

:31:31. > :31:36.close, do you think it will raise questions about the way Downing

:31:37. > :31:41.Street has handled it? If it is a Yes vote, I cannot see, I think

:31:42. > :31:45.every single British national politician should resign because it

:31:46. > :31:50.is a disaster for the UK. I could not possibly vote, as a voter in

:31:51. > :31:54.England, I could not vote for anybody who had contributed to the

:31:55. > :32:00.breaking up of the UK. I think there is going to be massive repercussions

:32:01. > :32:07.down south, and across, of course, across what is still the United

:32:08. > :32:11.Kingdom. And the Labour Party will have to go back to the drawing board

:32:12. > :32:18.because they are unlikely to win a majority with just English and Welsh

:32:19. > :32:21.and Northern Irish MPs. And the Conservatives, David Cameron, the

:32:22. > :32:24.Prime Minister at the steering wheel when he wrote of the UK, I don't see

:32:25. > :32:32.how he could run for re-election at the least. From the feelings you are

:32:33. > :32:36.getting now, we are hearing there is a record turnout, it is still early

:32:37. > :32:39.but do you think there could be a silent majority here you are going

:32:40. > :32:47.to get this through or is it on a knife edge? It is probably on a

:32:48. > :32:51.knife edge. I have no special information, I am just looking at

:32:52. > :32:56.the polls, looking at what I have seen on the news, and I think it is

:32:57. > :33:01.going to be extremely close. What is interesting about the polls is that

:33:02. > :33:04.it is coming as no surprise to those of us who have been watching the

:33:05. > :33:09.campaign for years, that it has finished close. Why it is

:33:10. > :33:15.surprisingly British politicians, I don't know. I remember being nervous

:33:16. > :33:19.a year ago about it being close and my friends in Scotland said it was

:33:20. > :33:23.basically 50-50. It has shocked the British establishment but I do not

:33:24. > :33:31.know why. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Let's stay together

:33:32. > :33:40.campaign, organising celebrities to urge the Scots to vote no. We have

:33:41. > :33:43.the turnout from Clackmannanshire, we are expecting that declaration

:33:44. > :33:51.before any others and it is not far away now. West Dunbartonshire is

:33:52. > :33:57.another high one, 80 7.9%. Not so high in Dundee. Let's cross to

:33:58. > :34:04.Andrew Anderson. -- 87.9. What is the explanation? C of we can get an

:34:05. > :34:10.explanation. 93,592 people voted in Dundee City, a turnout of 78.8%,

:34:11. > :34:17.that is not as high as other parts of Scotland. -- let's see if we can

:34:18. > :34:22.get an explanation. This is the treasury spokesman at Westminster.

:34:23. > :34:26.We were told 97% of those eligible had gone on to the electoral roll,

:34:27. > :34:35.so are you disappointed by the turnout? Given what we have seen in

:34:36. > :34:40.parts of Scotland with turnouts of 90%, 78% seems disappointing but in

:34:41. > :34:46.any other election or referendum 78% would be extraordinary. You were

:34:47. > :34:51.making a lot about the numbers of voters joining the electoral roll

:34:52. > :34:57.and saying it was good for you, is Dundee still a Yes City? I am

:34:58. > :35:00.confident that it is and that is a fantastic turnout in any

:35:01. > :35:04.circumstance. Even if people chose not to vote for a variety of

:35:05. > :35:08.reasons, the fact that 98% were on the register, and thousands more

:35:09. > :35:16.joined it to take part in the referendum, that is unchanged. Why

:35:17. > :35:23.did they not bother casting a vote? There are thousands of reasons, it

:35:24. > :35:28.may be that if Yes do well, that No voters chose not to vote for a

:35:29. > :35:31.variety of reasons. The population is just 2.5% of the Scottish

:35:32. > :35:36.population so it is not going to make that much difference to the

:35:37. > :35:42.overall vote? We are the fourth City and one of the largest local

:35:43. > :35:44.authorities, of course Glasgow and Edinburgh are larger, but I would

:35:45. > :35:49.not underestimate Dundee in this referendum. Can you still get over

:35:50. > :35:55.the line across Scotland? I hope so but right now we are in an

:35:56. > :35:58.information vacuum, not a single result has been declared, let's wait

:35:59. > :36:05.until we get some real results. Thank you very much indeed. As I was

:36:06. > :36:06.saying we are hoping that the first declaration will come from

:36:07. > :36:14.Clackmannanshire and we think we will get one from Orkney at quarter

:36:15. > :36:18.past one. It is now seven minutes past one in the morning. The first

:36:19. > :36:22.declaration is still to come. Well done to those of you who spotted the

:36:23. > :36:30.mistake in an earlier report. We spelt economy wrong! It is harder to

:36:31. > :36:36.say like that. Sorry about that. Lord McConnell, former Labour First

:36:37. > :36:38.Minister for Scotland. And when Dan Snow was speaking, you were

:36:39. > :36:45.applauding his efforts on behalf of the No campaign. You think he got it

:36:46. > :36:48.right? I think this week, in particular, but over the last two or

:36:49. > :36:53.three weeks Dan Snow has done more to describe what is good about the

:36:54. > :36:58.United Kingdom and particular about the modern UK, not just about our

:36:59. > :37:02.history but where we are today, than any national politician in the UK. I

:37:03. > :37:07.hope we were listening to him because I think there has been a

:37:08. > :37:10.problem ever since devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

:37:11. > :37:15.that UK politicians have had difficulty expressing what was good

:37:16. > :37:19.about the Kingdom today as it were, and he has done that, and he is

:37:20. > :37:23.talking about our impact in the world and what we stand for. But

:37:24. > :37:28.recognising that within that there is a diversity in the regions. Do

:37:29. > :37:34.you think that sort of passion and positivity was lacking on your side

:37:35. > :37:38.of the argument in the Better Together and the broader No

:37:39. > :37:43.campaign? It has been lacking for 15 years and it is not a new thing. I

:37:44. > :37:46.think at a national level and I have said this publicly 18 months ago,

:37:47. > :37:53.there is a need to describe what the UK is about in the post devolution

:37:54. > :37:56.age, and that you have devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

:37:57. > :38:00.and there has to be change in the North of England as well because

:38:01. > :38:07.they cannot be voiceless if we are going to move or power away from the

:38:08. > :38:10.centre of the UK. We'll so have a multinational and a multiracial

:38:11. > :38:15.country. There is a need for modern-day politicians to be able to

:38:16. > :38:18.describe that and stop referring back to Britain as it once was but

:38:19. > :38:22.talk about the UK in the 21st century. Actually Dan Snow has done

:38:23. > :38:28.that better than anyone over the past few weeks. Do you go along with

:38:29. > :38:33.that? Absolutely. This referendum has actually forced politicians

:38:34. > :38:39.including the Nationalists to recognise what is good about the UK.

:38:40. > :38:42.You may argue they want to keep the energy and the currency union and

:38:43. > :38:46.all of these great things that are part and parcel of the UK and that

:38:47. > :38:51.is part of the campaign. That shows you that we are forced to consider

:38:52. > :38:55.what is great about the UK. And even the BBC, the NHS, all of these great

:38:56. > :38:59.things that we forged together in the UK, they were central to the

:39:00. > :39:06.campaign and recognised by both sides. In your view, Gordon Wilson,

:39:07. > :39:10.was it a mistake on the Yes side, and the proposals of the Scottish

:39:11. > :39:17.Government to endorse so much, that week only have as part of the UK,

:39:18. > :39:21.like the currency union. If there were now rage goes much deeper than

:39:22. > :39:25.that because when you talk about the UK, you have got to take into

:39:26. > :39:30.account the North-South divide. And the fact is that over... Ever since

:39:31. > :39:34.the deregulation of the financial markets London has grown in power,

:39:35. > :39:42.it is a citystate which dominates the south of England, and I have

:39:43. > :39:49.family in Newcastle, and if anything it is in much worse condition than

:39:50. > :39:52.Scotland is. The fact is that bad is going to continue because the South

:39:53. > :39:57.and the Midlands have voting power. And you cannot imagine political

:39:58. > :40:03.parties giving up control over these areas and modernising and spreading

:40:04. > :40:09.and decentralising power until that comes to fruit. The area you are

:40:10. > :40:18.seeing is George Square in Glasgow where there are certainly plenty of

:40:19. > :40:24.salt ires being raised, and we think we will get the first result from

:40:25. > :40:27.Clackmannanshire in short order. Wherever there is this sort of

:40:28. > :40:34.activity there are people taking selfies, and marking the occasion.

:40:35. > :40:39.If it is a No vote, we have been promised change by all three parties

:40:40. > :40:42.on the Better Together side. Ming Campbell is saying that the

:40:43. > :40:49.referendum has given traction to the idea of federalism. Do you think

:40:50. > :40:53.that is now on the agenda? We are getting politicians from all parties

:40:54. > :40:56.embracing federalism and talking about more powers and

:40:57. > :41:00.decentralisation within the UK. Britain will never be the same

:41:01. > :41:05.again. The establishment in Westminster politics in general now

:41:06. > :41:09.recognises that change is required to have a sustainable constitutional

:41:10. > :41:13.setup in the UK. Lib Dems have argued about that for many years. We

:41:14. > :41:19.are delighted that it is firmly on the agenda now. Federalism could

:41:20. > :41:22.mean a number of things, and it is not just one model but is that

:41:23. > :41:29.something that you now find attractive, Lord McConnell? Well, I

:41:30. > :41:33.think there is a real need to increase the pressure now on the

:41:34. > :41:39.leadership of all three UK parties. And I would hope that other parties,

:41:40. > :41:44.whether they are national parties or others, can contribute to this as

:41:45. > :41:48.well. To find a way forward to discuss the UK constitution in new

:41:49. > :41:53.terms. I think some sort of constitutional commission and

:41:54. > :41:56.convention for the UK is required and it should include for example

:41:57. > :42:00.replacing the House of Lords with something that represents the

:42:01. > :42:05.nations and regions of the UK in a more effective way. Are you talking

:42:06. > :42:09.yourself out of a job or into a new one? Absolutely, there is a real

:42:10. > :42:14.opportunity to do something radical which would give the whole country a

:42:15. > :42:21.voice at the centre. There is a need to change institutions like the BBC.

:42:22. > :42:25.The BBC and a number of institutions need to adapt to the new situation

:42:26. > :42:29.in the UK and to be frank, very few have done that. In many ways

:42:30. > :42:34.ironically the only one that has done it well has been the Royal

:42:35. > :42:39.family. They have embraced devolution and diversity in the UK

:42:40. > :42:44.better than the other institutions, and that really is a surprise but it

:42:45. > :42:47.is an indication that they can be done and we need to get the BBC and

:42:48. > :42:51.other institutions making changes to reflect the country. We are told

:42:52. > :42:54.that the Queen is watching developments overnight and as was

:42:55. > :42:59.reported earlier she will make a statement tomorrow. If things were

:43:00. > :43:03.not going to go your way and you did not get an independent Scotland,

:43:04. > :43:08.would a federal United Kingdom be as good a second prize as you could

:43:09. > :43:11.hope for? Going back to my experience as a student in

:43:12. > :43:15.constitutional law and also a politician of many years, I think

:43:16. > :43:22.federalism has problems. For example, let's take the true

:43:23. > :43:26.federalism which would be Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England

:43:27. > :43:30.as one unit. The English would not, and indeed it would be unreasonable

:43:31. > :43:36.if they gave up the same amount of votes to Scotland, Wales and

:43:37. > :43:42.Northern Ireland as they do. If you bulk and eyes England so that it is

:43:43. > :43:45.regionalised, you will find they have an overall majority at any

:43:46. > :43:55.parliament so the end result is that they will control the bigger

:43:56. > :44:00.countries. -- Balkanise. It could only work if England was federalised

:44:01. > :44:03.as well? England is a big institution and it is up to them to

:44:04. > :44:11.decide what the size of their government levels are.

:44:12. > :44:17.I have had experience in the House of Commons in the 1970s and the

:44:18. > :44:22.1980s, quite frankly, Britain cannot modernise itself, how many years has

:44:23. > :44:28.it been since the pension reform in the House of Lords. Too much of a

:44:29. > :44:31.vested interest. If it is a no vote, you will find that Scotland's

:44:32. > :44:39.influence in this referendum will disappear into the sand very

:44:40. > :44:46.quickly. We can cross live to Kirkwall. Are we expecting a count

:44:47. > :44:50.very soon? Fairly soon, we are hoping it will be before 2am. We

:44:51. > :44:55.were hoping it would be earlier than that, 1:30am was mentioned. It is

:44:56. > :45:03.going to be before 2am. Probably in the next 40 minutes. OK. Things then

:45:04. > :45:06.have obviously gone fairly smoothly, a small electorate in Orkney. Any

:45:07. > :45:13.indication as to which way it is going? All that I can tell you, at

:45:14. > :45:18.the start of the evening, the two sides were very buoyant. I would say

:45:19. > :45:25.that the Better Together side is more buoyant, but having said that,

:45:26. > :45:29.this is Liberal Democrat heartland. This is a place that has returned

:45:30. > :45:33.liberals and Liberal Democrats for as long as I have been alive. For

:45:34. > :45:39.the Yes campaign to attack this seat would have been a bit of a coup.

:45:40. > :45:46.Looks like Orkney is going to go to Better Together, if the suggestions

:45:47. > :45:51.are correct. We are hearing that things are moving along well in

:45:52. > :46:04.sterling, and that we could have some news from there soon. --

:46:05. > :46:09.Stirling. We will get the figure for the turnout very soon, on the stage

:46:10. > :46:17.behind me, no boxes, and so all of the boxes are in, from parts as far

:46:18. > :46:36.away as some very far reached parts. We can say that the turnout was 96%.

:46:37. > :46:40.At no point in Scottish history can it be said that Stirling was not an

:46:41. > :46:44.object of highest interest, and in no wars was it not one of

:46:45. > :46:47.contention, that is according to this guidebook from the

:46:48. > :46:55.19th-century! Bannockburn is just down the road. Among the Yes

:46:56. > :47:05.campaign, there are some fairly glum faces awaiting the final result.

:47:06. > :47:10.Around 3am. Whilst he was talking, we got a confirmed turnout from West

:47:11. > :47:17.Lothian, 86%, which is another high turnout. We think the first

:47:18. > :47:21.declaration will come from Clackmannanshire. We are certainly

:47:22. > :47:29.promised news from there. It is a wee County in very short order.

:47:30. > :47:35.That will be the first declaration of the evening. That will give us

:47:36. > :47:39.the first set of numbers to deal with. Not that we can make

:47:40. > :47:50.projections on one declaration, but we will keep across that, and we

:47:51. > :47:53.hope to be receiving bad result from Clackmannanshire within the next

:47:54. > :48:00.five minutes. -- that result. We have been talking about turnout,

:48:01. > :48:04.that is one number we can have from various parts of the country. It is

:48:05. > :48:08.very high, what lessons you think we can learn from that achievement are?

:48:09. > :48:13.The number one listen, that it is possible! For all of the politicians

:48:14. > :48:17.and all the parties and the media, this cynicism that people would

:48:18. > :48:21.never vote again, that things like 50% turnout Burrell macro was

:48:22. > :48:26.becoming the norm... That has been blown away by the referendum

:48:27. > :48:30.turnout! The big challenge now, for the Liberal Democrats, for the other

:48:31. > :48:36.three main parties, and maybe others as well in the Scottish Parliament,

:48:37. > :48:40.how do they pose a choice to voters in 2016 that is care enough and

:48:41. > :48:44.engaging enough and exciting enough and gives people a real difference

:48:45. > :48:53.in the outcome of the vote to get the turnout up, from 50% junior what

:48:54. > :48:56.we are seeing tonight? This proves people will go to the ballot box if

:48:57. > :49:00.they have a clear choice and they feel the outcome will make a

:49:01. > :49:05.difference to their lives. Politics has got to matter, there has got to

:49:06. > :49:11.be a battle of ideas. Fewer clever phrases and more clever policies.

:49:12. > :49:14.Wings that engage people, make them onto turnout. Emphasise the

:49:15. > :49:18.differences between the parties, rather than coming towards a soggy

:49:19. > :49:22.centre, appealing to the middle ground. Do you think that is what we

:49:23. > :49:27.have got? Sometimes we do have that. What we need to have, the voting

:49:28. > :49:33.system is part of the answer to this. We still have a system for the

:49:34. > :49:37.general election which excludes large parts of the country from

:49:38. > :49:42.having any big say in the outcome. And so I think, some kind of reform

:49:43. > :49:47.of the voting system, which the Liberal Democrats would answer for,

:49:48. > :49:52.is part of the answer to that. -- which the Liberal Democrats would

:49:53. > :49:58.ask for. This is iconic, everybody wondered in their childhood, would

:49:59. > :50:01.we ever have a referendum on independence? That is part of the

:50:02. > :50:04.reason why we have high turnout. Also the engagement of people who

:50:05. > :50:10.have not been involved in politics ever before in their life. That is

:50:11. > :50:13.the positive thing. Just like on the back of the poll tax, the Iraq war,

:50:14. > :50:17.I am hoping that some of those people transfer over to the active

:50:18. > :50:21.in political parties and the political system in a broader sense,

:50:22. > :50:25.that is one of the big opportunities. Making a point,

:50:26. > :50:29.things like the voting system and powers of Parliament are

:50:30. > :50:32.interesting. But there are huge social problem still in Scotland.

:50:33. > :50:36.Too many young people leaving school without qualification, too many

:50:37. > :50:41.people dying young from conditions which could be prevented. So on and

:50:42. > :50:45.so forth. What I would like to see, from all four parties for the next

:50:46. > :50:50.Scottish election, a radical programme, based on their own

:50:51. > :50:53.Felicity, which gives them a choice. You will see that people will engage

:50:54. > :50:57.with that, they will want to debate it, and they will take a turnout,

:50:58. > :51:01.from 50%, which we have seen the last two or three Scottish

:51:02. > :51:07.elections. Gordon Wilson, yes or no, is that the way to keep people

:51:08. > :51:11.interested? They should try to abolish trying elation, try to get

:51:12. > :51:16.policies as close to each other, just leaving one or two points to

:51:17. > :51:20.argue over. Quite frankly that is dumbing down the entire system. You

:51:21. > :51:26.have got to be more radical. Coming out of the referendum, if there is a

:51:27. > :51:30.fresh focus on social justice, then I think that in the run-up to the

:51:31. > :51:34.next Scottish Parliament election, independent or otherwise, I think

:51:35. > :51:38.there has got to be a clear intent among all other political parties to

:51:39. > :51:43.do something towards social equality. Whether it starts with

:51:44. > :51:47.very young children or whatever. We need new policies. This is an area

:51:48. > :51:53.that has really been deserted for many a year. Shetlands turnout, 84%.

:51:54. > :52:00.We have been doing some number crunching. How are they comparing,

:52:01. > :52:04.these turnout, with what we have had before? Perhaps the best comparison

:52:05. > :52:11.is with the referendum in 1997, the turnout so far, averaging at more

:52:12. > :52:21.than 25% higher, than back then. That is an extraordinary difference,

:52:22. > :52:27.an extraordinary achievement. It is the nature of the question and what

:52:28. > :52:33.is at stake, do you agree that is why so many people are concerned

:52:34. > :52:38.with this? The point that Jack is making, you have got to present a

:52:39. > :52:44.real choice. With the second government, of clever and -- the

:52:45. > :52:51.second government of Clement Attlee. Just to be clear, you did not report

:52:52. > :52:56.on that one...! LAUGHTER If ever there was a radical choice,

:52:57. > :53:00.1950, his government, but shortly afterwards, there was a change, a

:53:01. > :53:07.need for a change and he was kicked out of office. In 1955, take this to

:53:08. > :53:11.the pub quiz, ask who the biggest party was in Scotland. The Tories!

:53:12. > :53:18.They took an overall majority of the popular vote, they took the greatest

:53:19. > :53:22.number of seats. Run them -- from then they have declined and declined

:53:23. > :53:27.and declined. It is not about fly-tipping and education! It is

:53:28. > :53:31.about the constitution. I would descend from the point made by Jack,

:53:32. > :53:36.yes, social policies are critical, education, health, etc. But the

:53:37. > :53:40.constitution in Scotland has been the underbelly for half a century

:53:41. > :53:50.and more. Will this referendum, will it settled constitutional question

:53:51. > :53:55.in Scotland? No. For any great length of time? Whatever the result,

:53:56. > :54:00.the turnout should lead both sides to accept the result on this issue,

:54:01. > :54:03.but clearly, now, there is going to be, hopefully, a cross-party

:54:04. > :54:09.discussion, hopefully involving everybody, about the powers of the

:54:10. > :54:13.Parliament. And that will continue. There will still be constitutional

:54:14. > :54:17.discussion. I agree with Brian, the initial problem the Tories had, was

:54:18. > :54:21.because of their resistance to constitutional change and a voice

:54:22. > :54:25.for Scotland. In more recent years, Tories in Scotland lost confidence.

:54:26. > :54:29.They could have proposed that any one of the Scottish parliament

:54:30. > :54:33.elections since 1999, for example a cut in taxes in Scotland. They could

:54:34. > :54:39.be doing that right now, and they have never done that, they seem to

:54:40. > :54:47.me to have lost confidence. Sorry to interrupt you, news from Dundee. The

:54:48. > :54:54.Dundee count is being evacuated, there is a fire alarm... No! All of

:54:55. > :54:59.those attending the count in the international sports arena have been

:55:00. > :55:05.asked to leave the building. They are gathering with the intention of

:55:06. > :55:08.doing just that. There that is those that are counting the votes, those

:55:09. > :55:15.who are watching the votes being counted in Dundee... Presumably it

:55:16. > :55:19.is the media as well, live cameras capturing the response to the fire

:55:20. > :55:24.alarm in Dundee. Obviously, that is going to delay things, hopefully a

:55:25. > :55:32.little, and not a lot. The breaking news from Dundee. We were talking...

:55:33. > :55:41.At least we know it was not Gordon who set a fire alarm! LAUGHTER

:55:42. > :55:50.He is here, he has a fire alarm! Telepathy -- -- he is here, he has

:55:51. > :55:54.an alibi. Telepathy! If it is close, do you think we will have another

:55:55. > :55:58.referendum in ten years, 20 years...? Minnows, but I would hope

:55:59. > :56:06.not stop this is a huge turnout, this has been a three-year campaign,

:56:07. > :56:11.not three months. -- who knows, but I would hope not. Really, this

:56:12. > :56:16.should be seen, at least for this generation... One moment, we are

:56:17. > :56:23.about to get the declaration in Clackmannanshire. Ladies and

:56:24. > :56:25.gentlemen, your attention please, we are ready to declare the statement

:56:26. > :56:34.of local totals for Clackmannanshire. Counting officer,

:56:35. > :56:36.appointed for the local government area, of the Scottish independence

:56:37. > :56:43.referendum, held on the 18th of September, 2014, thereby certify and

:56:44. > :56:52.declare: The total number of ballot papers counted in the referendum, in

:56:53. > :56:58.the area, 35,410. The turnout: 88.6%. The total number of votes

:56:59. > :57:10.cast in elation to each answer to the referendum question in this area

:57:11. > :57:21.is as follows: Yes, 16,350. No, 19,000... CHEERING

:57:22. > :57:26.19,036. Rejected papers, 24. The reasons for rejection are as

:57:27. > :57:32.follows: Want of an official mark, zero. Voting in favour of both

:57:33. > :57:37.answers, seven. Writing or mark by which voters could be identified,

:57:38. > :57:45.one. An marked or wait for uncertainty, 16. -- unmarked or

:57:46. > :57:49.void. That concludes it, thank you very much. Clackmannanshire has

:57:50. > :58:05.voted no. That is particularly bad news for

:58:06. > :58:08.the yes side, because they would have expected to be making headway

:58:09. > :58:34.in that part of country. This is the campaign event that

:58:35. > :58:39.Better Together are hosting. This was an area which was thought to be

:58:40. > :58:50.more than likely to go for a Yes vote, but is they have said No

:58:51. > :58:57.fairly firmly. That is precisely in line with the YouGov opinion poll

:58:58. > :59:05.today from the Internet. Does that say anything? Not necessarily. --

:59:06. > :59:09.but they have said no. Clackmannanshire has been

:59:10. > :59:15.represented by George Reid, both in Westminster and at Holyrood, and it

:59:16. > :59:24.has a history of SNP voting. It is a wee county which was carved out, and

:59:25. > :59:27.I am old enough to remember this one, the changing of boundaries in

:59:28. > :59:33.order for the Conservatives to try to win neighbouring seats. This is

:59:34. > :59:37.disappointing for the Yes side, they would not have expected to sweep to

:59:38. > :59:44.victory or anything of the sort, but they might have hoped to do better.

:59:45. > :59:47.Those pictures from Clackmannanshire, those on the

:59:48. > :59:50.Better Together side are celebrating for the cameras and getting their

:59:51. > :59:56.picture taken perhaps with a first editions of tomorrow's paper. That

:59:57. > :00:00.is the first result. As we have mentioned, Gordon Wilson, this is

:00:01. > :00:09.not a good result from your point of view. What has happened? What has

:00:10. > :00:14.happened is that No have got 54%. I do not think you can ignore that and

:00:15. > :00:20.the other straws in the wind. There are bigger areas still to call and

:00:21. > :00:25.they can outnumber smaller areas. It is beginning to look, if the other

:00:26. > :00:35.room as we have heard from the pollsters are correct, that No could

:00:36. > :00:40.win the day. -- rumours. I have no authority or locust to concede in

:00:41. > :00:47.any event, but it is disappointing. And it is going to change the whole

:00:48. > :00:51.direction of politics in Scotland, but in which way we are not sure. If

:00:52. > :00:56.it is a No vote, then the spotlight is going to turn away from the

:00:57. > :01:01.independence question, and will focus strongly on the additional

:01:02. > :01:05.powers. I will make some comments about that if you wish. First let's

:01:06. > :01:15.get some reaction from Lord McConnell. I did some door knocking

:01:16. > :01:20.on Monday afternoon and I sensed that the support for No was stronger

:01:21. > :01:25.than I would have expected in Clackmannanshire. Traditionally it

:01:26. > :01:35.is quite good as a stronghold for the SNP. And those saying No, Thanks

:01:36. > :01:38.were firm in their intentions. It does not surprise me, and it is

:01:39. > :01:44.obviously good news for Better Together. Charlie Jeffrey, we do not

:01:45. > :01:50.want to read too much into one result but what a shot perspective?

:01:51. > :01:54.It is less than 1% of the Scottish population, you cannot read too much

:01:55. > :01:59.into it. Clackmannanshire shares some characteristics of the Central

:02:00. > :02:02.Belt, problems about industrial decline. Those areas where the yes

:02:03. > :02:09.campaign was hoping to pick up disaffected Labour supporters. And

:02:10. > :02:12.areas more similar to the rural north-east where the SNP has become

:02:13. > :02:17.particularly strong in the last years. Again, that might have been

:02:18. > :02:22.thought to deliver a stronger Yes vote and it has not proven to be

:02:23. > :02:26.correct. We saw Gordon Banks getting his picture taken with his arms in

:02:27. > :02:30.the air. Gordon is many things but he is a particularly effective

:02:31. > :02:42.campaigner and he was instrumental in winning the by-election in

:02:43. > :02:46.Glenrothes for Labour. He played a role in the national campaign

:02:47. > :02:51.against Scotland. It is conceivable he has played a big role locally.

:02:52. > :02:56.That maybe a factor. Let's cross to the Better Together event and

:02:57. > :03:03.Eleanor Bradford has John Reid, the former Cabinet minister, with her. I

:03:04. > :03:09.am with John Reid. A huge cheer went up just then, but how indicative is

:03:10. > :03:16.this? I am delighted we have won the first to be announced, and I know

:03:17. > :03:23.Clackmannan and I used to live there. It is a clear victory but it

:03:24. > :03:26.is only one and there are others still to come, we will win some and

:03:27. > :03:32.lose some and there will be a few hours before a pattern emerges.

:03:33. > :03:36.Winning by 10% is gratifying and it is good for the workers here who

:03:37. > :03:40.have spent the last few days on the streets and knocking on doors. We

:03:41. > :03:46.will take it. But there is still a long way to go. We were talking

:03:47. > :03:51.earlier and one of your advisers took you upstairs for a bit of

:03:52. > :03:55.secret meetings, is there an increasingly confident mood here? I

:03:56. > :04:00.would not say it is increasingly confident, I think on these

:04:01. > :04:06.occasions, you get figures that look very good and then they change and

:04:07. > :04:12.rumours go around, you get the sort of groupthink, and it happens with

:04:13. > :04:17.the other side as well. I don't take anything for granted until I see the

:04:18. > :04:23.figures. Those figures look good enough for me. It is one area that

:04:24. > :04:27.is going our way but others will go the other way. And it won't be for

:04:28. > :04:32.several hours probably before we get the overall picture. The voice of

:04:33. > :04:37.experience, there. Thank you very much, John Reid. As you might be

:04:38. > :04:41.able to tell from the volume level, there is a bit of excitement in the

:04:42. > :04:45.Better Together campaign and they are hoping that their predictions

:04:46. > :04:48.will come true. Perhaps the next declaration will come from Orkney,

:04:49. > :04:53.we are hearing that we should get the result within the next seven

:04:54. > :04:56.minutes which seems a particularly precise number. I will not hold them

:04:57. > :05:01.to that but I look forward to the result that nonetheless. The

:05:02. > :05:08.Midlothian turnout is just in on 87%. A pattern across Scotland of

:05:09. > :05:13.very high turnouts in many cases, and many of them in the mid-to high

:05:14. > :05:19.80s. We have the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Pat Kane

:05:20. > :05:23.who has been a leading light in the Yes Scotland campaign. David

:05:24. > :05:28.Cockburn, the relatively newly elected member of European

:05:29. > :05:36.Parliament for Ukip in Scotland, the first elected Ukip representative in

:05:37. > :05:41.Scotland. And Stuart Maxwell, a Scottish member of Parliament and a

:05:42. > :05:46.former minister. Let's talk about the result in Clackmannanshire. We

:05:47. > :05:50.are pleased about it but it is only a small part of the population. This

:05:51. > :05:55.is an indication but only a small part. What strikes me is the extent

:05:56. > :05:58.to which Scotland has divided and the bigger question is to look at

:05:59. > :06:03.how we come back together afterwards. Do you accept like John

:06:04. > :06:07.Reid appears to that there will be other parts of the country that had

:06:08. > :06:13.voted yes, it will not go all your way? It feels like it is nip and

:06:14. > :06:17.tuck and everybody realises that it will be close and divisions have

:06:18. > :06:21.been evident in our communities as well. I expect it could tip the

:06:22. > :06:24.other way but I have no intelligence one way or the other, to be honest

:06:25. > :06:34.but I think it is interesting and there is a long way to go. Pat Kane,

:06:35. > :06:39.an area that perhaps they should have won, is that worrying about the

:06:40. > :06:44.night overall? The level of participation is remarkable

:06:45. > :06:47.all-round, so if this result repeats itself in different constituencies

:06:48. > :06:51.there is no way you cannot say it is not definitive. Let's not shout

:06:52. > :06:59.about 1% of the population, but what is interesting, if this was extended

:07:00. > :07:03.right the way through to the polling, you would have do say that

:07:04. > :07:10.people really want devo max, if that is what they really want, they would

:07:11. > :07:14.simply be satisfied with a not very well formulated scheme, and they

:07:15. > :07:20.have really voted for it. If that is what Scotland once, if it does not

:07:21. > :07:24.want statehood, it does not want powers over the macroeconomic aspect

:07:25. > :07:29.and resources aspect, and if that's what it decides we have do work with

:07:30. > :07:34.that. If this is wrong and the Yes campaign have one, we would presume

:07:35. > :07:37.that the other side would work towards an independent Scotland and

:07:38. > :07:43.make it work but the converse is true. If Scotland Decides to stay in

:07:44. > :07:50.the union, we would have to work it out. The thing about the 46% from a

:07:51. > :07:55.perspective of the movement is that we have articulated innovative

:07:56. > :07:57.notions and pulling people into the political process and there is an

:07:58. > :08:01.energy there that all of the party should respect and transform into

:08:02. > :08:09.something better if that is the case. The turnout from Angus is

:08:10. > :08:13.85.7%. 84.5% for East Ayrshire. David Cockburn, do you celebrate

:08:14. > :08:18.these high turnouts as other politicians do? And I will put you

:08:19. > :08:23.on notice that we all perhaps cut across you that the declaration. It

:08:24. > :08:27.is great that so many people have got involved in politics in

:08:28. > :08:32.Scotland. Ukip have been trying to get people infused, and we are fed

:08:33. > :08:37.up with the establishment, the same old parties, same old professional

:08:38. > :08:41.politicians. People are fed up and there is an indication of that. One

:08:42. > :08:46.of the reasons that many people want independence is that they are fed up

:08:47. > :08:49.with the establishment. Ukip are the only party talking about rebalancing

:08:50. > :08:55.the constitution to give England a fairer deal as well Scotland. What

:08:56. > :08:59.should happen if it turns out to be a No vote, what additional powers

:09:00. > :09:03.would you support for the devolved Scottish Parliament? This is

:09:04. > :09:09.something which needs discussion with all parties. Nigel Farage is

:09:10. > :09:14.going to talk about that tomorrow. The other parties have blueprints,

:09:15. > :09:18.what is yours? We have a blueprint but our idea was to see whether

:09:19. > :09:22.people wanted in or out of the United Kingdom first and that is the

:09:23. > :09:26.fair thing. We did not want to bribe people with goody bags and that is

:09:27. > :09:31.part of the trouble, they should have decided in or out and then at

:09:32. > :09:34.least have had the option of devo max which there wasn't, but then

:09:35. > :09:39.they should have decided afterwards. This has been stitched

:09:40. > :09:43.up by Cameron, he is hopeless. Alex Salmond is ruthless but I don't

:09:44. > :09:50.blame him, he is doing his best for his side. All of the Scots, if you

:09:51. > :09:55.are born in Scotland you should have had a vote and it should not have

:09:56. > :09:58.just been people living in Scotland. There should be bigger politics than

:09:59. > :10:02.this, if you want to have a fight with David Cameron, go and have it

:10:03. > :10:06.but let's talk about something that is more substantial, I actually

:10:07. > :10:11.think people have said they would like to be part of the UK, we

:10:12. > :10:14.recognise that there should be a Scottish parliament and we need to

:10:15. > :10:21.debate what it looks like. What got us here was we wanted to talk about

:10:22. > :10:25.what kind of Scotland we lived in. What I really want to see happening

:10:26. > :10:34.now is a respectful campaign, now it is over, let's look at it, yes, we

:10:35. > :10:38.must talk about the powers but there is also something over here, how can

:10:39. > :10:44.we apply this energy to childcare policies and jobs. One of the

:10:45. > :10:50.objections that my end of the yes movement has is that it is not an

:10:51. > :10:54.anti-austerities party, we have policy differences. If you are going

:10:55. > :10:58.to take this result and feed it into the political process you have to

:10:59. > :11:02.accept critique from the left because a lot of them have been

:11:03. > :11:08.involved in the 46%. You know the range of issues I am looking at.

:11:09. > :11:12.Those pictures are from Dundee where we had a fire evacuation short time

:11:13. > :11:18.ago but the good news is that they are back counting. It should not

:11:19. > :11:24.delay things too much. Stuart Maxwell has not had a word yet. We

:11:25. > :11:26.only have this one result from Clackmannanshire to discuss, as a

:11:27. > :11:32.basis for the discussion at the moment, it certainly did not go your

:11:33. > :11:37.way. If it is a No vote, do you think that the other parties, have

:11:38. > :11:42.they convinced you that they are serious about delivering more

:11:43. > :11:49.powers? And perhaps changing the way the UK works. I think we have had

:11:50. > :11:53.different policy offers from different parties, and no

:11:54. > :12:00.substantive agreement. They vary widely. We could not possibly go

:12:01. > :12:04.back on this. One of the unanswered questions from the no campaign has

:12:05. > :12:11.been, what powers? And it has never been answered. If you do not have a

:12:12. > :12:17.clear and Sir,... People have talked about devo max, that means the

:12:18. > :12:26.devolution of everything except defence staff. We are talking about

:12:27. > :12:31.taxes but not all of the taxes. You are referring to the Labour Party

:12:32. > :12:35.proposal on further devolution. -- clear answer. In these circumstances

:12:36. > :12:40.actually the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have more radical

:12:41. > :12:43.proposals, they want a full devolution of income tax which is

:12:44. > :12:51.something you were keen on. Would you be prepared to compromise by

:12:52. > :12:54.going further? I am disappointed that Stewart decides to be so

:12:55. > :13:01.negative about this at this stage because genuinely the record has

:13:02. > :13:07.been one of building consensus, we stepped into the Better Together

:13:08. > :13:13.campaign because we thought we could find a way of working together, and

:13:14. > :13:18.I am a sharp as anyone else when it comes to policy differences. I would

:13:19. > :13:23.hope to make the case for my taxation and devolution arguments. I

:13:24. > :13:27.have always said that if you build a consensus then you build a

:13:28. > :13:31.consensus, I would like to see the SNP and others coming in because

:13:32. > :13:35.actually we have made a success of this in the past. You have a rapid

:13:36. > :13:41.timetable for things moving along and it will involve banging heads

:13:42. > :13:46.together to get an agreement. Yes. The thing about the UK for me is

:13:47. > :13:49.that you should be pooling resources across the whole of the United

:13:50. > :13:55.Kingdom, managing economic shocks and finding a way of bringing people

:13:56. > :14:00.closer without breaking the union. Would you move on income tax? I am

:14:01. > :14:07.not saying it is a red line in the sand, if that is such a thing! What

:14:08. > :14:10.I would say is that genuinely, and it has happened through this

:14:11. > :14:18.process, the building of a consensus out side which... I would like them

:14:19. > :14:25.to come inside... Let me finish my point. What does that have to do

:14:26. > :14:30.with others? You have to take England into consideration. I think

:14:31. > :14:35.there is an issue about the decentralisation of power and the

:14:36. > :14:38.asymmetrical devolution has worked and people should move at their own

:14:39. > :14:42.pace. If we go back into the Scottish Parliament next week and

:14:43. > :14:45.you are going to say, we have run this campaign to the next five

:14:46. > :14:53.years, please do, it will not take us forward. The Labour Party have

:14:54. > :14:59.failed. I want to hear from Stuart Maxwell. I do not think Ukip are

:15:00. > :15:06.doing any better on this. I want to hear from Stuart.

:15:07. > :15:12.We will accept this result, absolutely, yes or no, we will not

:15:13. > :15:19.rerun this, we have said this every time. We have always said we will

:15:20. > :15:22.accept the result. The point is that we have got to have a firm

:15:23. > :15:30.conclusion from the parties about what that is, and we have not got

:15:31. > :15:42.that. The turnouts figures coming in now. We can go live to West Lothian.

:15:43. > :15:46.What are you hearing? We are hearing early but unofficial, from the yes

:15:47. > :15:54.camp, from the SNB, they say they have lost the count here. -- SNP.

:15:55. > :16:02.They are giving us the figure, 45% yes, 53% no. Unofficial but it is

:16:03. > :16:10.from the SNP. They say they have lost. Those mathematics as good as

:16:11. > :16:14.Alex Salmond's. They do not add up to 100!

:16:15. > :16:21.The leader of the SNP, West Lothian Council, saying that his figures

:16:22. > :16:27.indicate that the yes side have lost in that area, from Peter Johnson.

:16:28. > :16:36.This could be the highest turnout so far, 90.4%! We do not have one

:16:37. > :16:42.higher than that yet. Even when it declines elsewhere, the turnout is

:16:43. > :16:53.habitual, but that is wonderful. Scottish record. That gets us in the

:16:54. > :16:59.Guinness book of records! Habitually, they do vote higher than

:17:00. > :17:04.the rest. The problem is going to be sustaining that. The problem is also

:17:05. > :17:10.going to be, if it is a yes vote, the delivery of the yes mandate. It

:17:11. > :17:15.will be delivered to either side. If it is a no vote, there is a no vote

:17:16. > :17:18.incumbent on those parties that promised in the last week that there

:17:19. > :17:24.would be speedy delivery of more powers. Can I say on that, in the

:17:25. > :17:31.spirit of unity, we should be saying to people who have no party, that

:17:32. > :17:33.they should be part of the process, because you can build a consensus

:17:34. > :17:42.around the powers and that is more likely to pursue the thing. The yes

:17:43. > :17:47.movement, the unionist parties, the Labour Party... The statistic that

:17:48. > :17:53.has scandalised most of us and got us involved, the continuation of the

:17:54. > :17:58.forgotten fifth of Scotland. From the 1970s until now, still defined

:17:59. > :18:04.as poor. Who is responsible for that? Many people. If we have a

:18:05. > :18:08.moment of unity, we should have a moment of unity around social

:18:09. > :18:12.justice! Still looking at this. The reason these people are poor, the

:18:13. > :18:20.dead hand of socialism crushing Scotland. We need a bit of

:18:21. > :18:29.catalyst. Young people leave because they are fed up, they do not want to

:18:30. > :18:34.be told by the government, you have got to make money. If we give young

:18:35. > :18:38.people a chance to start their own businesses, we would have this. --

:18:39. > :18:43.they do not want to be told by the government, you have got to leave to

:18:44. > :18:48.make money. I came into politics not to listen to old cliches, I came

:18:49. > :18:55.into politics to make a difference. If I genuinely believe that the

:18:56. > :18:58.young people that I told, -- taught, I would have voted for a yes vote if

:18:59. > :19:02.I genuinely thought they would benefit. If you want a critique of

:19:03. > :19:05.what is happening, currently in the Scottish Government, there is a

:19:06. > :19:10.language of social justice and a reality of something different. If

:19:11. > :19:16.you want to talk with me about supporting people living in poverty,

:19:17. > :19:19.you have got to spend money. You hold off, you segment of the

:19:20. > :19:24.electorate, the SNP are very successful.

:19:25. > :19:32.Nobody ever talks about business in Scotland. They only talk about

:19:33. > :19:36.social care. The more you interrupt, the few opportunities I

:19:37. > :19:38.will give you to speak. Jackie can give us the latest of elements, keep

:19:39. > :19:51.us up-to-date. The first result of the night from

:19:52. > :20:31.Clackmannanshire. Yes, 16,350. No, 19,000... CHEERING

:20:32. > :20:35.somebody turns up and votes, and the real person arrives later to be told

:20:36. > :20:39.that they have already voted. The biggest gap in Scotland is taking

:20:40. > :20:44.place. A spokesman for the council says that the enquiry will not delay

:20:45. > :20:47.the result. Taking a look now at the scenes outside of the City Council

:20:48. > :20:52.headquarters in George Square, a short time ago. Bit of a party

:20:53. > :20:59.atmosphere going on. It is a balmy night, it is early days. It is a

:21:00. > :21:03.busy one, certainly! Not so busy in Dundee, a fire alarm cleared the

:21:04. > :21:08.Dundee count, the good news is they were back in after ten minutes.

:21:09. > :21:15.Moving into the wee small hours, nearly 94,000 tweets. That is down

:21:16. > :21:17.18% on the previous hour, as you would expect, we are still

:21:18. > :21:30.monitoring this hashtag. And that says it all. We are

:21:31. > :21:35.expecting declaration from Orkney very soon.

:21:36. > :21:41.Awaiting declarations from various corners of the country, I think that

:21:42. > :21:47.we can get some news from Glasgow. We can certainly give you a

:21:48. > :21:48.confirmed turnout. Here is George Black, the counting officer in

:21:49. > :22:01.Glasgow. Counting officer appointed for

:22:02. > :22:08.independence referendum, held an September 18, 2014, hereby announce

:22:09. > :22:12.that having verified the balance paper -- ballot papers, the total

:22:13. > :22:24.number of ballot papers to be counted in the referendum in the

:22:25. > :22:42.Glasgow area: 306 to 4664. -- 306 to 4664. -- 364,664. Compare to many

:22:43. > :22:47.other parts of the country, relatively low. Yes, but the turnout

:22:48. > :22:54.is often spectacularly low-income Harrison. Three quarters of the

:22:55. > :23:01.citron -- citizenry, turning out, fantastic. The fact they are turning

:23:02. > :23:03.out in such huge numbers on an issue which is binary, but a

:23:04. > :23:08.straightforward choice and a choice which makes a real difference,

:23:09. > :23:12.indicates people are not turned off by politics, they are turned off by

:23:13. > :23:17.nonspecific, dry, partisan politics, without any particular result. The

:23:18. > :23:22.consequences of this will be, once again, if it is a yes vote, there

:23:23. > :23:25.will be a mandate for negotiations, and we will expect them to go as

:23:26. > :23:30.smoothly as possible, given the extent of what will be involved. If

:23:31. > :23:34.there is a no vote, there will be an expectation on the parties to

:23:35. > :23:39.deliver in collusion with each other. But also, in keeping with

:23:40. > :23:47.whatever is the consensus between them. What do you think, if

:23:48. > :23:51.anything, we could be doing with the 75% turnout in Glasgow? Would it

:23:52. > :23:58.need to be much higher than that, if yes were to win there? Is it too

:23:59. > :24:03.difficult to tell? The yes side will have been hoping for higher turnout,

:24:04. > :24:06.that is for sure. It is interesting, the three lowest turnout figures:

:24:07. > :24:12.Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, so far. The bigger cities. They appear

:24:13. > :24:18.to be having the lower turnout. Having said that, Glasgow is still

:24:19. > :24:24.around 25% up on the 97 referendum and that is pretty much the average

:24:25. > :24:28.increase that all of the local authorities are currently showing.

:24:29. > :24:34.Big increases in turn out right across Scotland. With one votes

:24:35. > :24:46.declared, no is ahead. We have just got that result from

:24:47. > :24:50.Clackmannanshire. 54/46. For a while we have been promising the result

:24:51. > :24:53.from Orkney, it is still on the way, perhaps a slight delay. In the

:24:54. > :25:08.meantime, while waiting for that, we will go live to Edinburgh, and we

:25:09. > :25:13.can speak with the actor, Martin Compston. He made appearances in the

:25:14. > :25:18.final week or two of the campaign for yes, he was quite integral to it

:25:19. > :25:23.and I have spoken with him myself, in Edinburgh. He was speaking very

:25:24. > :25:28.passionately about his belief in independence. He was saying that he

:25:29. > :25:35.thought there was a social revolution going on in Scotland.

:25:36. > :25:41.Martin, if you can hear me, what do you mean? Look at this turnout,

:25:42. > :25:45.phenomenal. We are engaging with people who had never registered

:25:46. > :25:50.before. We have reawakened the political soul in people. Something

:25:51. > :25:54.is happening in the streets and it is amazing. You just have to be in

:25:55. > :25:58.George Square, any one of the last few night, to be swept up in the

:25:59. > :26:04.atmosphere. I hope, the fire, the belief in people 's eyes. Wings are

:26:05. > :26:08.changing and I hope to God that it is denied, because the Westminster

:26:09. > :26:12.elite, Cameron, Osborne... They are hanging on by a thread to their

:26:13. > :26:17.jobs. I hope that we end them tonight. This is not just for us,

:26:18. > :26:20.because the people in England and Wales are seeing what is happening.

:26:21. > :26:25.They want to take the power back to the people. I feel like it is part

:26:26. > :26:30.of history, not just yes but no as well. The fire in this debate has

:26:31. > :26:35.been incredible. I just hope that we can go all the way tonight. Is it

:26:36. > :26:40.your sense that things will turn out that way, that Scotland has voted

:26:41. > :26:45.for independence. Are you discouraged by the indications on

:26:46. > :26:49.the first result? I do not know, I'm hearing all of these things, I am

:26:50. > :26:52.here tonight, I do not know the number crunching, I am not a

:26:53. > :26:57.politician. Come in from Greenock tonight, the feeling of the street,

:26:58. > :26:59.the people in the street, coming from George Square... Parliament

:27:00. > :27:04.Square, thousands of people behind me. These people have never even

:27:05. > :27:08.voted before, probably, they may not have been to the parliament before.

:27:09. > :27:13.They are outside, shouting and singing. Amazing to see, I feel very

:27:14. > :27:19.privileged to be a part of it. Thank you for speaking with us.

:27:20. > :27:25.Crossing to East Ayrshire, because East Ayrshire, another of the areas

:27:26. > :27:32.where the yes side needs to be doing well, needs to be winning, if it is

:27:33. > :27:37.going to do well overall. To secure Scottish independence.

:27:38. > :27:44.Good evening. It is looking like a fairly even split here in East

:27:45. > :27:47.Ayrshire at the moment. That is probably indicative of the political

:27:48. > :27:53.picture as a whole, this is a divided area, evenly, between the

:27:54. > :28:03.SNP, and labour. There is to local Labour MPs and there is an almost

:28:04. > :28:06.equal split between the two parties in the local council. It is

:28:07. > :28:11.difficult to see how what will happen. Will vote to stay with them

:28:12. > :28:14.and vote yesterday? Will the old Labour voters in this industrial

:28:15. > :28:19.area, where coal mines have closed down, where jobs have been lost,

:28:20. > :28:22.most recently at the Johnnie Walker bottling plant, will they stay with

:28:23. > :28:29.Labour and the no message? Will they vote yes? Thank you for the update,

:28:30. > :28:37.we will be back with you if there is further developments. We can cross

:28:38. > :28:44.to you, Glenn, we saw cheering earlier, what is the mood with you?

:28:45. > :28:56.It is not too downbeat. This has been grassroots, bottom up, hundreds

:28:57. > :29:08.of campaigning organisations coming together into the Yes Scotland

:29:09. > :29:14.movement. We are at a loft party. We are about six flights of stairs. The

:29:15. > :29:21.publisher at freight books is Adrian Searle. Why have the creative

:29:22. > :29:34.industries been so much behind the Yes campaign? I think the creative

:29:35. > :29:39.industries, as part of their remit... I have to winter you for a

:29:40. > :29:48.moment. We gather there may be a result. Our people downhearted with

:29:49. > :29:53.the Clackmannanshire result? Not at all. Clackmannanshire is a small

:29:54. > :29:57.constituency. Only a fraction of a place like Glasgow or Dundee. I

:29:58. > :30:09.think we see it as an early knock-back. It is a marathon, not a

:30:10. > :30:13.sprint. We are fully prepared. Alistair Buchan, counting officer

:30:14. > :30:17.for the Orkney Islands area, hereby declare the number of ballot papers

:30:18. > :30:24.counted in the Scot independence represented in the Orkney Islands

:30:25. > :30:29.area is 14,907. The turnout is 83.7%. The total number of votes

:30:30. > :30:41.cast in relation to each answer to the referendum question in this area

:30:42. > :30:49.is as follows: Yes, 4883. No, 10,004. Rejected, 20. The reasons

:30:50. > :30:54.for rejection are as follows. Voting in favour of both answers, two.

:30:55. > :31:01.Writing or mark by which border could be identified, five.

:31:02. > :31:08.Unmarked, 13. This concludes the counting of votes for the Orkney

:31:09. > :31:13.Islands. That is the declaration from Orkney.

:31:14. > :31:22.We can confirm the result for you. The reaction first of all. That is

:31:23. > :31:27.the no event in Glasgow. They are delighted with that firm No Ford

:31:28. > :31:34.from Orkney. It was always expected that the Orkney Islands would vote

:31:35. > :31:46.No in this referendum. That is a particularly firm No vote. The

:31:47. > :31:54.turnout, 84%. 67% voting No, 33% voting Yes. Remember the bit of fun

:31:55. > :32:02.we had earlier, the areas more inclined to vote Yes and No. There

:32:03. > :32:05.were a series of factors used in developing that. In that list,

:32:06. > :32:12.Orkney was the least likely to vote for independence. Closely followed

:32:13. > :32:20.by Shetlands. It is No surprise, I would say, that they have gone that

:32:21. > :32:37.particular way. There are the numbers nationally now with two

:32:38. > :32:43.accounts. -- counts. 58% No, 42% Yes on two declarations. Still early

:32:44. > :32:52.days. By definition, the ones coming in early are the smallest councils.

:32:53. > :32:57.The bigger areas where the votes will waive the outcome. The big

:32:58. > :33:08.cities and the big population centres in the centre of Scotland. A

:33:09. > :33:15.quick word on the Orkney result? I don't pretend to understand what

:33:16. > :33:19.makes Orkney so emphatic. We have to recognise the diversity within

:33:20. > :33:23.Scotland. An agenda which simply seize power sitting in Edinburgh is

:33:24. > :33:31.not that different from power lying in Westminster. I am delighted they

:33:32. > :33:35.have driven that agenda, frankly. Both are size the SNP recognised

:33:36. > :33:37.that. That is part of the decentralising agenda, which is

:33:38. > :33:45.about giving more powers to the kind of economy in Orkney and the

:33:46. > :33:51.Shetlands. It is opening up that kind of discussion. I wonder what

:33:52. > :34:01.part of that 10,000 is independence for Orkney. Deputy First Minister

:34:02. > :34:08.Nicola Sturgeon making a big effort to visit Orkney during the

:34:09. > :34:13.campaign. And Shetland. Clearly they banked that rather than seeing it as

:34:14. > :34:17.an incentive to vote Yes. You would not have expected to win Orkney,

:34:18. > :34:25.Stewart Maxwell, but how disappointed are you by that margin?

:34:26. > :34:29.I'm not that surprised by it. This was probably one of the toughest

:34:30. > :34:33.bits of the country to win for a Yes. The local campaigners have done

:34:34. > :34:38.a tremendous job. Clearly that was always going to be difficult. I

:34:39. > :34:49.agree with Joanna that the work that must carry on. -- Johann Lamont. The

:34:50. > :34:53.people of the Orkney Islands must make sure they get the deal they'd

:34:54. > :34:55.need for their people. It is indicative of the kind of changes

:34:56. > :35:01.taking place because of the referendum process, that these

:35:02. > :35:04.communities have come together and decided to speak with a voice that

:35:05. > :35:08.resonates across the island and rural communities. That is a

:35:09. > :35:12.positive aspect of the campaign that has not got the attention perhaps it

:35:13. > :35:15.should have done. There were those who said that if there was to be

:35:16. > :35:25.independence for Scotland, perhaps Orkney or Shetland might seek their

:35:26. > :35:29.own independence. Watch this space. I'm not sure that was an entirely

:35:30. > :35:37.serious campaign. Let's talk about the campaign more generally. Some

:35:38. > :35:46.people characterised it as being hope against fear. If that was the

:35:47. > :35:49.case, or to the extent it was the case, why has hope not done better

:35:50. > :35:55.in Clackmannanshire and perhaps in some other parts of the country? I

:35:56. > :36:01.think it is done not bad. If you are looking at 100% of the population

:36:02. > :36:05.where nearly 50% have bought into the Yes agenda, that is a big

:36:06. > :36:12.constituency of values and aspirations for a different kind of

:36:13. > :36:17.Scotland. I am not very happy with the No campaign conducted

:36:18. > :36:20.themselves. It was a top down fear driven operation. If we are to bring

:36:21. > :36:27.the country together, we have two look at what the Yes campaign and

:36:28. > :36:32.its constituency was aspiring to. It is a profound level of involvement

:36:33. > :36:38.in shaping your society, not just at the level of cash transfers, but

:36:39. > :36:43.control of land, democracy, cultural expression, of looking at people who

:36:44. > :36:50.have been port referred to long. -- poor. What Alex Salmond said quite

:36:51. > :36:54.wisely is there is a court of people who will turn up and articulate

:36:55. > :36:59.their voice, and all parties have to respect that. If there is a hope it

:37:00. > :37:09.is a hope for a radically more equal Scotland. Everybody's feed is in the

:37:10. > :37:14.fire to make that happen. Was it difficult to be on the no side?

:37:15. > :37:23.There is an evident challenge for that. My own preference would have

:37:24. > :37:26.been for two propositions. I genuinely believe, with all my

:37:27. > :37:30.heart, that Scotland is better staying in the United Kingdom, not

:37:31. > :37:39.because of notions of history or heritage, but because of solidarity.

:37:40. > :37:43.That is not working systemically. There are people on the no side who

:37:44. > :37:48.genuinely want to address the question of social justice. In

:37:49. > :37:53.everything we have done politically that is part of what we have done.

:37:54. > :38:02.That is part of the critique of the no movement. You might say that

:38:03. > :38:08.Scotland can be a beacon of hope. I think something different. Let's

:38:09. > :38:15.build progressive forces across the united kingdom. That is an equally

:38:16. > :38:20.respectful position to take. Not with ?26 billion worth of Welford

:38:21. > :38:29.Road 's, recommissioning trident etc. -- welfare cuts.

:38:30. > :38:35.I'm joined now by a supporter of the Better Together campaign. Pretty

:38:36. > :38:42.happy with the result? Very happy. Delighted. What were the big issues

:38:43. > :38:52.in the campaign as they played out in Orkney? Obviously Orkney is very

:38:53. > :38:55.much an agricultural community. A lot of fishing and people who

:38:56. > :39:01.genuinely believe in working together. That has been reflected in

:39:02. > :39:10.the vote. It was expected that Orkney may well vote No. How much

:39:11. > :39:19.work went in to persuading people not only to back the no side, but to

:39:20. > :39:25.turn out? I think people were very aware there were -- it was expected

:39:26. > :39:31.to be a high turnout. People have engaged in a way they have not done

:39:32. > :39:36.in my lifetime. It has been a huge learning curve for me. It has not

:39:37. > :39:41.all been enjoyable. It has been a big learning experience and I'm

:39:42. > :39:45.grateful for that. What is the sense in Orkney? Edinburgh is obviously a

:39:46. > :39:54.lot closer to the Orkney Islands than London, but does it not feel

:39:55. > :39:58.that way? No, I don't think so. Any large city that is far away is

:39:59. > :40:04.regarded as a large city that is far away. We have two starts here. This

:40:05. > :40:08.is where we are. As we have shown tonight, this is where we have got

:40:09. > :40:13.to get to work. The No campaign has been very forward looking in Orkney.

:40:14. > :40:16.We have to look forward and work together with everybody that has

:40:17. > :40:21.taken part in the referendum. It starts now and we have to work

:40:22. > :40:31.together on it. Good to talk to you. Thank you. Live from Orkney. Let's

:40:32. > :40:51.take a look at the total votes cast so far in Scotland. Yes on 21,233,

:40:52. > :40:54.No and 29000 and 40. -- 29,040. Whichever colour gets over that

:40:55. > :41:02.dotted line in the middle first will win the referendum. No is ahead at

:41:03. > :41:08.the moment with 58%. Let's get an update on the counts in the

:41:09. > :41:12.Lanarkshire areas. We are going to both North and South. Let's speak to

:41:13. > :41:19.Pauline McClane in North Lanarkshire, in Motherwell. What are

:41:20. > :41:23.you hearing? The interesting thing about the rise in social media is

:41:24. > :41:25.the fact we're sitting here listening and watching what other

:41:26. > :41:32.people are speculating about here on the ground in Motherwell what we are

:41:33. > :41:38.understanding from both sides of the campaign is that it is very close.

:41:39. > :41:44.They are still counting. We had expected a declaration by now. It is

:41:45. > :41:48.going to be much later. That is partly down to the sheer volume of

:41:49. > :41:52.votes that are being counted. That gives us some sense. We do not even

:41:53. > :41:57.actually know that part of it. We're still waiting for the official

:41:58. > :42:05.declaration of how many voters have turned out in this area. We is this

:42:06. > :42:10.high. As you can see behind me, they are still counting. It will be a

:42:11. > :42:23.while before we have a result. Now we go to Katrina Renton in South

:42:24. > :42:31.Lanarkshire. How is it looking? To well, we have had our turnout here.

:42:32. > :42:36.It is over 85%. 220,000 of the 260,000 people registered to vote.

:42:37. > :42:44.The turnout is high. Both sides quite buoyant about the amount of

:42:45. > :42:48.people who have come to vote. East Kilbride over there, the table is

:42:49. > :42:54.right at the back. The other one is ahead in the counting... I have been

:42:55. > :42:58.talking to the Yes campaign. They have been doing their tallying of

:42:59. > :43:02.the votes. They believe that they are ahead but just by a nose. In

:43:03. > :43:08.some of the other areas they say it is too close to call. I have

:43:09. > :43:15.overheard many campaigners from both sides saying, this is going to be

:43:16. > :43:21.key. You have to think of the volume of faults. Only 29,000 suffer. There

:43:22. > :43:24.are 220,000 in this room. Early days. We're waiting to see what will

:43:25. > :43:28.happen in places like this. I think we're going to keep

:43:29. > :43:34.crisscrossing the country. Next we can go to Inverclyde to speak with

:43:35. > :43:44.Sally. What can you tell us? Hello again. Pretty nice fake stuff here.

:43:45. > :43:49.You have been broadcasting we have had an 87.4% turnout. That is quite

:43:50. > :43:51.phenomenal. Maybe No surprise because they were queueing outside

:43:52. > :43:57.some of the polling stations before seven o'clock this morning. We are

:43:58. > :44:01.hearing we may get the result in the next 15 or 20 minutes. It is quite

:44:02. > :44:08.tense. I spoke to the local Labour MP less than five minutes ago. And

:44:09. > :44:11.he is saying it could come down to a single vote. That is not

:44:12. > :44:15.unprecedented in this part of the work. He says in his lifetime he has

:44:16. > :44:20.never seen anything like this. It is knife edge. He said that over the

:44:21. > :44:28.doorsteps they were going for every single last vote.

:44:29. > :44:36.The peas started evening a lot more confident than they are now but we

:44:37. > :44:44.think they still have the urge. -- the SNP. I just spoke to the leader

:44:45. > :44:49.of the SNP on the council here and he started off quite enthused and a

:44:50. > :44:54.boolean and by he has been a lot more tense in the last ten minutes

:44:55. > :44:59.or half an hour. -- ebullient. It could really come down to the last

:45:00. > :45:03.vote here and hopefully there will not be a recount. I hope the overall

:45:04. > :45:08.referendum does not come down to just one vote! I bet you do, you

:45:09. > :45:13.will never get to bed! We will come back to you for any further

:45:14. > :45:21.developments and of course the results. Now we will go to Edinburgh

:45:22. > :45:27.and the National Counting Centre. Thank you. I am in the media Centre

:45:28. > :45:33.here in Edinburgh with Paul Hatcher and of the Sunday Herald and a

:45:34. > :45:37.columnist with the times. Do you get the size -- do you get a sense that

:45:38. > :45:42.we are getting a sense of the narrative earlier in the proceedings

:45:43. > :45:48.family were expecting? Possibly. The only results are quite small areas

:45:49. > :45:55.but I was intrigued by Orkney, my homeland and where my mother used to

:45:56. > :46:02.be SMP agent, but she always said it was very unpromising territory and

:46:03. > :46:07.so it has proved. There is a big No vote from Orkney and also

:46:08. > :46:12.Clackmannan. I think Clackmannan was an interesting result because the

:46:13. > :46:17.Yes campaign would have hoped to win that one. You are an Edinburgh

:46:18. > :46:24.resident of long standing. How do you read this? There is a very high

:46:25. > :46:28.turnout, all over Scotland but particularly in Edinburgh. It is

:46:29. > :46:33.particularly in areas where the No vote would expect to win. A high

:46:34. > :46:41.turnout in those areas it that our middle-class look to be good news

:46:42. > :46:46.for the No vote. Edinburgh could be 60% for the No vote. Paul, you write

:46:47. > :46:53.for the Sunday Herald, the only paper that came out and backed a Yes

:46:54. > :46:59.vote. How influential has the media been in this campaign and the weight

:47:00. > :47:04.of media opposition? There is no doubt that the media has been very

:47:05. > :47:08.sceptical of the independent proposition across-the-board. That

:47:09. > :47:12.is just one part of the story, there has been an amazing ground operation

:47:13. > :47:17.fought by the Yes campaign may have reached a lot of people. The media

:47:18. > :47:22.is influential but it is not the force it was ten or 20 years ago. In

:47:23. > :47:28.terms of the narrative this evening, I use a prized? I would not say I am

:47:29. > :47:33.surprised but yesterday my contacts on the Yes campaign thought they

:47:34. > :47:36.would win it but now they are talking phrases like, it is

:47:37. > :47:40.competitive and perhaps we could still do it. It seems so far as

:47:41. > :47:45.though it has been a good night for the No campaign and I see no reason

:47:46. > :47:49.for that not to be the case. Thank you for your insight. A lot of

:47:50. > :47:54.journalists in this hole and there are a lot of deadlines approaching

:47:55. > :47:58.and the tension is rising as we await further results.

:47:59. > :48:03.I am in the Royal Highland Centre. Having had a good look around

:48:04. > :48:08.certainly some of these tables, it does look as you heard there from at

:48:09. > :48:11.least one of the journalists that Edinburgh may vote for the No

:48:12. > :48:17.campaign. We are still waiting for a turnout but it is said to be quite

:48:18. > :48:21.high. 80% of the postal votes have been returned and hopefully we will

:48:22. > :48:26.get the turnout figures quite soon. I will take you to some of the

:48:27. > :48:34.tables. You can see in some areas that it is quite close and they are

:48:35. > :48:39.putting the piles down of Yes and No and those counts will be verified

:48:40. > :48:43.and we will hopefully get a result but it will be very early in the

:48:44. > :48:51.morning before we get a result, maybe 5am or 6am. This is a hefty

:48:52. > :48:55.count to go through. Certainly a few worried faces within the Yes

:48:56. > :49:02.campaign and I have spoken to a number of people here who think it

:49:03. > :49:09.could be 60% for the No campaign. However I certainly spoke to a

:49:10. > :49:12.couple in the Yes Camp who still remain quite optimistic. They say

:49:13. > :49:17.they have achieved a lot to get this far. It has been an incredible

:49:18. > :49:23.campaign, having been with both sides over the last six months and

:49:24. > :49:28.to see those campaigns develop, certainly they feel they came very

:49:29. > :49:32.far to be hitting over the 40 mark right now. Whether that is the case

:49:33. > :49:36.in Edinburgh or right across the country, they feel their campaign

:49:37. > :49:41.has inspired and given a vision for Scotland and been a hopeful vision

:49:42. > :49:45.for Scotland as opposed to the fearful one that the No campaign has

:49:46. > :49:50.offered. We have only got a few results are in so we will see how it

:49:51. > :49:56.progresses over the next few hours. I will hand you over to Jean -- Jane

:49:57. > :50:01.Lewis. Thank you very much. Welcome to East

:50:02. > :50:07.Renfrewshire where there has been a massive turnout, 90.4%. The official

:50:08. > :50:16.counters are busy at it, hard at work, as they count their way

:50:17. > :50:20.through 66,021 votes. O gauge some early and unconfirmed reaction to

:50:21. > :50:27.what is happening. I am joined by Ken Macintosh. I get the feeling you

:50:28. > :50:35.are quite confident? It has been a fantastic result here, a huge

:50:36. > :50:38.turnout, over 90% is phenomenal. I am slightly disappointed that East

:50:39. > :50:42.Dunbartonshire might have outvoted us. It is a fantastic result and

:50:43. > :50:46.tested meter how much this matters to the people of East Renfrewshire.

:50:47. > :50:51.We have seen dozens of activists come out to join us here, people who

:50:52. > :50:56.have never been involved in politics before and you can see the results

:50:57. > :51:03.behind you. Tell us what you are thinking about with these results,

:51:04. > :51:08.we have impressive figures that are just claims but tell me about them.

:51:09. > :51:14.We tried to check by sampling what the result will be and our sample

:51:15. > :51:18.shows that in my constituency we have won every single ballot box and

:51:19. > :51:23.that is before the postal votes are added in and we want those

:51:24. > :51:27.overwhelmingly so we think we are looking at 60/4001 above that so we

:51:28. > :51:35.are very pleased with that, that is a fantastic results. Why has there

:51:36. > :51:41.been such a healthy turnout? East Renfrewshire has a very good record

:51:42. > :51:47.of high results. We have a very politically aware, stitch and see.

:51:48. > :51:50.This is a place where people move because they value the schools and

:51:51. > :51:54.the education and so on and people are very concerned about the future

:51:55. > :51:57.of their children and they exercise their democratic right at the ballot

:51:58. > :52:02.box and they have spoken very clearly about what they want to see.

:52:03. > :52:10.Thank you for joining us. We will see later whether the No supporters

:52:11. > :52:14.here are right to be so confident. Declaration should be between 3am

:52:15. > :52:18.and 3:30am and that is what they are expecting and it remains to be seen

:52:19. > :52:22.if they will keep to that time. They are busy behind me getting through

:52:23. > :52:26.the counting of the votes and I will hand over now to Stephen in

:52:27. > :52:33.Aberdeenshire. An update here. We are waiting for

:52:34. > :52:38.the official turnout in this council area. We have been told it could be

:52:39. > :52:45.as high as 90% which would fall into a lot of the turnouts around the

:52:46. > :52:49.country. The conservative leader of Aberdeenshire Council has also told

:52:50. > :52:55.us that he reckons that the vote could be as much as 60% for the No

:52:56. > :52:58.campaign and 40% for the Yes campaign which would be an

:52:59. > :53:02.extraordinary result given that the FNP had put their hopes on

:53:03. > :53:15.Aberdeenshire as being an area where they could do very well. -- the

:53:16. > :53:19.SNP. It is an area represented by Alex Salmond and he is not at the

:53:20. > :53:24.count because we believe he is on the way to Edinburgh. There is also

:53:25. > :53:29.an event at his home village which has been cancelled tonight. The

:53:30. > :53:34.declaration here could be later than originally expected, at about 5am.

:53:35. > :53:44.Thank you for that update from Aberdeenshire. We have more turnout

:53:45. > :53:54.figures. North Ayrshire is 84% and Perth and Kinross has a turnout of

:53:55. > :54:00.86.9%. There is a very consistently high pattern of turnout figures

:54:01. > :54:06.across the country. The cities are perhaps turning out slightly less

:54:07. > :54:12.voters than the other areas of the country. Let us talk a little bit

:54:13. > :54:16.more to our panel. We have a UKIP member of the European Parliament.

:54:17. > :54:21.Where you upset that the Better Together parties did not welcome the

:54:22. > :54:25.efforts of UKIP to campaign for a No vote and they would rather that you

:54:26. > :54:30.stayed away. I was rather disappointed for the campaign as a

:54:31. > :54:33.whole. They were foolish to do that. There is a force multiplier in

:54:34. > :54:37.getting as many people as possible in that they were worried because we

:54:38. > :54:45.discussed the one issue that they do not discuss. All the other parties

:54:46. > :54:48.will not discuss Europe and that is an essential part of it because Alex

:54:49. > :54:51.Salmond is not offering independence for Scotland, he is offering rule

:54:52. > :54:57.from Brussels and Frankfurt and they did not want to discuss that so they

:54:58. > :55:01.kept us out. We will pick up on that in a moment. Why couldn't UKIP

:55:02. > :55:05.coming to the Better Together tent? We have seen it here tonight that

:55:06. > :55:09.politics of division and separation and blaming other people, this is a

:55:10. > :55:14.culture we have lived within Scotland and UKIP represents the

:55:15. > :55:20.same kind of feeling. The Better Together people came together with a

:55:21. > :55:24.positive offer. I will say on the issue of radical campaigns, the

:55:25. > :55:28.characterisation of hope against freedom is not a true one and I am

:55:29. > :55:32.proud of the local campaign which was done by predominantly young

:55:33. > :55:37.activists in my party who were really out there and campaigning as

:55:38. > :55:47.strongly as much of the Yes campaign and these young people in particular

:55:48. > :55:50.I would like to see post-referendum generation, that question has been

:55:51. > :55:54.settled so we will get the thing that energise them under a fresh the

:55:55. > :55:58.movement into political debate. I told them not to hang up their

:55:59. > :56:05.trainers. It has been a big change for us. We have the voice from the

:56:06. > :56:09.Western Isles. I announced the total number of

:56:10. > :56:14.ballot papers to be counted and the turnout and I now do so. I announce

:56:15. > :56:21.that having verified the ballot paper accounts the total number of

:56:22. > :56:30.ballot papers to be counted in the referendum is 19,758, that is a

:56:31. > :56:34.turnout of 86.2%. As you know the declaration of local totals will be

:56:35. > :56:38.made very shortly, following authorisation by the Chief Counting

:56:39. > :56:43.Officer and I hope to announce the final result in about ten to 15

:56:44. > :56:49.minutes. Things have moved along pretty swiftly in the Western

:56:50. > :56:53.Isles, despite the fact that they were having to transport ballot

:56:54. > :56:59.papers, or it seems they were going to have to transport ballot papers

:57:00. > :57:02.by vote rather than by air but the count obviously has moved along much

:57:03. > :57:15.quicker than perhaps they might otherwise have expected. Their

:57:16. > :57:22.result is due very shortly in deed. David pointed out from his point of

:57:23. > :57:27.view that one of the flaws in the independence prospectus that people

:57:28. > :57:29.were offered was that it was independence within the European

:57:30. > :57:36.Union. Might that have put some people off in that way? I do not

:57:37. > :57:40.think so. The characterisation of being a full member of the European

:57:41. > :57:44.Union as somehow not being independent I think is

:57:45. > :57:48.unrecognisable. If you ask all the countries right across Europe,

:57:49. > :57:52.whether it is Germany, France or Poland, it does not matter, they all

:57:53. > :57:56.believe and they are correct that they are independent countries that

:57:57. > :58:01.voluntarily share some of their sovereignty to get a sharing across

:58:02. > :58:04.Europe, a sharing of effectively the common market so we shared goods and

:58:05. > :58:14.the free movement of people and that is a perfectly sensible thing to

:58:15. > :58:18.do. You have just described the United Kingdom! It is completely

:58:19. > :58:28.different. This sovereignty rests with Westminster. Top you choose to

:58:29. > :58:41.share. I think there is a difference. Let us get an update

:58:42. > :58:45.from Fife. We mentioned it earlier as a potential bellwether

:58:46. > :58:50.constituency, or a local authority area within a national constituency

:58:51. > :58:56.for this referendum. Lisa is at the count. Bring us up to date.

:58:57. > :59:04.It is too early to say with any certainty, but we have been chatting

:59:05. > :59:07.to Thomas Docherty, the local MP, and he is fairly confident that

:59:08. > :59:14.everything is going in favour of the No campaign. It looks as if Fife

:59:15. > :59:19.will vote No. We have not got the turnout figures yet. But based on

:59:20. > :59:24.the sample sizes they have coming in coming years quite confident things

:59:25. > :59:32.are moving in their favour. That is based on accounts in areas like

:59:33. > :59:36.Kirkaldy. He is saying nothing with certainty but from what he has seen

:59:37. > :59:42.this evening, there is growing evidence we are looking at a No

:59:43. > :59:47.vote. Thank you very much. You will keep across that count and bring us

:59:48. > :59:53.up to date. We are hearing from Colin Fox of the Scottish

:59:54. > :00:01.Socialist, a leading light in the Yes campaign. He says that the

:00:02. > :00:06.Scotland of yesterday is No more. The Westminster chattering classes

:00:07. > :00:10.for panic stricken. There is enormous pressure to move from the

:00:11. > :00:16.status quo but not necessarily by implication towards independence.

:00:17. > :00:21.Interesting remark from Colin Fox. Yes it is. His role in the campaign

:00:22. > :00:28.was praised very warmly by Alex Salmond. The Scottish Socialist

:00:29. > :00:38.Party has a relatively small influence in Scotland these days. It

:00:39. > :00:43.was very true what Pat said, don't lump him with the SNP. Many people

:00:44. > :00:50.do not regard themselves as nationalists. They advocate a yes

:00:51. > :00:53.vote. Intriguing, some of the remarks Johann Lamont made, wanting

:00:54. > :01:00.the activists to move an campaigning for Labour. It was evident during

:01:01. > :01:05.the campaign that there was a binary effort going on by all the parties,

:01:06. > :01:12.particularly the Labour Party. When Ed Miliband vote -- spoke, he said

:01:13. > :01:18.vote No to independence but yes to Labour. By contrast, David Cameron

:01:19. > :01:28.almost had to disavow his party. Quite astonishing self-denial. There

:01:29. > :01:36.was almost a swear word in the Edinburgh speech. Yes. Yes, we will

:01:37. > :01:39.go on and campaign as Labour. Is Labour listening and learning? I

:01:40. > :01:45.agree that politics will never be the same again. It is about

:01:46. > :01:48.campaigning. It cannot simply be about elections. I had a great

:01:49. > :01:56.experience during this period. I went around to small events. People

:01:57. > :02:02.came and spoke to me. I learned about their lives and their

:02:03. > :02:07.priorities. My job is to listen. And yes, of course, we're going to be

:02:08. > :02:12.engaged in battles. But it has to be shaped by more than just politicians

:02:13. > :02:19.deciding which of the dividing lines it is. We have learned that we need

:02:20. > :02:26.to continue to understand and get these folk involved in shaping

:02:27. > :02:30.policies. We have an opportunity to find the things we agree on and

:02:31. > :02:41.start implementing some of them. Let's go to Jackie Bird.

:02:42. > :02:52.Two declarations. It is very early days. Any second now... Yes, 21,233,

:02:53. > :02:57.No, just over 29,000. Clackmannanshire and Orkney both

:02:58. > :03:07.voting No. Two comparatively small councils. The percentage stands at

:03:08. > :03:10.58% to No. 42% free Yes. We're waiting for the big local

:03:11. > :03:19.authorities. It appears that cities are polling lower than rural areas.

:03:20. > :03:24.A key campaigner for Yes has been the actor, Martin Thomson. He says

:03:25. > :03:29.despite first blood going to the Better Together campaign committee

:03:30. > :03:34.is undaunted. Something amazing is happening. I feel we are part of

:03:35. > :03:38.history. Not just on the Yes side. On the no side as well. The fire in

:03:39. > :03:42.this debate has been incredible. I hope we can go all the way.

:03:43. > :03:46.Tonight is the culmination of sustained and passionate

:03:47. > :03:51.campaigning. What for many other is to do is wait. Here we see on the of

:03:52. > :03:55.the picture, former Labour leader Iain Gray, at the East Lothian

:03:56. > :04:10.count. We expect a declaration of about 3am. Worry not, if you are

:04:11. > :04:14.flagging. Get yourself a Coffey. One woman voted today on a 100th

:04:15. > :04:25.birthday. Interesting conversation continuing online. A comment from

:04:26. > :04:29.Karen Gillan, Doctor Who assistant. We have a photograph from the happy

:04:30. > :04:37.No camp celebrating in Clackmannanshire. The first result

:04:38. > :04:44.tonight. We are keeping a close eye and how social media is reacting to

:04:45. > :04:49.the results. Welcome along. We're going to give you another update on

:04:50. > :04:55.the situation so far with Professor John Curtice, who has been looking

:04:56. > :05:00.at the numbers as they have come in. All two declarations so far. At

:05:01. > :05:05.this stage of the evening you willing to make any predictions? Not

:05:06. > :05:13.as far as the outcome is concerned, other than to say that it is going

:05:14. > :05:20.to be relatively close. I'm sure the no side feel happier than the Yes

:05:21. > :05:24.side. That is as far as we can go. There is more to say about the

:05:25. > :05:29.turnout. We do have the turnouts from all but half a dozen of the

:05:30. > :05:33.local authorities. Headline number one is that it looks as though we

:05:34. > :05:41.are heading for a record turnout for a nationwide ballot in Scotland.

:05:42. > :05:47.Something like 84%. That beats the 81% recorded in Scotland in 1951.

:05:48. > :05:50.Secondly, however, despite that much higher level of turnout, otherwise

:05:51. > :05:55.the turnout looks remarkably similar. To some degree it does give

:05:56. > :05:58.the lie to some of the claims being made by both sides during the

:05:59. > :06:05.referendum campaign. What we discover is that actually the places

:06:06. > :06:08.that are recording the highest turnouts, it places like East

:06:09. > :06:12.Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, are usually the places that recorded

:06:13. > :06:16.the highest turnout. The places recording the lowest turnouts,

:06:17. > :06:20.Glasgow and Dundee, are usually those that recorded the lowest

:06:21. > :06:25.turnout. Therefore, it is quite difficult to see any evidence,

:06:26. > :06:27.despite those claims, that the Yes site have been particularly

:06:28. > :06:37.successful at increasing the turnout in places which are relatively bad.

:06:38. > :06:44.But equally also, some of the speculation we have heard during the

:06:45. > :06:49.course of tonight as to why neither side is doing particularly well, is

:06:50. > :06:53.that they've not galvanised their section of Scotland to the polls any

:06:54. > :06:59.more than they have done in the past. Probably we simply have to say

:07:00. > :07:01.a lot more people voted but neither side has been particularly

:07:02. > :07:12.successful in getting their supposedly bogus to the polls. Let's

:07:13. > :07:18.crossed live to Westminster. Michael Gove, the Conservative MP, and

:07:19. > :07:23.Conservative minister, is with us. Are you starting to breathe a sigh

:07:24. > :07:26.of relief? Is too early. The initial signs have been optimistic for those

:07:27. > :07:31.of us who want to keep the United Kingdom together. The result in

:07:32. > :07:34.Clackmannanshire was certainly heartening. It is too soon to be

:07:35. > :07:41.definitive about what is going to happen. We have got our fingers

:07:42. > :07:48.crossed. A win is a win. If it turns out to be a No victory, you will

:07:49. > :07:51.celebrate. There has been criticism of the Better Together campaign

:07:52. > :08:02.throughout. It was said to be too negative. Do you think it is fair? I

:08:03. > :08:05.don't think it is fair at all. The Better Together campaign has

:08:06. > :08:08.emphasised how much we want to keep United Kingdom together. Devolution

:08:09. > :08:13.is the best of both worlds. How much the other nations wanted Scotland to

:08:14. > :08:18.remain part of the family of nations. Isn't it true that Downing

:08:19. > :08:22.Street was orchestrating a campaign to get business leaders and world

:08:23. > :08:27.leaders to make interventions to warn of scary consequences if

:08:28. > :08:30.Scotland did vote Yes? The campaign was led in Scotland by Alistair

:08:31. > :08:33.Darling and the Better Together team. One of the things they did was

:08:34. > :08:39.they pointed out, as Gordon Brown did in his wonderful eve of poll

:08:40. > :08:49.speech, that there were unanswered questions. That the yes campaign had

:08:50. > :08:53.never properly addressed, most importantly, that the future of the

:08:54. > :08:58.currency. And a variety of big economic questions. It was also

:08:59. > :09:01.right that business spoke out and said to customers, to employees, to

:09:02. > :09:09.the people of Scotland, that there was a price tag which would be

:09:10. > :09:15.attached to the idea of separation. It was argued by the other side that

:09:16. > :09:19.that was a myth. ASDA warned of higher prices but Tesco refused to

:09:20. > :09:24.do so. In a market situation if one retailer put up their prices,

:09:25. > :09:31.everyone would presumably go and shop elsewhere? The fact... Ever to

:09:32. > :09:38.cut you off to get the declaration from Shetland. I hereby certify and

:09:39. > :09:48.to declare the total number of ballot papers counted in the

:09:49. > :09:53.referendum is 15,635. The turnout is 84.4%. The total number of votes

:09:54. > :10:02.cast in relation to each answer to the referendum question in this area

:10:03. > :10:10.is as follows: four Yes, 5669. For No, 9951. There were 15 rejected

:10:11. > :10:14.ballot papers. That concludes the counting of votes for Shetland

:10:15. > :10:29.Islands council area. Thank you very much. There is the reaction once

:10:30. > :10:41.again to a No vote. Shetland voting No by 9951 votes to 5669. A turnout

:10:42. > :10:49.of 84%. A similar margin to that in Orkney. 64% No. 36% Yes. This is how