Browse content similar to 14/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to the Sunday Politics, coming to you live from Edinburgh. | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
Terrorists who use the name Islamic State have carried out | :00:44. | :00:45. | |
their threat to murder the British aid worker, David Haines. | :00:46. | :00:54. | |
They released a video late last night, showing a masked man | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
beheading Mr Haines, who was taken captive in Syria 18 months ago. | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
The jihadist group have already beheaded two American journalists. | :01:04. | :01:05. | |
Now it's threatening the life of a second British hostage. | :01:06. | :01:07. | |
David Cameron described the murder as an act of pure evil. | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
As we speak he's chairing a meeting of the Cabinet's COBRA | :01:11. | :01:12. | |
President Obama said the US stood shoulder to shoulder | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
Alex Salmond says Scotland "stands on the cusp of history" as | :01:17. | :01:24. | |
he predicts a historic and substantial victory in | :01:25. | :01:26. | |
As the latest polls show the two sides neck and neck, | :01:27. | :01:34. | |
I'll ask Yes campaigner and socialist Tommy Sheridan about his | :01:35. | :01:36. | |
And after last week's last-minute interventions from Gordon Brown | :01:37. | :01:44. | |
David Cameron, Ed Miliband and big business, I'll ask | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
pro-unionist George Galloway whether it's enough to win over waverers. | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
When should a misbehaving councillor call it a day? | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
And sweeping changes north of the border, but what will | :01:56. | :01:57. | |
step closer back to Parliament. Is it a lame-duck administration? | :01:58. | :02:13. | |
Late last night, as most folk were preparing for bed, news broke that | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
Islamic State extremists had carried out their threat to murder the | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
The group released a video, similar to the ones in which two American | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
journalists were decapitated, showing a masked man apparently | :02:24. | :02:25. | |
beheading Mr Haines who was taken captive in Syria last year. | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
The terrorist, who has a southern British accent, | :02:30. | :02:32. | |
also threatened the life of a second hostage from the UK | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
Mr Haines is the third Westerner to be killed | :02:37. | :02:38. | |
His family have paid tribute to his humanitarian work; they say he | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
David Cameron described the murder as an act of pure evil, and said | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
his heart went out to Mr Haines family, who had shown extraordinary | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
Mr Cameron went on to say, "We will do everything in our power | :02:54. | :03:02. | |
to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
Mr Haines was born in England and brought up in Scotland. | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond condemned the killing on the Marr | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
Well, it's an act of unspeakable barbarism that we have seen. | :03:14. | :03:28. | |
Obviously our condolences go to the family members of David Haynes who | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
have borne this with such fortitude in recent months -- David | :03:34. | :03:40. | |
Alex Salmond was also asked whether he supported military action | :03:41. | :03:42. | |
Haines there is no reason to believe whatsoever that China or Russia or | :03:43. | :03:55. | |
any country will see their will to deal with this barbarism. There is a | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
will for effective, international, legal action but it must come in | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
that fashion, and I would urge that to be a consideration to develop a | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
collective response to what is a threat to humanity. | :04:10. | :04:11. | |
Our security correspondent Gordon Corera joins me now | :04:12. | :04:12. | |
Gordon, as we speak, the Cobra emergency meeting is meeting yet | :04:13. | :04:25. | |
again. It meets a lot these days. I would suggest that the options | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
facing this committee and Mr Cameron are pretty limited. That's right. I | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
think they are extremely limited. They have been all along in these | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
hostage situations. We know, for instance, that British government | :04:41. | :04:43. | |
policy is not to pay ransom is to kidnappers. Other Europeans states | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
are thought to have done so to get hostages released, and also not to | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
make substantive policy concessions to the groups, so while there might | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
be contact, there won't be a lot of options left. We know the US in the | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
past has looked at rescue missions and in July on operation to free the | :05:02. | :05:10. | |
hostages, landing at the oil facility in Syria but finding no one | :05:11. | :05:13. | |
there. If you look at the options, they are not great. That is the | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
difficult situation which Cobra will have been discussing the last hour. | :05:18. | :05:26. | |
Does this make it more likely, because it might have the direction | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
the government was going in any way, that we join with the Americans in | :05:30. | :05:36. | |
perhaps the regional allies in air strikes against Islamic State, not | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
just in Iraq, but also in Syria We heard from President Obama outlining | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
his strategy against Islamic State last week when he talked about | :05:46. | :05:47. | |
building a coalition, about authorising air strikes. And | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
training troops. We are still waiting to hear what exact role the | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
UK will play in that. We know it will play a role because it has been | :05:59. | :06:09. | |
arming the fishmonger forces but the question is, will it actually | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
conduct military strikes in Iraq -- arming the passion are there. We | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
have not got a clear answer from government and that is something | :06:19. | :06:30. | |
where they are ours to discuss what was around the table. It's possible | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
we might learn some more today as a result of the Cobra meeting, but I | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
think the government will be wanting to not be seen to suddenly rushed to | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
a completely different policy as a result of one incident, however | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
terrible it is. Whether it hardens their reserve -- resolved to play | :06:47. | :06:48. | |
more active role in the coalition, that's possible, but we have to wait | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
see to get the detail. -- wait and see. What the whole country would | :06:55. | :07:01. | |
like to see would be British and American special forces going in and | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
getting these guys. I think that would unite the nation. But that is | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
very difficult, isn't it? It is As you saw with a rescue mission a few | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
months ago, the problem is getting actionable intelligence on the | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
ground at a particular moment. The theory is that the group of | :07:18. | :07:19. | |
kidnappers are moving the hostages may be even every or few days, so | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
you need intelligence and quickly and then you need to be able to get | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
the team onto the ground into that time frame. That is clearly a | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
possibility and something they will be looking at, but it certainly | :07:33. | :07:35. | |
challenging, particularly when you have a group like this operating | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
within its own state, effectively, and knowing that other people are | :07:42. | :07:44. | |
looking very hard for it and doing everything they can to hide. Gordon, | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
thank you very much. Clegg dropped everything and headed | :07:50. | :07:51. | |
to Scotland when a poll last Sunday gave the YES vote its first ever | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
lead in this prolonged referendum If their reaction looked | :07:56. | :08:02. | |
like panic, that's because it was. Until last weekend, | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
though the polls had been narrowing, the consensus was still that NO | :08:06. | :08:07. | |
would carry the day. The new consensus is that | :08:08. | :08:10. | |
it's too close to call. If we look back at the beginning of | :08:11. | :08:23. | |
the year, public opinion in Scotland was fairly settled. The no campaign | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
had a commanding lead across the opinion polls, excluding the | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
undecided voters. At one point, at the end of last year, an average of | :08:31. | :08:37. | |
63% backed the no campaign and only 37% supported a yes vote. As we move | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
into 2014 and up to this week, you can see a clear trend emerging as | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
the lead for the no campaign gets narrower and narrower and the | :08:48. | :08:50. | |
average of the most recent polls has the contest hanging in the balance. | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
There was a poll a week ago that put the Yes campaign in the lead for the | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
first time, 51% against 49%, but that lead was not reflected in the | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
other polls last week. For polls were published last night, one by | :09:05. | :09:13. | |
Salvation, for the macro-2 campaign -- Better Together campaign, and | :09:14. | :09:20. | |
there was another that gave a one percentage point different. ICM have | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
the yes campaign back in the lead at 54% and the no campaign at 46%, but | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
their sample size was 705 Scottish adults, smaller than usual. Another | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
suggests that the contest remains on a knife edge with 49.4% against | :09:36. | :09:46. | |
50.6%. When fed into the poll of polls the figures average out with | :09:47. | :09:52. | |
yes at 49% and polls -- no at 5 %. But some people think 18% are | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
undecided, and it is how they vote gets -- when they get to the polling | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
booths that could make all the difference. | :10:00. | :10:01. | |
campaigner and Respect Party MP George Galloway. | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
Welcome to the Sunday Politics. Big business, big oil, big banks, the | :10:06. | :10:13. | |
Tories, the Orange order, all against Scottish independence. You | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
sure you are on right side? Yes because the interests of working | :10:19. | :10:20. | |
people are in staying together. This is a troubled moment in a marriage, | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
a very long marriage, in which some good things and bad things have been | :10:24. | :10:30. | |
achieved together. And there is no doubt that the crockery is being | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
thrown around the house of the minute. But I believe that the | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
underlying interests of working people are on working on the | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
relationship rather than divorce. I have been divorced. It's a very | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
messy, acrimonious, bitter affair and it's particularly bad for the | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
children will stop that's why I am here. You talk about working people, | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
and particularly Scottish working people, they seem to have concluded | :10:54. | :10:56. | |
that the social democracy they want to create cannot now be done in a UK | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
context. Why should they not have a shot of going it alone? Because the | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
opposite will happen. Separation will cause a race to the bottom in | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
taxation. Alex Salmond has already announced he will cut the taxes on | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
companies, corporation tax, down to 3% hello whatever it is in the rest | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
of these islands. And business will only be attracted to come here, | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
country of 5 million people on if there is low regulation, low public | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
expenditure, low levels of taxation for them will stop you cannot have | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
Scandinavian social democracy on Texan levels of taxation. The | :11:38. | :11:40. | |
British government, as will be, the rest of the UK, they will race Alex | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
Salmond to the bottom. If he cuts it by three, they will cut it by four. | :11:46. | :11:52. | |
And so on. So whether some people cannot see it clearly yet or not, | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
the interests of the working people on both sides of the border would be | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
gravely damaged by separation. Let's take the interest of the working | :12:01. | :12:03. | |
people. As you know, as well as anyone, the coalition is in | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
fermenting both a series of cuts and reforms in welfare, and labour, | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
Westminster Labour, has only limited plans to reverse any of that. Surely | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
if you want to preserve the welfare state as it is, independence is the | :12:16. | :12:22. | |
way to do it. For the reasons I just explain, I don't believe that. But | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
Ed Miliband will be along in a minute. He will be along in May The | :12:26. | :12:33. | |
polls indicate... They say he is only four or 5%, that is the | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
average. Like the referendum, the next general election could be nip | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
and tuck. I don't, myself, think that the time of David Cameron as | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
Prime Minister is for much longer. I think there will be a Labour | :12:47. | :12:49. | |
government in the spring and the Labour government in London and a | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
stronger Scottish Parliament, super Devo Max, that is now on the table. | :12:57. | :12:59. | |
That is the best arrangement of people in the country. But the | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
people of Scotland surely cannot base a decision on independence on | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
your feeling that Labour might win the next general election. It is my | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
feeling. When the Tories were beaten on the bedroom tax last week in the | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
house, it was written all over the faces of the government side not | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
only that they were headed for defeat, but probably a massive fishy | :13:22. | :13:30. | |
-- Fisher. I think the race to the bottom that I have proper size will | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
mean that the welfare state will be a distant memory quite soon. The | :13:37. | :13:44. | |
cuts and the run on the Scottish economy here in Edinburgh, the | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
financial services industry, that will be gravely damage. The Ministry | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
of Defence jobs in Scotland decimated, probably ended, more or | :13:55. | :14:01. | |
less. It will be a time of cuts and austerity, maybe super austerity in | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
an independent Scotland. You mentioned defence. What about | :14:06. | :14:08. | |
nuclear weapons? The Tories and Labour will keep them. You are | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
against them. Surely the only way to be rid of them in Scotland is by | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
independence. But you are not rid of them by telling them down the river. | :14:18. | :14:23. | |
The danger would be the same -- telling them down the river. The | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
danger would be the same. Nuclear radiation does not respect Alex | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
Salmond's national boundaries. They would be committed to immediately | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
joining NATO, which is bristling with nuclear weapons and is what -- | :14:38. | :14:40. | |
involved in wars across the Atlantic. So anyone looking for a | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
peace option will have to elect a government in Britain as a whole | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
that will get rid of nuclear weapons and get out of military | :14:51. | :14:52. | |
entanglements. We are in one again now. I have been up the whole night, | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
till 5am, dealing with some of the consequences and implications of the | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
grave international matter that you opened the show with. David Haines | :15:04. | :15:09. | |
and the fate of the hostage still in their hands. There are many other | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
hostages as well. And there are many people dying who are neither British | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
nor American. I have, somehow, been drawn into this matter. And it | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
showed me, again, that the world is interdependent. It is absolutely | :15:24. | :15:32. | |
riven with division and hatred, and this is the worst possible time to | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
be opting out of the world to set up a small mini-state on the promises | :15:38. | :15:44. | |
of Alex Salmond of social democracy funded by Texan taxes. Let's, for | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
the sake of the next question, assume that everything you have told | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
us is true. Why is your side squandering a 20 point lead? | :15:54. | :16:05. | |
I will have a great deal to say about that, whatever the result | :16:06. | :16:12. | |
This is very much a Scottish Labour project, is that not a condemnation | :16:13. | :16:20. | |
of Scottish Labour? It is potentially on its deathbed. The | :16:21. | :16:27. | |
country breaking up, the principal responsibility will be on them. And | :16:28. | :16:43. | |
the pitiful, absolutely pitiful job that has been made of defending a | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
300-year-old relationship in this island by the Scottish Labour | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
leadership is really terrible for me to behold, even though I'm no longer | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
one of them. I don't know how they are going to get out of this | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
deathbed. Do you agree that if this referendum is lost by your side it | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
will be because traditional working-class Labour voters, | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
particularly in the west of Scotland, have abundant Labour and | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
decided to vote for independence? Without a doubt, the number of | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
Labour voters intending to vote yes is disturbingly high. Even just | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
months ago during the European Parliament elections, swathes of | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
people who didn't vote SNP will be voting yes on Thursday. That is a | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
grave squandering of a great legacy of Scottish Labour history, which | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
history will decree as unforgivable. If Labour is to get | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
out of its deathbed in Scotland it will have to become Labour again. | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
Real Labour again. I am ready to help them with that. My goodness, | :17:58. | :18:05. | |
they need help with it. I wonder if it isn't just a failure of Labour in | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
Scotland. People all over Britain are increasingly fed up with the | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
Westminster system, but it is only the Scots who currently have the | :18:16. | :18:20. | |
chance to break free from it, so why shouldn't they? That is exactly | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
right. They see a parliament of expenses cheats led by Lord snooty | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
and the Bullingdon club elite, carrying through austerity for many | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
but not for themselves and they are repulsed by it. They need change, | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
but you can go backwards and call it change but it will be worse than the | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
situation you have now. A lot of Scottish people don't buy that. It | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
is a big gamble. If I were poised to put my family's life savings on the | :18:54. | :19:00. | |
roulette table in Las Vegas, my wife would not be scaremongering if she | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
pointed out the potential consequences if I'd lost. She would | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
not be negative by telling me that is my children's money I am risking. | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
If I jumped off this roof it would change my point of view, but it | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
would be worse than the point of view I have now. There is another | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
issue here because the Scots are being asked to gamble on the | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
Westminster parties, which they are already suspicious of, of delivering | :19:27. | :19:33. | |
home rule. Alistair Darling could not even tell me if Ed Balls had | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
signed off on more income tax powers for Scotland, so that is a gamble | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
for the Scots. I feel the British state has had such a shake out of | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
all this that they would be beyond idiots, they would be insane now to | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
risk all of this flaring up again because whatever happens, if we win | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
on Thursday, it is going to be narrowly. It will be a severe | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
fissure in Scotland. A great deal of unpleasantness that we are already | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
aware of. That could turn but we're still. It would be dicing with | :20:12. | :20:18. | |
death, playing with fire, to let Scottish people down after Thursday | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
if we narrowly win. If you narrowly win, and if there are moves to this | :20:23. | :20:29. | |
home rule Mr Brown has been talking about, England hasn't spoken yet on | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
this. Whilst England would probably not want to stop -- stop Scotland | :20:35. | :20:41. | |
getting this, they would say, what about us? It could delay the whole | :20:42. | :20:49. | |
procedure. It is necessary, you are right. England should have home | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
rule, and I screamed at Scottish Labour MPs going into the vote to | :20:55. | :21:01. | |
introduce tuition fees in England. I told them this was a constitutional | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
monstrosity, as well as a crime against young people in England It | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
was risking everything. We are led by idiots. Our leaders are not James | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
Bonds, they are Austin powers. We need to change the leadership, not | :21:18. | :21:23. | |
rip up a 300-year-old marriage. Thank you. | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
It's been one of the longest and hardest fought political campaigns | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
in history, with Alex Salmond firing the starting gun on the referendum | :21:33. | :21:35. | |
Adam's been stitching together the key moments of the campaign | :21:36. | :21:46. | |
It is the other thing drawing people to the Scottish parliament, the new | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
great tapestry of Scotland. It is the story of battles won and lost, | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
Scottish moments, British moments, famous Scots, and not so famous | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
Scots. There is even a panel dedicated to the rise of the SNP. | :22:04. | :22:10. | |
Alex Salmond's majority in the elections in 2011 made the | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
referendum inevitable. It became reality when he and David Cameron | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
did a deal in Edinburgh one year later. The Scottish Government set | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
out its plans for independence in this book, just a wish list to some, | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
a sacred text to others. This White Paper is the most detailed | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
improvements that any people have ever been offered in the world as a | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
basis for becoming an independent country. The no campaign, called | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
Better Together, united the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems under the | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
leadership of Alistair Darling. Then the Scottish people were bombarded | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
with two years of photo opportunities and a lot of | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
campaigning. For the no campaign, Jim Murphy went on tour but took a | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
break when he was egged and his events were often hijacked by yes | :23:07. | :23:10. | |
campaigners who were accused of being intimidating. In turn, they | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
accused the no campaign of using scare tactics. Things heated up when | :23:17. | :23:24. | |
the TV dinner -- during the TV debate. Fever pitch was reached one | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
week ago when one poll suggested the yes campaign was in the lead for the | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
first time. The three main Westminster leaders ditched PMQs to | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
head north. I think people can feel it is like a general election, that | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
you make a decision and five years later you can make another decision | :23:45. | :23:47. | |
if you are fed up with the Tories, give them a kick... This is totally | :23:48. | :23:56. | |
different. And Labour shelved not quite 100 MPs onto the train, Alex | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
Salmond took a helicopter instead. This is about the formation of the | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
NHS. A big theme of the yes campaign is that changes to the NHS in Linden | :24:07. | :24:15. | |
-- in England would lead to privatisation in Scotland. Alex | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
Salmond's plan to share the pound was trashed by big names. There were | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
other big question is, what would happen to military hardware like | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
Trident based on the Clyde? Would an independent Scotland be able to join | :24:33. | :24:39. | |
the EU? And how much oil was left underneath the North Sea? | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
This panel is about famous Scots, we have Annie Lennox, Stephen Hendry, | :24:43. | :24:50. | |
Sean Connery. I cannot see Gordon Brown. These are big changes we are | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
proposing to strengthen the Scottish parliament, but at the same time to | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
stay as part of the UK. A regular on the campaign, he was front and | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
centre when things got close, unveiling a timetable for more | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
devolution. People wondered whether Ed Miliband was able to reach the | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
parts of Scotland Labour leader should reach, and at Westminster | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
some Tories pondered whether David Cameron could stay as prime minister | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
if there was a yes vote. This tapestry is nonpartisan so it is a | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
good place to get away from it all but it is crystallising voters' | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
views. Look at what we have contributed to Great Britain, and I | :25:33. | :25:41. | |
am British and I hope to be staying British. This is what people from | :25:42. | :25:44. | |
Scotland have done, taken to the rest of the world in many cases and | :25:45. | :25:48. | |
I think I am going to vote yes. I am so inspired by it. It has certainly | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
inspired me to have a go at stitching. How long do you think it | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
would take to do the whole thing? I would say to put aside maybe 30 | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
hours of stitching. Maybe by the time I am done, we will know more | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
about how the fabric of the nation might be changing. | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
And I've been joined by yes campaigner and convenor | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
of Scotland's Solidarity socialist party, Tommy Sheridan. | :26:14. | :26:15. | |
An economy dependent on oil, the Queen as head of state, membership | :26:16. | :26:27. | |
of the world 's premier nuclear alliance of capitalist nations is | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
that the socialist Scotland you are fighting for? No, that is the SNP's | :26:34. | :26:43. | |
prospectus and they are entitled to put forward their vision, but it is | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
not mine or that of the majority of Scotland. We will find out in two | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
years. On Thursday we are not voting for a political party, we are voting | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
for our freedom as a country. That is why people are going to vote yes | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
on Thursday. A lot of people are voting for what you call freedom | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
because they think it will be more Scotland. You have already got free | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
prescriptions, no tuition fees, free care for the elderly. You might not | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
in future have that if public spending is overdependent on the | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
price of oil, over which you have no control. We don't have to worry | :27:24. | :27:27. | |
about one single resource, we already have 20% of the fishing | :27:28. | :27:35. | |
stock in Europe. We already have 25% of the wind, wave and solar power | :27:36. | :27:44. | |
generation. We, as an independent country, have huge resources, | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
natural resources but also people resources. We have five first-class | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
universities, food and beverages industry which is the envy of the | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
world. We have the ability to produce the resources on the | :28:00. | :28:02. | |
revenues that won't just maintain the health service and education but | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
it will develop health and education. I don't want to stand | :28:07. | :28:10. | |
still, I want to redistribute wealth. But all of the projections | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
of public spending for an independent Scotland show that to | :28:15. | :28:22. | |
keep spending at the current level you need a strong price of oil and | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
you are dependent on this commodity which goes up and down and sideways. | :28:28. | :28:33. | |
That is a gamble. I have got to laugh because I have been told the | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
most pessimistic is that in 40 years the oil is running out, panic | :28:39. | :28:45. | |
stations! If you were told by the BBC you could only guarantee | :28:46. | :28:48. | |
employment for the next 40 years you would be over the moon. I am talking | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
about in the next five. You need 50% of your revenues to come from oil to | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
continue spending and that is not a guarantee. Of course it is, the | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
minimum survival of the oil is 0 years. Please get your viewers to go | :29:06. | :29:15. | |
onto the Internet and look at the website called oilandgas.com. The | :29:16. | :29:27. | |
West Coast has 100 years of oil to be extracted. It hasn't been done | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
because in 1981 Michael Heseltine said we cannot extract the oil | :29:33. | :29:38. | |
because we have Trident going up and down there. Let's get rid of Trident | :29:39. | :29:47. | |
and extract the oil. You are a trot right, why have you failed to learn | :29:48. | :29:53. | |
his famous dictum, socialism in one country is impossible. Revolutions | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
and change are not just single event. What will happen here on | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
Thursday is a democratic revolution. The people are fed up of being | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
patronised and lied to by this mob in Westminster who have used and | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
abused us for far too long. The smaller people now have a voice | :30:14. | :30:19. | |
What about socialism in one country? Mr Trotsky warned you | :30:20. | :30:28. | |
against that. The no campaign represents the past. The yes | :30:29. | :30:32. | |
campaign represents the future. That is the truth of the matter. What we | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
are going to do in an independent Scotland is tackle inequality and a | :30:37. | :30:44. | |
scourge of low pay. If we vote no on Thursday, there will be more low pay | :30:45. | :30:50. | |
on Friday, more poverty and food banks on Friday. I'm not going to be | :30:51. | :30:53. | |
lectured by these big banks, you vote less -- yes and we will leave | :30:54. | :31:03. | |
the country! The food banks will be the ones closing. If you got your | :31:04. | :31:09. | |
way, for the type of Scotland you would like to see, state control of | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
business, nationalisation of the Manx, the roads to Carlisle will be | :31:15. | :31:17. | |
clogged with people Yes, hoping to come into Scotland, | :31:18. | :31:28. | |
because in their hearts, the Scottish people know that England | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
want to see the people having the bottle. The working class people in | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
Liverpool, Newcastle, outside of London, they are saying good on the | :31:40. | :31:42. | |
jocks that are taking on big business. When we are independent | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
and investing in social housing the people of England will say, we can | :31:47. | :31:50. | |
do that as well, and they will rediscover the radical tradition. In | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
wanting to build socialism in one country, it really means you are | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
fighting for the few, rather than the many. You are bailing out of the | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
socialist Battle for Britain. You think it will be easier to make it | :32:04. | :32:10. | |
work. Think globally, act locally and we will build socialism in | :32:11. | :32:14. | |
Scotland but I wanted across the world. I won my brothers and sisters | :32:15. | :32:18. | |
in England and Wales to be encouraged by what we do so they can | :32:19. | :32:22. | |
reject the Westminster consensus as well -- I want. We had the three | :32:23. | :32:26. | |
Stooges coming up to London, three millionaires united on one thing, | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
austerity. Doesn't matter whether Ed Miliband wins the next election he | :32:32. | :32:34. | |
said he would stick to the story spending cuts. Why vote for Ed | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
Miliband? You wouldn't trust him to run a bath, not a country. Let's see | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
if this is realistic, this great socialist vision. At the last | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
Scottish election, the Socialist party got 8000 votes. The | :32:49. | :32:51. | |
Conservatives got 30 times more votes. Where is the appetite in | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
Scotland for your Marxist ideology question we might not win it. But do | :32:58. | :33:02. | |
you know what, see in two years time. See when we have the Scottish | :33:03. | :33:17. | |
general election. You won't -- you are saying you might win and you | :33:18. | :33:20. | |
went to the Holyrood election and got 8000 Pope -- votes. The SNP won | :33:21. | :33:26. | |
a democratic election and then won the 2011 election and you know why | :33:27. | :33:30. | |
they won? Because they picked up the clothes that the Labour Party has | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
thrown away. They picked up the close of social democracy and | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
protecting the health service was -- service. There are people in the SNP | :33:41. | :33:45. | |
who believe in public ownership and people in the SNP who believe in the | :33:46. | :33:49. | |
NHS should be written into a constitution as never for sale | :33:50. | :33:53. | |
people in the the SNP that think the Royal mail should return to public | :33:54. | :33:57. | |
ownership. That is there in black and white. Do you agree with George | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
Galloway that this is potentially a crisis for Scottish Labour? Scottish | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
Labour is finished. They are absolutely finished. George is right | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
in that. Scottish Labour is finished. The irony of ironies is, | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
Labour in Scotland has more chance of recovery in an independent | :34:15. | :34:17. | |
Scotland that they have in a no vote. Labour in Scotland in an | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
independent country will have to rediscover the traditions of Keir | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
Hardie, the ideas of Jimmy Maxon, because right now, they are to the | :34:29. | :34:33. | |
right of the SNP as a political party. I understand the socialist | :34:34. | :34:38. | |
vision, but it is where the appetite is. And you look at the independence | :34:39. | :34:45. | |
people in Scotland. One of your colleagues, Brian Souter, a man who | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
fought against the appeal -- repeal of homosexual rights in Scotland. | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
Another of your allies would seem to be Rupert Murdoch, the man who | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
engineered your downfall. You say he engineered your downfall, but I m | :35:03. | :35:04. | |
still here and his newspaper has closed. Whether it Rupert Murdoch, | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
Brian Souter, or any other millionaire supporting independence, | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
I couldn't care less. This boat on Thursday is not about millionaires, | :35:16. | :35:19. | |
it is about the millions. -- this vote. We will not be abused any | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
young -- longer. Would you rather not have their support? I couldn't | :35:26. | :35:29. | |
care about the support. You know who is supporting the union. It is the | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
unions of the big businesses, the BNP, UKIP, they are the ones who | :35:35. | :35:41. | |
support it. You are giving me a stray that has wandered into the | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
campaign and are you seriously going to argue with me that the | :35:46. | :35:49. | |
establishment isn't united to try and save the union? That is what | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
they are trying to be. The BBC, you have been a disgrace in your | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
coverage of the campaign. Not you personally. You don't have editorial | :35:58. | :36:02. | |
control. The BBC coverage, generally, has been a disgrace and | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
the people. Oil and gas, go and look at that, why is that not feature. | :36:08. | :36:11. | |
Why is the idea of 100 years of oil not featured in the campaign. | :36:12. | :36:14. | |
Because the BBC does not want to see it. Are you getting in your excuses | :36:15. | :36:20. | |
if you lose? You better be kidding. Is this the face of somebody looking | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
to lose. We are going to win, 6 /40. Absolutely. There is a momentum that | :36:26. | :36:32. | |
you guys are not seeing on the working-class housing estates. | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
Working class people are fed up being taken for granted fed up with | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
the lives of people dragging us into tax cuts, bedroom tax for the poor. | :36:42. | :36:48. | |
They will have power on Thursday, and they will use it and vote for | :36:49. | :36:52. | |
freedom. Are you happy with the way the BBC has treated you today? So | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
far, yes. I have still not been offered a Coffey, but that might | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
happen. That is an obvious example of our bias. Tommy, we will speak to | :37:02. | :37:03. | |
you later with George Galloway. Sweeping changes North | :37:04. | :37:20. | |
of the border, but what will Will we have to tax | :37:21. | :37:27. | |
our car to go across the border Will they stop us bringing | :37:28. | :37:36. | |
out haggis and shortbread? You never know, so we?ve had | :37:37. | :37:38. | |
to look at contingency plans. Kicking things | :37:39. | :37:40. | |
off this week we have Ann Coffey, And we don't want to leave the Welsh | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
out, so we also welcome Nigdl Evans, the Conservative MP for | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
Ribble Valley. Ann, why do you think the polls | :37:50. | :37:50. | |
now, are so close in terms I was campaigning in Scotland | :37:51. | :38:00. | |
yesterday. It's an issue that is deeplx | :38:01. | :38:07. | |
dividing a nation and I think It's dividing families, | :38:08. | :38:09. | |
it's dividing neighbourhoods, passionate feeling on either side | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
and that's what' being refldcted. Yes, I'll agree with what Ann has | :38:14. | :38:14. | |
just said, but also the fact that the electorate ? not only those in | :38:15. | :38:19. | |
Scotland, there are lots of Scottish people living in England and Wales ? | :38:20. | :38:22. | |
who feel very angry that thdy're disenfranchised | :38:23. | :38:25. | |
and I think that has skewed it Well, regardless of the restlt, | :38:26. | :38:26. | |
Thursday's referendum vote will be And it's likely to mean big changes | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
not just in Scotland, but also for Calls for greater powers | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
from Westminster are growing and our reporter Stuart Pollitt s | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
been listening. I'm Gonna Be | :38:42. | :38:45. | |
(500 Miles) ? The Proclaimers. There's little more traditionally | :38:46. | :38:55. | |
Scottish than curling. Yet the sport has more than | :38:56. | :38:57. | |
a brush with this region, too. These are some | :38:58. | :39:00. | |
of the traditional curling trophies We've had curlers here in the | :39:01. | :39:01. | |
North West for over 150 years. As long as there's been curling | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
in Scotland, we've curled hdre. But until Fylde Ice Arena opened | :39:07. | :39:09. | |
recently, Lockerbie ` 150 mhles That meant fortnightly journeys to | :39:10. | :39:11. | |
Scotland and that means, to these It has serious | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
practical implications. It's not going to happen ovdrnight, | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
we understand that, Will we have to tax | :39:21. | :39:22. | |
our car to go across the border Will they stop us bringing | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
out haggis and shortbread? So we've had to look | :39:29. | :39:30. | |
at contingency plans. I once asked them, when we get | :39:31. | :39:37. | |
there, whether we'll need a passport next year and they all laughed | :39:38. | :39:40. | |
and so, Oh, it won't go through It will make a subtle difference | :39:41. | :39:43. | |
but I hope it's only a subtle So that's the English view | :39:44. | :39:49. | |
of those who play So let's play a traditional English | :39:50. | :39:54. | |
sport with Scot. Hi, Jackie. Do you fancy | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
a quick game of bowls with le? Poet and novelist Jackie Kax can | :39:59. | :40:01. | |
see the case for independence. I've been in Peebles, | :40:02. | :40:15. | |
Edinburgh and Glasgow and the energy and excitement of the possibility | :40:16. | :40:22. | |
of change in the air is palpable. And she's detected excitement here, | :40:23. | :40:25. | |
too. I was at the Manchester Eye Hospital | :40:26. | :40:29. | |
today and the man that was putting drops in my eyes said to me, | :40:30. | :40:31. | |
I'm green with envy for Scotland. But he said, | :40:32. | :40:35. | |
why don't we have the same kind And I do think that there mhght be | :40:36. | :40:37. | |
a knock`on effect in a positive way Peter thinks the English devolution | :40:38. | :40:43. | |
ball is gathering momentum. Whatever happens | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
on September the 18th, therd has to The constitutional status qto is now | :40:50. | :40:51. | |
unsustainable for the rest Our group is committed to | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
the idea of bringing process of government closer to the people | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
that are impacted by decisions. So that means devolved government | :41:03. | :41:05. | |
in some form or another. Liverpool's mayor, wrapping himself | :41:06. | :41:10. | |
in the saltire this week, doesn t want an independent Scotland but he | :41:11. | :41:13. | |
does want more devolved powdrs. We want a better focus on otr cities | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
rather than just the capital. I think we're now winning that | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
argument and I think we can win it better with a united argument with | :41:22. | :41:24. | |
Scotland, England and Wales As the curlers wonder whethdr | :41:25. | :41:26. | |
when they are next in Scotl`nd they'll fellow countrymen or | :41:27. | :41:33. | |
foreign visitors, the result of the Scottish referendum has the | :41:34. | :41:36. | |
potential to knock the political And meanwhile I've been talking to | :41:37. | :41:38. | |
Professor David Denver, an expert in elections and Scotland | :41:39. | :41:48. | |
at the University of Lancaster. I asked him how a vote | :41:49. | :41:51. | |
for independence could affect In Scotland, at the moment, | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
there are 40`odd Labour MPs In future Labour, therefore, | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
are going to start, as it where minus 40`odd as compared to | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
the current situation. By and large, the system will | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
be favouring the Conservatives. So we could end up with | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
a position where the North West is returning loads of Labour MPs | :42:17. | :42:20. | |
but the governments are Torx? Whether this will annoy people | :42:21. | :42:24. | |
in the North West so much that they'll say, m`ybe we | :42:25. | :42:32. | |
should have devolution, that would There's certainly no immedi`te | :42:33. | :42:35. | |
demand for devolution. But there's been a lot | :42:36. | :42:42. | |
of government pressure in tdrms of devolving more powers, economic | :42:43. | :42:44. | |
powers and that kind of thing.. All governments, | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
since the 70s certainly, all governments have taken lore and | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
more power into their own h`nds Personally, I'm quite in favour | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
of devolving a lot of these things. But central government | :43:00. | :43:04. | |
and politicians at the centre really prefer to hold on to their | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
power because they're frightened that, say, politicians in Lhverpool | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
will spend money like water and then And they want to control | :43:14. | :43:16. | |
the finances. Professor David Denver, | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
thank you very much indeed. And we're joined by Gina Dowding, | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
a Green Party councillor on Lancashire County Council, `nd Paul | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
Salveson from the Hannah Mitchell Foundation, which campaigns for more | :43:30. | :43:31. | |
power for the North of Engl`nd. Gina, why is the Green Partx | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
in favour of Scottish indepdndence? I'm a member of the Green P`rty of | :43:37. | :43:40. | |
England and Wales and the Scottish Greens had their own independence | :43:41. | :43:47. | |
vote in the Green Party in 0990 And we are supporting the | :43:48. | :43:50. | |
Scottish Greens. Basically, | :43:51. | :43:56. | |
this is a chance for huge change. It's a chance to challenge | :43:57. | :43:59. | |
the status quo. It's not just the SNP Show | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
in Scotland. What we are seeing is | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
a whole range of community groups and progressive campaigns w`nting | :44:07. | :44:09. | |
constitutional change. And this is | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
the nearest they are getting to it? They seem to want to take control | :44:15. | :44:17. | |
of their own affairs and th`t's Well, there's been quite a lot | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
of devolution to Scotland over The Labour government did introduce | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
that devolution recognising the argument that Scotland was different | :44:30. | :44:35. | |
in many ways, culturally, and needed I just think we can get to ` | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
situation where there is th`t level of devolution which is of bdnefit to | :44:41. | :44:46. | |
Scotland but at the same tile we keep those things that give us | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
strength as a country, as a United Kingdom, a common economy, | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
a common currency, and the value of that in terms | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
of the wealth that we gener`te. I just think we can reach | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
something that benefits us `ll and well, first of all, what is your | :45:05. | :45:07. | |
position on Scottish independence? We say it is for the people | :45:08. | :45:14. | |
of Scotland to decide. I?ve got a daughter who livds | :45:15. | :45:20. | |
in Scotland. She's Lancashire born and bred | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
like me. I don't think it will make `ny | :45:28. | :45:30. | |
difference, but I'd like to see my four grandchildren growing up | :45:31. | :45:32. | |
in a strong, democratic Scotland with some of that enthusiasl | :45:33. | :45:36. | |
and involvement translating down Yes, because the real issue | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
for you is that this could lead to, well, what for the north | :45:41. | :45:45. | |
of England, for the North Wdst? I think it's stimulating a debate, | :45:46. | :45:49. | |
which is what we're doing now, It's the start | :45:50. | :45:51. | |
of a very long conversation. We want to see devolution to | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
the north of England. Meaning directly elected regional | :45:57. | :45:58. | |
government rather than unaccountable combined authorities, | :45:59. | :46:03. | |
which is all that the established parties are offering | :46:04. | :46:06. | |
us, I'm afraid, at the moment. So, we want to have some | :46:07. | :46:09. | |
of the democracy that Scotl`nd and Wales, and also London, | :46:10. | :46:12. | |
let's not forget there is a directly elected London Assembly, | :46:13. | :46:16. | |
which has got huge resources. Well, number one, | :46:17. | :46:18. | |
I love Scotland and I hope they stay part of the United Kingdom of | :46:19. | :46:28. | |
Great Britain and Northern Hreland. Number two, | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
the only people who are not being asked about this, about devolved | :46:32. | :46:34. | |
government, seem to be the Dnglish. I know Tony Blair once famotsly said | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
the best thing to do about the West Well, I've got say, after Thursday, | :46:39. | :46:41. | |
irrespective of whether it's a Yes or No, we know that there are going | :46:42. | :46:47. | |
to be extra powers given to Scotland, then the question needs, | :46:48. | :46:51. | |
not only to be asked, but it needs to be answered | :46:52. | :46:53. | |
by all the political parties. What's What should happen in the North West | :46:54. | :46:55. | |
of England? I think the best form | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
of devolution is to the indhvidual. Let's put taxation back | :47:01. | :47:10. | |
in people's pockets, so lowdr taxes, put money back | :47:11. | :47:13. | |
in people's pockets and then let But, as far as the other thhngs are | :47:14. | :47:15. | |
concerned, I think it's wholly and completely wrong that Scotthsh MPs | :47:16. | :47:23. | |
now come to Westminster and they vote on our hospitals, our dducation | :47:24. | :47:26. | |
and we can't do that in Scotland. Do you support region assembly | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
for the north of England? There's a lot of confusion | :47:31. | :47:33. | |
about all of this as far as the constitutional settldment | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
that we are going through. I find it amazing that Alex Salmond | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
is horrified by the prospect that if they vote Yes then Scotl`nd | :47:43. | :47:45. | |
comes out of the European Union He wants to go straight back | :47:46. | :47:48. | |
into the European Union. Ask the Scottish people | :47:49. | :47:51. | |
if they want to go into the European It's getting the power | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
at the right level and, for me, Would Labour do | :47:56. | :48:05. | |
anything differently? I think we do recognise | :48:06. | :48:13. | |
the argument that was put forward by the city leader in Liverpool | :48:14. | :48:16. | |
that cities are a great gendrator I think we would like to sed much | :48:17. | :48:19. | |
more of the decisions about transport and much more of the | :48:20. | :48:31. | |
budget being transferred to those Yes, but what Paul's saying is, | :48:32. | :48:33. | |
the trouble with that is, they are not directly answerable to | :48:34. | :48:41. | |
voters because there isn't a regional assembly as such or | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
something similar to go with it Well, I?m not terribly | :48:46. | :48:51. | |
convinced with that argument. We had a referendum in the | :48:52. | :48:53. | |
North East a few years ago, which people very clearly dhd not | :48:54. | :48:56. | |
want any more government. Now, in local elections, | :48:57. | :48:58. | |
what you do is get a tendency not for accountability for | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
the local councillors but that tends to be a referendum on what people | :49:03. | :49:04. | |
feel about the national govdrnment. This idea that, somehow, if you have | :49:05. | :49:07. | |
a regional government that there A quick reaction, | :49:08. | :49:14. | |
Paul I think that the argumdnts for I totally agree with what Nhgel s | :49:15. | :49:20. | |
saying. Let's devolve power to | :49:21. | :49:24. | |
the most appropriate level. Some things work well | :49:25. | :49:26. | |
on a local level. Some things work far better | :49:27. | :49:29. | |
on a regional level. Most of the developed countries | :49:30. | :49:32. | |
across Europe, Germany in particular, has got very | :49:33. | :49:34. | |
strong regional government, which we Maybe, partly, we thought that | :49:35. | :49:38. | |
might make Germany weaker. It?s getting power to | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
the right level. Certain things like strateghc | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
transport, the railways, police I think it's strange that | :49:48. | :49:49. | |
Nigel is talking about... well, | :49:50. | :49:59. | |
the Tories have resisted Scottish independence and yet they'rd talking | :50:00. | :50:01. | |
about wanting to get out of Europe so the argument suits them when they | :50:02. | :50:04. | |
like, but not in terms of... You can't believe the internal | :50:05. | :50:07. | |
torture I am going through. I'm better off together at one level | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
and I'm better of out on thd other. I can't believe the torture that I | :50:12. | :50:14. | |
feel. If Scotland goes and all those MPs | :50:15. | :50:16. | |
disappear, then as Professor David Denver said, | :50:17. | :50:22. | |
chances are we will get much more in I can't imagine you are | :50:23. | :50:25. | |
comfortable with that. Definitely not comfortable with | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
that, but the point is the genie hs out of | :50:32. | :50:33. | |
the bottle and things are changing. People aren't necessarily | :50:34. | :50:36. | |
going to vote the same. We'll see huge changes | :50:37. | :50:38. | |
in the way people look We are going to have to look | :50:39. | :50:42. | |
at our constitution, reinstating democracy in England and | :50:43. | :50:49. | |
an English parliament in sole way, That kind of scaremongering before, | :50:50. | :50:53. | |
that people would lose their votes, Gina Dowding, Paul Salveson , | :50:54. | :51:03. | |
thank you both very much indeed Now, | :51:04. | :51:11. | |
the tabloids have dubbed ond Wigan Possibly that's | :51:12. | :51:12. | |
for spending taxpayers' mondy on premium rate sex chat lines, maybe | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
it was for watching pornogr`phy on a work laptop or perhaps it was | :51:19. | :51:20. | |
the sexist texts and abuse. Whichever, he's not resigning and, | :51:21. | :51:24. | |
as Chris Rider reports, there's no easy way for opponents to | :51:25. | :51:27. | |
get rid of him either. You wouldn't put up with it | :51:28. | :51:31. | |
in any other job, would you? There's no excuse for that kind | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
of thing and I don't think he should They can sack someone | :51:37. | :51:44. | |
from a normal working place for that In Wigan town centre | :51:45. | :51:48. | |
the behaviour of one councillor has This a man who has caused | :51:49. | :51:51. | |
a great deal of upset And Emma Barton has put up | :51:52. | :51:55. | |
with years of sexist abuse. It almost makes you self dotbt | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
the way you've been working, It's very, very emotional, | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
it really is. He's been suspended | :52:07. | :52:12. | |
from the council twice for his Now, he's been using | :52:13. | :52:14. | |
his council laptop to access pornographic material and using his | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
mobile phone to call sex ch`t lines All this leaving a phone bill | :52:20. | :52:21. | |
of almost ?2,400. The key point about all this is that | :52:22. | :52:29. | |
Robert Bleakley is still a sitting councillor yet thd council | :52:30. | :52:32. | |
here can't do anything about it The standards board set up | :52:33. | :52:35. | |
by the government was scrapped in 2011 leaving the council without | :52:36. | :52:38. | |
any powers to remove Mr Ble`kley. In fact, only the voters can | :52:39. | :52:42. | |
do that at an election. In the meantime the council are | :52:43. | :52:46. | |
telling Mr Bleakley not to talk I think it is an extraordin`ry | :52:47. | :52:48. | |
measure and one that we are not really happy to introduce, but we | :52:49. | :52:56. | |
are at our wits end as to what we But for all the criticism, | :52:57. | :52:59. | |
Robert Bleakley has These remarks, or text mess`ges | :53:00. | :53:03. | |
were made after the death of my mother and, I have to say | :53:04. | :53:13. | |
in the early stages of a brdakdown. The local Labour MP says new | :53:14. | :53:18. | |
measures might be required. I think this might be a timd, now, | :53:19. | :53:27. | |
to look at whether recall of elected representatives to | :53:28. | :53:30. | |
include councillors is something we But whatever the outcry and concerns | :53:31. | :53:33. | |
of female council staff, Robert Bleakley remains a councillor | :53:34. | :53:40. | |
and is, in fact, thinking of Nigel, I think a lot of people | :53:41. | :53:43. | |
would be quite shocked that it Was it a mistake to scrap | :53:44. | :53:48. | |
the Standards Board back in 201 ? Well, I think a lot of councillors | :53:49. | :53:56. | |
were unhappy with the Stand`rds Board too because even on trivial | :53:57. | :53:59. | |
things people were being suspended. I think we have to get | :54:00. | :54:02. | |
the right balance. It's members of Parliament `nd it | :54:03. | :54:04. | |
is police and crime commisshoners. The whole thing needs to be looked | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
at when Ann and I get back from recess to Parliament one | :54:12. | :54:14. | |
of the first bills will be looking I understand your point | :54:15. | :54:18. | |
about the Standards Board because there was a great ddal | :54:19. | :54:26. | |
of unhappiness about it, but wasn't the mistake not to replace ht with | :54:27. | :54:29. | |
something more effective rather than Yes, clearly people are unh`ppy and | :54:30. | :54:31. | |
the failure of the legislathon we introduced was that we didn't even | :54:32. | :54:39. | |
consider what could happen hn the Now we've got Keith Vaz thrdatening | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
to introduce legislation hilself in order to be able to remove | :54:44. | :54:50. | |
people like Shawn. Ultimately, the power has to | :54:51. | :54:54. | |
rest with the people themselves Certainly, at our level we will be | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
looking in October at the possibility of legislation coming | :54:59. | :55:01. | |
into an act before the next general election whereby when peopld vote | :55:02. | :55:06. | |
for us in 2015, if they are not happy with us | :55:07. | :55:09. | |
because something goes wrong think we have to have a rec`ll | :55:10. | :55:12. | |
mechanism and we have to have it across the board for all eldcted | :55:13. | :55:21. | |
representatives not just MPs. The only people who should be able | :55:22. | :55:24. | |
to recall an elected represdntative I don't think it should be | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
an unelected board What we need to find is a mdchanism | :55:29. | :55:33. | |
for doing that, that on the one hand doesn't get you into a situ`tion | :55:34. | :55:41. | |
where someone has been elected the year before and they have | :55:42. | :55:45. | |
25,000 people who voted thel in and We have to find a method th`t goes | :55:46. | :55:48. | |
back to asking the people who elected that person, do thex want | :55:49. | :55:57. | |
to recall them, and we have to find I think that's what this Recall Bill | :55:58. | :56:00. | |
will be about. Time for the rest of | :56:01. | :56:11. | |
the week's news now in 60 Sdconds. Liverpool City Council's party | :56:12. | :56:18. | |
leaders met this week to discuss the Ged Fitzgerald spent two ye`rs | :56:19. | :56:20. | |
in charge of Rotherham Council, where leaders were criticisdd for | :56:21. | :56:27. | |
failing to act over child abuse Scrap us ` the leader of | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
Cheshire East Council wants his authority to merge with neighbouring | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
Cheshire West and Chester. The County Council was split | :56:36. | :56:38. | |
into two unitary authorities five Wirral Council blamed centr`l | :56:39. | :56:40. | |
government cuts for 500 job losses. The authority needs to save a | :56:41. | :56:53. | |
further ?45 million in thred years. The High court will review Salford | :56:54. | :56:58. | |
Council's decision to cut transport Council wants to slash its fleet | :56:59. | :57:01. | |
of minibuses to save ?0.5 mhllion. And the Chancellor and MP | :57:02. | :57:09. | |
for Tatton, George Osborne, was in Manchester to announce plans for | :57:10. | :57:11. | |
a new ?60 million research centre Well, also this week the sad news | :57:12. | :57:15. | |
of the death of the Labour LP for Heywood and Middleton, | :57:16. | :57:26. | |
Jim Dobbin, who was on the Mr Dobbin, who was 73, had served | :57:27. | :57:27. | |
the constituency for 17 years. He died | :57:28. | :57:33. | |
on a business trip to Poland. Ed Miliband was | :57:34. | :57:36. | |
among those paying tribute. He was a warm man, he was a | :57:37. | :57:42. | |
principled man, he was a decent man. He was a man who devoted | :57:43. | :57:47. | |
his life to public service. And he was someone who was respected | :57:48. | :57:53. | |
and, indeed, loved by colle`gues And, do you have good memorhes of | :57:54. | :58:13. | |
Jim? I have fantastic memorhes of Jim. He was persistent and kept on | :58:14. | :58:22. | |
campaigning. He was never one to seek publicity for what | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
did things quietly and calmly on behalf of his constituents. Nigel. | :58:29. | :58:35. | |
Yes, he was a good friend. He was a gentleman and | :58:36. | :58:43. | |
very strong beliefs but he did it in such | :58:44. | :58:51. | |
In fact, I agreed with most of them. | :58:52. | :59:02. | |
remember once I sat next to him in the House of | :59:03. | :59:18. | |
difference between sitting on your side and being on your side. | :59:19. | :59:25. | |
And, basically he's right isn't it? that UKIP is getting at the moment. | :59:26. | :59:29. | |
And, basically he's right isn't it? I think people will have vidws about | :59:30. | :59:38. | |
that but this is not the first time a by`election has been | :59:39. | :59:45. | |
is unusual but it's not the first time. I think that we need to | :59:46. | :59:53. | |
making sure that the constituents are | :59:54. | :00:00. | |
and dedicated MP. Nigel, wh`t do you think? | :00:01. | :00:07. | |
think it is right that if the Labour Party | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
The last time a sewer was built in London was 150 years ago, otherwise | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
we would have a dirty River Thames. Andrew, back to you. | :00:19. | :00:24. | |
Can the No campaign still pull it off? | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
And even if they do is the whole of the UK now on the brink | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
I'm joined now by John McTernan former adviser to Gordon Brown | :00:33. | :00:49. | |
and Tony Blair, Alex Bell, former Head of Policy for the SNP | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
and Lindsay McIntosh, the Times Scottish Political Editor | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
And I'm delighted that Tommy and George have stayed too. | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
No fighting has broken out either. Where | :01:02. | :01:09. | |
No fighting has broken out either. have three full days to go | :01:10. | :01:09. | |
No fighting has broken out either. polling day. What is the state of | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
play? I think the poll of polls is accurate. 49 and 51%. What is vital | :01:13. | :01:20. | |
is to bring the undecided voters in, and they properly have about | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
500,000. I think there are a lot of undecided people. I think they know | :01:26. | :01:28. | |
which way they are leaning, but they haven't jumped. The hope of the no | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
campaign is that they will go for the status quo on Thursday. How do | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
you assess the state of the campaign now? The crucial thing is the big | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
swing. The swing has come towards yes, so will the momentum carry it | :01:44. | :01:52. | |
over the line? I will think it does, because it is an antiestablishment | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
swell, and its people responding to standard Western as the politicians | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
and saying that they want a new way -- Westminster politicians. I think | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
that yes will sneak it. A referendum can be more important than a general | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
election, and the Yes campaign have had the momentum. This was the week | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
the momentum stopped. We started the week looking as though yes were | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
going into the lead and then it stopped and most of the recent polls | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
show a distinct lead for the no campaign. A distinct lead? It is one | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
or two points. It is six in one poll, two in another, aiding | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
another. The poll of polls is a good way of measuring, and is it | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
statistically Nick -- nip and tuck? It is the week the momentum stopped. | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
About a fifth of the electorate That will be a quarter of the | :02:43. | :02:45. | |
turnout have voted already, by postal vote, and they are running | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
very strongly towards no, so there is a whole bank of votes there. The | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
postal votes are skewed to the over 60s, and that is the demographic | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
that the Yes campaign have had the biggest trouble with. Absolutely, | :02:59. | :03:04. | |
the Yes campaign faced a challenge amongst the 16 and 18-year-olds and | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
always based challenge with the older voters. Trust me, I was the | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
decision the day the civil servants made it possible for the 16 to | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
18-year-olds to vote, and we said there was a victory for the no | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
campaign in that alone. The young tend to be conservative by nature. I | :03:23. | :03:28. | |
think again that to say that the momentum has stopped when you had a | :03:29. | :03:36. | |
20 point lead, this is a referendum whether people will speak and they | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
will be heard. Except for the one poll which needs a huge health | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
warning because of the size of the sample, the momentum is | :03:47. | :03:48. | |
unquestionably all the way through August is going in the direction of | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
yes. It hasn't quite continue to get to the 55/45 four yes that Alex | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
Salmond thinks will be the result. I would agree with John. This was the | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
momentum stalled. We saw the three leaders coming up, and that kept | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
Alex Salmond off the front pages on the television and we had a raft of | :04:11. | :04:13. | |
economic warnings which, although they were dismissed as | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
scaremongering, they will have had a lot of traction with voters. What | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
does the no campaign have to do in the final three days? It has to | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
focus on the undecided, relentlessly. It has to do stick to | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
the question of risk and keep pushing back on Alex Salmond to say | :04:32. | :04:34. | |
it doesn't matter if the banks leave, it will all be all right on | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
the night. The huge question amongst the undecided voters is about the | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
economy. It is about jobs and currency, about business. That risk | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
is what will crystallise in the ballot box on Thursday and that has | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
to be the focus. What does the Yes campaign have to do? It has to drive | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
home that the swing to the Yes campaign is motivated by people who | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
want a different politics. They have decided amongst themselves that they | :05:00. | :05:02. | |
want to change Scotland. The unfortunate thing is, even though | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
the no campaign has had the chance to put up after proposals, they have | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
failed. The Scottish people want their powers were a purpose and they | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
say that only the Yes campaign can deliver that. There will be two days | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
of relentless campaigning from today, Monday and Tuesday, then the | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
media, the newspapers, including your own, will come out with the | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
final poll, the ones that will be the closest to the day that the | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
Scots actually go and vote. I think we will see more polling this week, | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
but what is interesting is the extent to which the pollsters are | :05:37. | :05:39. | |
picking up what is going on in the street. We know we have a huge | :05:40. | :05:42. | |
number of voters who have never voted before and are not engage with | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
politics, so what will they do? The third candidate in the election if | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
I can would in this way, are the polls. They might have a lot of | :05:52. | :05:54. | |
questions to answer on Friday morning. We were talking earlier | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
with George and Tommy about the Labour Party's consequences in all | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
of this. Gordon Brown, of course, has had a bit of a second coming as | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
a result of this referendum. I just want to play a clip of Gordon Brown | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
during the campaign and get a reaction. And I say this to Alex | :06:11. | :06:21. | |
Salmond himself. Up until today I am outside front line politics. If he | :06:22. | :06:24. | |
continues to peddle this deception, that the Scottish Parliament under | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
his leadership, and he cannot do anything to improve the health | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
service until he has a separate state, then I will want to join Joe | :06:33. | :06:39. | |
Hanlon want in and securing the return of a Labour government as | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
quickly as possible -- Johann Lamont. That was seen by some people | :06:44. | :06:50. | |
as Gordon Brown implying he might stand for the Scottish Parliament. | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
Whether it is yes or no, is Gordon Brown the saviour of Scottish | :06:54. | :07:00. | |
Labour? I did a double black the other night -- double act with him | :07:01. | :07:03. | |
the other night, and I must say he was a big beast all over again. He | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
crossed the stage Meli dealt with the audience brilliantly. He has a | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
certain presence, Gordon Brown, but he would really have to reinvent | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
himself quite considerably. He is capable of doing, but the man who | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
was the biographer of Jimmy Maxton, who pulled together the original red | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
paper on Scotland, he would have to be that Gordon Brown rather than the | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
Gordon Brown of some more melancholy events later. Tommy, you have both | :07:33. | :07:35. | |
been critical of the state of the Scottish Labour Party. Rather than | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
looking to Gordon Brown, which might be an interim solution, doesn't | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
Scottish Labour have to find a new generation of people to reignite it? | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
What George and I are agreed on and you have to remember this question | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
of independence see us disagreeing passionately, and in most other | :07:54. | :07:55. | |
things we find ourselves in agreement, one thing is clear, | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
Scottish Labour is finished. They have lost the heart and soul of | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
Scotland. The fact that we are discussing with four days to go an | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
independence referendum that is neck and neck, Labour have failed | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
miserably, absolutely miserably because they have given up | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
everything they stood for. The SNP has picked it up. They have just | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
taken on the bank -- mantle of a left of centre party and are picking | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
up support. Gordon and the rest in my opinion, they represent the past. | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
The yes vote on the Yes campaign represents the future. What do you | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
say to that? There is nothing socialist about an SNP that wants to | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
cut business tax by 3% in the pan. There is nothing socialist about an | :08:40. | :08:42. | |
SNP destroying further education so they can give middle-class people | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
free education. The Labour Party is alive and kicking. You can see if it | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
is Gordon Brown, or Jim Murphy with the 100 days tour. But I hesitate to | :08:52. | :08:58. | |
use this word, but they are kind of privatised from the Scottish Labour | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
Party. They have rode their own fallow. Jim Murphy was on the stump | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
because official Scottish Labour did not want him leading their campaign. | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
Gordon Brown was, I think, kept off the stage until it became so | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
critical that he had to be brought back. I agree with John, the SNP | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
talks left but acts right. That is before they get state powers. That | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
is what is exciting about the referendum, it's not about the SNP, | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
it's about the people deciding. What we have heard so far in the | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
referendum campaign is that there is a desperate yearning in the | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
electorate for real politics, purposeful politics and for the | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
people to be represented. It is probably to the eternal shame of | :09:42. | :09:44. | |
labour that they gave up that role and other people are now taking it | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
upon themselves. How would you assess the state of the Labour | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
Party? The problem is that it was demolished by the SNP in 2011 and | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
what they should have done since then and in other circumstances is | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
take a real look within themselves and brought forward new talent and | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
policies and watch out what they stood for. They've been unable to do | :10:04. | :10:06. | |
that because they are locked in a constitutional row. It is the plan | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
of the Nationalists to fight the first Scottish general election as | :10:14. | :10:16. | |
an independent nation as a nationalist party with its own | :10:17. | :10:19. | |
programme. You don't all go your own way. Why don't you do that? You have | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
more on your main reason to be, so why not go, left, right and centre | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
question you are presuming you don't go the one-way. I do not see the | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
function of the SNP after the yes vote. I think it is clear that there | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
is an SNP under Nicola Sturgeon an SNP which attracts votes from the | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
left and that is the one for me Whether that is called the SNP or | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
something else, I don't know. I think the assumption that we are | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
going into a mirror of old politics in a new world is just fundamentally | :10:51. | :10:58. | |
flawed. That is interesting. Let's just bring in the English | :10:59. | :11:01. | |
dimensional. In many ways, England has not spoken in this referendum | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
campaign. Whether it is yes or no, it will, and to give you a flavour | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
of what some in England might be thinking was saying, here is a clip | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
from John Redwood. We are fed up with this lopsided devolution, this | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
unfair devolution. Scotland gets first-class Devolution, Wales gets | :11:21. | :11:22. | |
second-class devolution and England gets nothing. If Wales wants the | :11:23. | :11:25. | |
same as us, they should have it and then there would be commonality so | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
we could discuss and decide in our own countries, in our own assemblies | :11:31. | :11:33. | |
in Parliament, all those things that are devolved. George, it was clear | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
that if Scotland voted yes for independence it has huge | :11:42. | :11:43. | |
implications for England than the UK, but it's also clear particularly | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
after Gordon Brown's intervention, even if it is no, it has huge | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
applications. You are, I suggest, agreeing with John Redwood that | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
there should be an English boys It would be a step too far for me to | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
agree with him -- English voice I appreciate I might have gone out on | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
a limb. He is the voice of Mars the Balkan from Mars. My own | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
constituents in Bradford are asking, what about us? All these things | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
being done, all the extra mile is being travel to Scotland, what about | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
us? Labour would be well advised to adjust quickly on this so that the | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
John Redwood types do not steal the show. England has yes to use -- yet | :12:27. | :12:33. | |
to speak. It's interesting when you hear a Labour backbencher in | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
Scotland talk about a command paper. He is not in government. Gordon | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
Brown is going round Scotland promising things and he has | :12:43. | :12:45. | |
absolutely no chance of delivering them. The MPs in England will say, | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
hey, what are you talking about We have never been discussed with that? | :12:51. | :12:54. | |
We have not agreed with that. The only way people in Scotland will get | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
the powers they deserve is by voting yes. Crystal ball time, Tommy, you | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
think it is 60/40. I will stick with it, because we have an unprecedented | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
election. 97% of Scotland is registered to vote. The working | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
class will vote in numbers never voted before. George? 55/45 for our | :13:13. | :13:21. | |
side. And if there is a rogue poll, the tek Levesley polled -- | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
technically flawed poll, which should not be published because it | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
is so flawed, then we would be stretching towards what I am | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
predicting already. I think in the last few days we will reach that. | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
Come on. If the no campaign can get the silent majority out, they will | :13:39. | :13:41. | |
edge it. You think they will win, but how much? They cannot give up in | :13:42. | :13:48. | |
a second, a moment or a mile. It is that close. It will be won by the | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
passionate view. I will go for a narrow yes victory. I'm the George, | :13:54. | :14:01. | |
53 or 54% in favour of Joe -- no. -- I am with | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
53 or 54% in favour of Joe -- no. -- to argue about that later. Thank you | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
for being with us on the special Sunday politics from Edinburgh. | :14:10. | :14:11. | |
That's all from us today in Scotland. | :14:12. | :14:13. | |
Don't forget the Daily Politics will have continuing coverage | :14:14. | :14:15. | |
of the referendum campaign all this week on BBC2 at midday. | :14:16. | :14:18. | |
On Thursday night Huw Edwards will be in Glasgow and I will be | :14:19. | :14:21. | |
in London to bring you live coverage of the results on BBC1 from 10. 0 pm | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
on a historic night for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. | :14:26. | :14:28. | |
And I'll be back next Sunday when we're live from the Labour | :14:29. | :14:31. | |
Unless, of course, the referendum result is so tumultuous even the | :14:32. | :14:39. | |
Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics. | :14:40. | :14:44. |