Browse content similar to 24/08/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good morning and welcome to Sunday Politics Scotland. | :00:40. | :00:39. | |
Pensions are a key issue in the referendum - | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
we look at the competing claims from both campaigns. | :00:44. | :00:50. | |
You would be surprised at how little importance people look at pensions | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
with in your working career. It is not until we get closer to | :00:58. | :01:00. | |
retirement that it becomes a big issue. Age 55 and over becomes, | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
where is my pension, where is it coming from? | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
And Alex Salmond's former head of policy tells us we can transform | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
society and lead ourselves to a better world. | :01:12. | :01:13. | |
For most people in work, it's something that you prefer not | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
to think about, but for those edging past 55, suddenly pensions | :01:19. | :01:20. | |
They provide security and stability in the "third age", | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
and any fundamental political changes could threaten that. | :01:27. | :01:28. | |
But so could the changing shape of our population. | :01:29. | :01:31. | |
In the referendum campaign, both sides have been trying to | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
assure us that, whatever happens, there will be continuity. | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
The Scottish Government's White Paper outlines a single-tier pension | :01:39. | :01:40. | |
Westminster plans include a single-tier pension | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
But, as Andrew Kerr reports, a little nest egg stored away to | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
emerge 30 years later is something to value. | :01:52. | :02:00. | |
The water of life sampled by these two lists on Edinburgh's Royal mile, | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
long anticipated and a final reward after years of storage, much like a | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
pension. As arguments in the independence debate are distilled | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
down, this is out as a key issue for voters. Better Together have been | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
warning the EU will continue to require cross-border pension schemes | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
to be fully funded in an independent Scotland. The trade association for | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
workplace pension schemes warns this could be expensive. They have | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
potentially two options. They could close the scheme altogether because | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
of the costs involved or they could split that scheme into. A scheme | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
north of the border and in the south. Those would come at a great | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
cost indeed and they would have to find that money, which could be | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
invested elsewhere in the business. Ultimately, those costs could be | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
passed on to the people, the Sabres follow schemes. -- the savers. Some | :02:56. | :03:07. | |
experts say the industry has caught with change in the past and any | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
future development will run smoothly. Pensions in the UK have | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
gone through significant change in all of my career. Every decade has | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
seen a significant regulatory change which has been managed and delivered | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
etc etc. I see an independent Scotland where there will be changes | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
to the pension system, but I do not see that negatively. I think it can | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
happen. There is an amazing intellect in Scotland around the | :03:37. | :03:39. | |
whole pensions industry and I think an independent Scotland could take | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
advantage of that. So, with" best. As with any long-term prospects, who | :03:46. | :03:56. | |
knows what the future holds. He has to check the whisky every once in | :03:57. | :03:59. | |
awhile to make sure it is just right. And we as taxpayers probably | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
have to manage our own expectations when it comes to pensions. Remember | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
when the state pension was first introduced, people lived only a few | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
years more than the average state pension now. Life expectancy in | :04:14. | :04:19. | |
Scotland is 78 or so. State pension age is 65 and heading that way | :04:20. | :04:28. | |
forward in as well. The number of years that people expect the state | :04:29. | :04:30. | |
to look after them has kind of increased quite substantially. Of | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
course, there is no pension fund as such that people contribute to and | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
then draw from. It does not work that way. People in work now are | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
paying for today's pensioners but you have to get the right ratio. The | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
pensioners of the future will continue to rely on those who work. | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
It will depend on how much they pay and are willing to pay in taxes to | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
support older people. Whether the expectations that people have now | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
can continue to be realised, it is something Government is aware of and | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
it is kind to rein back on the expectation that it will would | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
spend, say, more than a third of their life in receiving a pension. | :05:16. | :05:23. | |
With independence or the union, perhaps no-one is sure of the taste | :05:24. | :05:29. | |
of things to come as the population changes. He gets all the best | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
locations, doesn't he? Today's Sunday Post has carried out | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
a poll of 1,000 pensioners on their Nearly 90% intend to vote, 32.6% | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
intend to vote yes, 54.8% intend Stripping out | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
the "don't knows" takes it to 37% The majority say pensions has been | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
a factor in their decision. Nearly 75% have some concerns how | :05:49. | :05:56. | |
the state pension will be funded Just over 40% also expressed concern | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
about how the state pension would be funded | :06:02. | :06:04. | |
if Scotland remains part of the UK. Joining me is | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
Labour MP Gregg McClymont, and from Aberdeen, Dr Eilidh Whiteford, who | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
is the SNP pensions spokesperson. Eilidh Whiteford, it is pretty clear | :06:13. | :06:26. | |
people are concerned about... Let's start with the state pension in | :06:27. | :06:29. | |
independent Scotland. Are they right to be worried? The UK Government and | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
Scottish Government have made very clear that your entitlement to a | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
state pension is based on your contributions record and not on | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
either where you live or what your citizenship is. If you think about | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
it at the moment, lots of people, when they retire, go off to Spain or | :06:48. | :06:50. | |
France or somewhere sunny and still get their pension. Government has | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
been very clear that it is based on your contribution, not on where you | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
live. I think a lot of the scaremongering we have seen on state | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
pensions has been quite unnecessary and is not backed up by reality. All | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
right. Gregg McClymont, that is right. Let's stick to the state | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
pension. Even the British Government seems to accept that if Britain | :07:14. | :07:16. | |
becomes independent, pensioners will get what they would have got if we | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
were part of the UK. -- Scotland becomes. Pensioners do not even know | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
the currency that they will get their pension in. It is not a | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
surprise that pensioners are concerned or anxious about what | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
independence means for pensions. What Tim acted as not mention is | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
that the state pension entitlement would need a series of negotiations | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
between Scotland and the UK and around currency and pensions | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
therein. -- what Eilidh Whiteford. If you're a pensioner and you do not | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
know what currency your pension will be in after Scotland leads UK... | :07:56. | :08:01. | |
What about that point? It is not just currency, pensions are | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
protected. We do not know what inflation would be in an independent | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
Scotland, whether it would be higher or more than the UK. We do not know | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
what we jamming rises would be like. -- wages rises. We do not know what | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
would be like in the UK. You would need a crystal ball to predict it. | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
It is being alarmist about prospect rather being honest. At the moment, | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
Scotland are spending less as a proportion of both those revenues | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
and GDP on pensions and because of that we are in a better position to | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
afford pensions than the rest of the UK. But you accept the other greater | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
proportion and will continue to have a greater proportion of elderly | :08:45. | :08:46. | |
people, therefore that will change quite quickly? That equation will | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
change over time. There are challenges for every country in the | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
western world are challenges for every country in the Western world | :08:57. | :08:58. | |
in changing demographics. But the real question is how we boost our | :08:59. | :09:00. | |
working age population to address that challenge and let's not just | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
sit on our hands and assume that we will not do anything to address | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
those problems. We address that in a little bit. Gregg McClymont, Eilidh | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
Whiteford as a point. Every country in the world has issues about how it | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
finances pensions. The issues facing an independent Scotland, there could | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
be problems and issues, but the no different from anyone else. | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
Professor David Bell, you quoted on another matter, as pointed out | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
amongst others that Scotland will face greater challenges in filling | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
that population age gap. -- working age gap. That might need to be | :09:36. | :09:44. | |
something we will have a discussion about and we have not had that so | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
far. More widely, she talks about the challenges the UK faces, but it | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
isn't -- is it not the case the UK has always paid its pensions infill | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
and in time? If 72% of pensioners are worried about the prospect of | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
their pensions, does the fault lies with pensioners? Are they wrong to | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
be worried? Pensioners have had a lot of alarmist stories that | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
Scotland cannot pay pensions and that is simply not true. Scotland is | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
in a better position than the rest of the UK to pay pensions because we | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
have higher levels of employment in Scotland. We also have more life | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
expectancy, so pensions are more affordable. That will not change | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
with independence. Eilidh Whiteford, this issue of cross-border pensions, | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
that worries a lot of people. Under European Union rules, if you're part | :10:34. | :10:36. | |
of a private company's pension scheme are part of it in England and | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
part of it in Scotland, it will have to be fully funded if we become | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
independent. You heard earlier the claims that could be a serious | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
problem. It is an issue that affects not state pension is an issue that | :10:52. | :10:54. | |
affects not state pension us but people in occupational pensions in | :10:55. | :10:56. | |
the private sector. Clearly, we need to look at what is happening in | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
other parts of the European Union will this has been the case, to look | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
at how to sort it out. Indeed, the UK Government has worked with the | :11:05. | :11:11. | |
Republic of Ireland's Government to address this issue and did so in | :11:12. | :11:14. | |
2005. The new directive is very clear that it is possible that | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
existing recovery arrangements can be used. But the fundamental issue | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
is if your company's pension scheme is underfunded, it does not matter | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
what your constitutional position is. The underlying problem is still | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
there. If we want to be the heads in the sand about that, that is not | :11:33. | :11:36. | |
sure, but actually, we have an opportunity to make sure these | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
schemes are properly funded. Gregg McClymont, what about that point? | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
The issues she is highlighting is that there are problems with | :11:48. | :11:50. | |
cross-border pensions and there is this European Union directive. The | :11:51. | :11:53. | |
British Government gave a three-year grace period for this to be sorted | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
out. We not really in a different from anyone else. But the problem is | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
created by creating a border, that is why it is a cross-border issue | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
between Scotland and the rest of the UK. If it can be solved in the UK | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
and the rest of the European Union, as Tim acted as said, it can be | :12:12. | :12:14. | |
solved in the case of Ireland, why should Scotland be so unique? -- as | :12:15. | :12:23. | |
Eilidh Whiteford said. They have not met the regulations with | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
cross-border funding. It has not been solved with the Republic of | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
Ireland. There are enormous amounts of schemes. The total deficit of | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
private sector pension schemes that were beyond these rules is more than | :12:38. | :12:44. | |
?200 billion in the UK. As a number of bodies have said repeatedly, that | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
is a huge problem. How are companies meant to realise those deficits in | :12:51. | :12:54. | |
three years? Most schemes are running 10-15 year recovery periods. | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
Presumably, Eilidh Whiteford, do you have proposals to extend three years | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
to ten or 15 years? We have. We have proposed that ourselves and the UK | :13:08. | :13:10. | |
Government sit down and work out whether those existing recovery | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
plans are feasible. That has happened in the past with other | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
places. Particularly in Ireland, they have been allowed to work to | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
existing recovery plans. They have not been limited in that way by the | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
European directive. There is no reason that should not happen in | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
Scotland. Let's not forget the fundamental issue is the Fonda, -- | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
underfunding of those schemes. Pure assertion. Thank you both indeed. It | :13:36. | :13:42. | |
has been a busy week in a referendum campaign. Let's look at the week in | :13:43. | :13:51. | |
60 seconds. The head of NATO said an independent | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
Scotland would have to be applied to the Alliance. The Scottish | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
Government said it would be in other member states interests to the | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
membership. Sir Ian Wood said the Scottish Government's North Sea oil | :14:04. | :14:09. | |
forecasts are 60% too high. The first master said there was a | :14:10. | :14:11. | |
wealth of contrasting expert opinion. Both sides took to the | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
airwaves to debate the future of broadcasting. Labour said a yes vote | :14:19. | :14:25. | |
could devastate the industry. But there were claims a new Scottish | :14:26. | :14:27. | |
Broadcasting Service would reinvigorate. There was a spat over | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
civil servants. A Whitehall department advised staff to vote nor | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
was the Scottish Health Secretary was criticised for writing to | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
reassure NHS staff about pensions postindependence. And it was | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
announced that more than 1 million people have signed a declaration to | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
vote yes. The no camp claim it still speaks for the majority of Scots. | :14:50. | :14:57. | |
So, as the referendum campaign enters its final stretch, | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
neither side is wanting for advice from outside sources. | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
One man who used to be on the inside is Alex Salmond's former head of | :15:08. | :15:08. | |
policy, Alex Bell, who joins me now. You have just written a book. You | :15:09. | :15:22. | |
saying you were taken on by the Scottish Government because the | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
British government were interested in proposals about people max. There | :15:27. | :15:33. | |
were attempts and off the there could conversations about what devo | :15:34. | :15:42. | |
max would look like. My point in saying that in the book was to say | :15:43. | :15:49. | |
the UK government knew what a evil Max package would look like. -- | :15:50. | :16:04. | |
default. -- devo max. It was in 2010, signals had been made that | :16:05. | :16:10. | |
they may be open to some kind of wider discussion. Actually the | :16:11. | :16:16. | |
Scottish Government first preference was for some kind of devo max | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
settlement. It was to be something that met the needs of the people. | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
The Tory government where receptive to that. What would have | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
subsequently happened, had the talks got any rare, which they didn't, I | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
do not know. They were certainly of an open mind and constructive mind. | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
If I were Alex Salmond I would not be grateful because you came out and | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
supported independence and told us among other things that Trident | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
would stay and it should so that Scotland were seen as responsible. | :16:58. | :17:04. | |
You tell us a currency union would mean Scotland was not really | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
independent and most of your ideas about independence do not need | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
independence if only the UK government would implement some of | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
them. What struck me then and strikes me now is a conspicuous lack | :17:19. | :17:26. | |
of humility by the political classes of both sides. That humility and | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
minds to the fact we had gone through a number of crises, | :17:31. | :17:38. | |
financial, environmental, we need more complex city and nuance than | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
simply saying you are right, you are wrong, you are a liar. I think | :17:44. | :17:54. | |
everyone is inclined to say they speak for the majority but I speak | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
for the point of view that says we need the powers to transform our | :18:01. | :18:07. | |
society. I would have guessed -- settled at devo max. The entire time | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
I was working for Alex Salmond that would have been a point of view I | :18:12. | :18:19. | |
would have looked. I am not an out and out Nationalist but I am an out | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
and out yes person. That is the only option on the table. If I wear Ed | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
Malabar and I would be thinking I quite like that but there is little | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
in your boot Ed Miliband would disagree with. -- eight Miliband. -- | :18:36. | :18:52. | |
aid Miliband. What Scotland needs is a Labour Party with a spine. We need | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
a socially progressive society which uses its funds to benefit people. | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
There is no reason Ed Miliband and the Labour Party should advocate | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
that. There is no reason for that idea to have got out with party | :19:11. | :19:18. | |
bounds. You raise the issue of, if there is a yes vote what is it that | :19:19. | :19:25. | |
the Scottish Government has a mandate to negotiate. You point out | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
there will be a currency union, it will be brilliant but other times | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
you saying you are not voting for the SMP but for an independent | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
Scotland. There would be a mandate to negotiate for independence which | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
was agreed between Edinburgh and the global community. The interesting | :19:48. | :19:55. | |
point is that it is not entirely clear who would do that negotiation | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
for the UK. It does not seem David has a mandate at all. It seems a | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
broadband negotiating team are addressing the idea it is not the | :20:10. | :20:18. | |
national idea. You are arguing for a yes vote based on a prospectus that | :20:19. | :20:27. | |
you outline which no political party in Scotland has the slightest | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
intention of implementing. If you want the kind of policies that a | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
properly brought party should be delivering, they cannot deliver that | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
in the UK as it stands. The only way to get that is by taking control | :20:44. | :20:52. | |
closer to home. Your prospectuses for the Scottish Labour Party? They | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
are welcome to take it after a yes vote and can run on that mandate | :20:58. | :20:59. | |
next time. policy, Alex Bell, who joins me now. | :21:00. | :21:08. | |
You're watching Sunday Politics Scotland. Let's cross now for the | :21:09. | :21:11. | |
news with Andrew Kerr. Good afternoon. Both sides in the | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
independence referendum campaign are A former moderator of the General | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
Assembly of the Church of Scotland has announced he's supporting the | :21:21. | :21:23. | |
Yes campaign along with more than 30 other kirk ministers. The | :21:24. | :21:25. | |
Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan said | :21:26. | :21:27. | |
independence was a "once in a lifetime opportunity to remove | :21:28. | :21:29. | |
Trident". The issue was debated at the Kirk's Assembly. However, Better | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
Together, say people of all faiths and none are saying "no thanks" to | :21:33. | :21:35. | |
independence because of the "risk and uncertainty" that comes with | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
Over 100 people have gathered in Shetland to remember the | :21:42. | :21:44. | |
four who died in last year's helicopter crash off Sumburgh | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
Airport. A short service was held at the Sumburgh memorial last night. A | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
new plaque was dedicated to the victims, and a number of survivors | :21:51. | :21:53. | |
made the journey to the islands for the service. Later, two wreaths were | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
laid at sea at the site of the crash. The event was also marked by | :21:58. | :22:06. | |
a helicopter fly past. Let's take a look at the weather | :22:07. | :22:08. | |
with Sarah. It should stay largely dry and we | :22:09. | :22:21. | |
have a law of bright weather across the board. We could still see a few | :22:22. | :22:26. | |
showers across the far North Highlands. For most of us, staying | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
dry. We will see a fair amount of Clyde pushing in from the South | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
West, turning the sunshine he's a. That is it. Now back to Gordon. | :22:39. | :22:51. | |
with Sarah. I'm joined now by Ian Blackford, | :22:52. | :22:53. | |
former SNP Treasurer, and businessman, and by Raymond | :22:54. | :22:55. | |
Robertson, former Conservative MP for Aberdeen South. | :22:56. | :23:09. | |
Let's start on pensions. Surely we can have sympathy for the public. It | :23:10. | :23:17. | |
is difficult enough to understand pensions without having to worry | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
about if there is an independent Scotland. People will be safe and | :23:22. | :23:28. | |
secure in an independent Scotland, pensions will continue to be paid. | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
The threat has come to the pension funds from Gordon Brown and the | :23:35. | :23:41. | |
attack on pensions 20 years ago. What we do is for the Scottish | :23:42. | :23:49. | |
economy to increase certainty for pensions. Do you buy that? It is not | :23:50. | :23:57. | |
helped when John Swinney tells the Scottish Cabinet confidentially | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
there will be an independent Scotland problem with pensions. It | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
is not just state pensions, there are public sector pension funds? | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
That is what John Swinney told the Scottish Cabinet. The health | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
secretary said health pensions will be even higher in an independent | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
Scotland, they are creating chaos, causing people to be genuinely | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
concerned as to the future. You are right, it is not just the state | :24:29. | :24:35. | |
pension. If you work for the NHS in Scotland there is an NHS pension but | :24:36. | :24:43. | |
it is not funded, it is being paid out of taxation. That is true | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
whether talking about an independent Scotland or the rest of the UK. If | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
you are working for the NHS in Scotland and you are thinking about | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
your NHS pension, you are doing the same position as people concerned | :24:58. | :25:04. | |
about the state pension? That is not the case. Your entitlement will | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
remain whether or not Scotland is independent. The real issue is that | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
Westminster are raising the retirement age throughout the UK | :25:16. | :25:21. | |
when the life expectancy in Scotland is considerably lower. We want to | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
make sure we have a comfortable retirement. The real issue here is | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
if you take the FTSE 100, it is only one company that has a defined | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
pensions scheme. That is not the fault of the SNP or the government. | :25:37. | :25:45. | |
It is the fault of Westminster. Coming up tomorrow is the debate | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond, I am not sure you are any | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
more of an Alistair Darling fan than you are an Alex Salmond fan but what | :25:59. | :26:06. | |
do you think each of them has to do? Alex Salmond and the yes campaign | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
will somehow have it in them to accept they have introduced an | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
nastiness and intolerance to Scottish politics in the last few | :26:17. | :26:22. | |
months which is unhelpful and I hope the First Minister concedes you can | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
indeed be a proud and passionate Scot and be voting no. I think the | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
intolerance and nastiness does not help Scotland and the healing | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
process that must happen the day after the referendum. Presumably the | :26:38. | :26:44. | |
chapter that he considered Alex Salmond did not do that well last | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
time, he will almost certainly do better this time. I think he will | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
come out fighting tomorrow. He will give a positive vision as to what an | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
independent Scotland will look like. We have to focus on the positive. At | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
the same kind, there are questions Alistair Darling will have to answer | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
tomorrow. These are challenges for maintaining a national health | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
service free at the point of need. Whether or not we want to protect | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
the ethos of a public national health service in an independent | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
Scotland, those are the choices the people of Scotland face. If you are | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
Alistair Darling, what do you do tomorrow? You know Alex Salmond will | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
probably be more impressive than he seemed last time. How do you prepare | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
for that? Alistair Darling has to keep on at the central questions of | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
this referendum campaign. At the top is the currency. If he bangs on | :27:51. | :27:57. | |
about the currency again he will be seen as a one trick pony. It is | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
about getting Alex Salmond to join the rest of us in the deal Scotland. | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
With a yes vote we all know there will be no sheared sterling, we know | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
that and we need Alistair -- Alex Salmond to admit this. It is the | :28:16. | :28:24. | |
simple answer, we will continue to use the pound. The currency | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
commission have raised a number of alternatives that would see us still | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
continue to use the pound. Come what May, an independent Scotland will be | :28:35. | :28:36. | |
using the pound. for Aberdeen South. | :28:37. | :28:45. | |
And you can watch the First Minister Alex Salmond and Better Together | :28:46. | :28:47. | |
leader Alistair Darling go head-to-head on the BBC tomorrow | :28:48. | :28:50. | |
evening. That's on BBC 1 Scotland on Monday night at 8 o'clock. | :28:51. | :28:53. | |
That's all from the us this week. I'll be back at the same time next | :28:54. | :28:56. | |
week. Until then, goodbye. | :28:57. | :29:02. |