12/09/2014 The Papers

Oscar Pistorius. Rugby Union, five matches to talk about and all that

and more in 15 minutes. Hello and welcome to our look ahead

to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. With me are

Sue Matthias, Editor of the Financial Times Weekend Magazine and

political journalist, Rob Merrick. Thank you for being here. Tomorrow's

front pages, starting with... The Daily Mail leads on a warning from

the SNP's former deputy leader that Scottish banks will be broken up and

oil giant BP nationalised to punish them for backing the No campaign.

The FT has the same story, and says the Better Together campaign claims

the threats show the ugly side of their rivals.

The Guardian has a new poll which suggests that the gap between the

yes and no camps is still just 2% of voters but seventeen percent are

saying they don't know. The Scotsman says the poll is on a knife edge

with anticipations of a turnout of 88% for the vote. The Times reports

that fears about the referendum vote have triggered the biggest sell`off

of British investments since the collapse of the Wall Street Bank,

Lehman brothers in 2008. The Independent carries a dramatic

portrait of Ian Paisley, who's died at the age of 88. The Daily Record

devotes part of its front page to Oscar Pistorius's conviction for

shooting and killing his girlfriend but says the Paralympian may never

go to prison. And The Mirror leads on the news that animal lovers have

raised over one million pounds for the dogs home in Manchester that was

badly damaged by a suspected arson attack. So now will talk about this

one, the fact that this menacing intervention as it is described by

the Daily Mail is coming from the former deputy leader of the SNP.

This will not be helpful for the Yes campaign. Of course not. I work at

Westminster and I have seen many of my colleagues had to `` go to

Scotland in the last few days and these sorts of things have been

thrown around. The idea that companies will need to bend to their

knee to a greater power. Key is that the SNP's former deputy leader is

being talked of here. I don't think Alex Salmond will be trying to drive

the oil companies out of Scotland. I think what we will see, is more of

this before the end of the referendum campaign is through. This

does give the No campaign some more ammunition to say that businesses

are safe in an independent Scotland. They are already saying

that this shows how ugly it has got. I think so and the language is

getting more heated on each side. It is happening day by day and you sort

of wonder where it will end up. When we get to the vote, what rhetoric is

going to be used. I noticed this quote from a leading Scottish banker

earlier this week who was saying, what is next? A plague of locusts

descending on Scotland? I think the issue really is that everybody needs

to calm down slightly and take a more sober stock of the situation. I

think the background picture is that, there is going to be

uncertainty about the financial future of Scotland. Uncertainty in

all sorts of ways. What would more devolution look like in the event of

a No vote and how easy would it be to break the union up in the event

of a Yes vote? It would be very interesting from a journalistic

point of view. Let's look at this one. Five days to go. A number one

German bank warns that a Yes vote would trigger a new depression. They

are warning that it would be a big mistake for the world economy since

the decision would have global ramifications. That is cataclysmic.

We are talking about this intervention from bankers and

leaders of large retail chains and, the fact is, the only thing that is

really certain is that uncertainty. There is nothing economist hates

more than uncertainty `` economists hate more. You may possibly have a

self`fulfilling prophecy. There is no doubt that it will be a big cost

to Scotland. The people of Scotland must recognise that data is not a

scare story. It is a big leap from that to another great procession,

however. They may wonder at the bank saying that since the banks caused

the recession in the first place. There is the ability of political

organizations to stand on their own and that is the argument. What will

make the difference? If someone doesn't know which way to vote or

whether to vote at all in the next few days, what will encourage them?

Is it scare tactics? You just wonder which way it will make people go. I

think if I was a Scottish voter right now, I would have probably

been a little bit fed up with the general tone of the argument and the

debate. The tone coming from south of the border in particular. The No

campaign has been criticized for being too negative and failing to

paint a positive emotional vision of why we should be a union. I think

the Prime Minister tried to do it but for me, it didn't work. It is

like he is clinging to the ankle of a wife who is marching out the door

yelling" Please stay! " . If they only need a few voters to get over

the edge... They are expecting 88% turnout and 98% registered. When you

think of how dismal the turnout is formed collections in the UK `` for

elections in the UK. You would think it was the end of the world. The

gloves are off now. Many comments saying that everyone needs to stick

together. A great deal of comments on social media as we have seen in

the last few weeks to stop the Guardian. This shows the No vote is

in front but only by two points. Just a couple of percentage points

one way or the other depending on which poll you read. We both work at

in newspapers and we know there has to be a momentum but the polls don't

really say that. They are all nearly identical. What they tell us is that

nobody is significantly up or down in the last few days. It is

impossible to call. This is seen as good for the No campaign but it

could be a disaster. It will go down to the wire. 17% of people on this

poll don't know how to vote and it could be in their hands. Absolutely

and many of them are very young voters. What difference might not

make? `` might that make? It will be on a knife edge and it will be

interesting to see what happens in the next few days if the whole

temperature cools down. You might get a little more clarity. It is so

important. The consequences are so great in the consequences are so

great interview of George Osborne, whichever way it goes, that he has

decided to call off the trip to the G 20 in Australia. It seems that no

one has taken it very seriously until these last few weeks. When the

Prime Minister came back from holiday, he was even asked if he had

actually watched the second debate and he didn't even watch it. There

was football on that night. I was watching it but I thought the Prime

Minister might have paid attention. Away from the Scottish referendum. A

look at the Sun. Emblazoned across the front page. Oscar Teets justice

is how the Sun sees what has happened in Pretoria today ``

cheats. He has been cleared of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. Finding

him guilty of culpable homicide. Not a verdict we would ever have here.

Something close to manslaughter. The suggestion is that it is injustice

but he is still guilty of a very serious crime and could face

prison. We don't know what is going to happen to him. The sentence could

be anything from 15 years in jail to a fine or community service in which

case he would walk free. If it is the latter, there will be an

uproar. It is not going to convince people either way. I think there is

overwhelming disbelief that he got off with culpable homicide. The

judge seems to think that he could not have reasonably known that the

person on the other side would be killed, on the other side of the

door. For premeditated, he would have had to... It would imply that

he fired shots knowing that he was firing at her and intending to kill

her. Am I right about that? That was never approved. `` proved. The judge

accepted that he firmly believed it was an intruder behind the door but

the fact that he fired four shots is what gives the most Emmys. `` the

most unease. What would the reaction be in South Africa if he got off

completely? Goodness. I can't imagine. He is still he is only 27.

It also draws attention to how much gun use there is in South Africa.

Absolutely. And also, he is a very rich celebrity. A contrast is being

drawn between a sports star in South Africa who was driving while high on

drugs and killed some people. He got 25 years in jail for murder. Moving

on. Talking about the other story on the front of the Sun. Not just the

story but the way they have framed it. The pictures they have used.

After arsonists killed 53, give a dog a home. There was a fire, 50

dogs were killed and ?1 million poured in over the last 24 hours for

this. You take issue with the way the Sun has done this. I did. I

recall being on this programme not very long ago when we were

discussing that evening, the Ukraine air disaster. It was the day after.

And, the presentation was exactly the same, showing the victims of

that awful tragedy and naming them, presenting them. And the Sun has

done the same thing with dogs. There may be a difference between a front

page that makes people feel uncomfortable but is effective and

one that spurs positive action. People may be wondering which dog

they would like to adopt. Hopefully they all find homes. That's it for

The Papers this hour. Thank you Sue Matthias, Editor of the

Times Weekend Magazine and political journalist Rob Merrick. Tributes are

being paid to the Ian Paisley who has died at age 88. But coming up

next it's time for Sportsday. Hello and welcome to Sportsday, I'm

Lizzie Greenwood`Hughes. The headlines this evening: Yorkshire

wind their first County Championship title for 13 years. St Helens have

to wait to find out if they'll wind Super League's Leaders' Shield after

narrowly losing tonight.