:00:00. > :00:08.Cardiff becoming to an end? `` could? Now, on the eve of the vote,
:00:09. > :00:25.what is the paper saying? `` what are the papers saying? Good evening.
:00:26. > :00:30.Coming to you from Edinburgh, let's have a look at some of the front
:00:31. > :00:40.pages with just a matter of hours to go until the voting booths open. The
:00:41. > :00:46.Scotsman says the country is going to the polls for a historic
:00:47. > :00:49.decision. The Daily Express says Scots are being urged to reject
:00:50. > :00:57.narrow nationalism and save the union. The Independent has the union
:00:58. > :01:01.and Saltire flags dominating. It has called the campaign a carnival of
:01:02. > :01:08.democracy from which the world can learn. The message from the Mirror
:01:09. > :01:14.is clear. Don't let the sun sets on our 307 years to get the. The
:01:15. > :01:19.Guardian has a map of Scotland on its front page and says that Scots
:01:20. > :01:24.have 15 hours to decide their country's fate. The daily record has
:01:25. > :01:31.the final opinion poll and the words all to pray for. And finally, the
:01:32. > :01:37.Times talks about the future of the UK hanging in the balance, with the
:01:38. > :01:47.vote, as we keep saying, too close to call. Thank you for joining us
:01:48. > :01:54.this evening. We have two guests, one very much in the "Yes" camp
:01:55. > :02:04.and... Let us begin with the Scottish Sun. It has a blank page.
:02:05. > :02:13.Scotland also starts with a blank page. It does, however, have 13
:02:14. > :02:19.pages of referendum coverage. The senior parties of Westminster, two
:02:20. > :02:25.years after plans for the referendum began, trying to figure out what
:02:26. > :02:32.their plans for devo max might be. They have bottled it. There was talk
:02:33. > :02:36.about how Rupert Murdoch might be in favour of Scottish independence and
:02:37. > :02:43.so on. Would`be Sun, out for "Yes" or "No"? They bottled it yesterday
:02:44. > :02:48.and they bottled it again today. In the end, Rupert Murdoch, wonderful
:02:49. > :02:56.proprietor though he may be, sees a commercial interest in not backing
:02:57. > :03:01.one side or the other. It certainly is very close. Many of the opinion
:03:02. > :03:14.polls are very tight. Day of destiny. Is this a curious photo?
:03:15. > :03:19.I'm not sure what to say. LAUGHTER. It is an appalling front page. It
:03:20. > :03:26.looks like our day of destiny is an appointment at a public laboratory.
:03:27. > :03:30.There is no poetry, no sense of the historic magnitude of the votes that
:03:31. > :03:40.Scots will make tomorrow. It is dismal, I'm afraid, and there is no
:03:41. > :03:46.excuse. The truth must out. The Scottish Daily Mail. Visually, Alec
:03:47. > :03:59.Torelli, we will see this on the front pages, many images of flags.
:04:00. > :04:03.`` pictorially. If you are going to use flags, that is the way to use
:04:04. > :04:07.them. It is a great front page until you get to the words but you cannot
:04:08. > :04:11.have everything. I think the words are absolutely fine, especially from
:04:12. > :04:21.a newspaper that is validly Unionist. It even has something for
:04:22. > :04:29."Yes" voters. This intertwining of the Scottish and UK flags as an
:04:30. > :04:32.illustration of the sort of oppressive yoke from which Scotland
:04:33. > :04:37.must be freed and so on, if you want to see it that way. I think you
:04:38. > :04:46.might be reading too much into that. They might not want you to see
:04:47. > :04:53.that but it works for both sides. What do you think of this headline?
:04:54. > :04:56.All to pray for. That opinion poll is very slightly at odds with the
:04:57. > :05:05.overall opinion polls. The latest one that we were talking about
:05:06. > :05:13.tonight is nifty 2%, 48%. But again, `` is 52%, 48%. But again, it is
:05:14. > :05:16.very close. If I were the kind of person who prays, that is not the
:05:17. > :05:23.result I would be wanting to pray for. It is a respectable headline
:05:24. > :05:27.and it does get to the guts of the issues. Many people on both sides of
:05:28. > :05:31.the campaign have no idea how it will go but they are backing their
:05:32. > :05:38.hunches, consulting their rosary beads, their tarot cards, whatever.
:05:39. > :05:42.Whatever they believe to try to get some sort of feeling about how this
:05:43. > :05:47.will go. The truth is that nobody really knows. It is not a bad
:05:48. > :05:52.headline. That is the amazing thing about this. It could be a landslide
:05:53. > :05:59.for one side or the other. It could be very narrow. Nobody knows! You
:06:00. > :06:09.are steeped in this and followed it from the beginning. Did you think we
:06:10. > :06:16.would reach this point, seven hours until the polling booths open and no
:06:17. > :06:22.one knowing how it will end up? I always thought "Yes" would win. Deep
:06:23. > :06:27.down, I still think that. But, really, it has been so tight and the
:06:28. > :06:31.gap that existed in the polls has narrowed remarkably. But are the
:06:32. > :06:38.polls capturing what is actually happening? Nobody knows. This is an
:06:39. > :06:44.unprecedented situation with possibly an 88% turnout. People
:06:45. > :06:48.voting who have never voted before. I'm not sure the opinion polls are
:06:49. > :06:53.reaching those people. I don't know. I find it difficult to believe
:06:54. > :06:59.that people will register to vote because they want to save the union.
:07:00. > :07:02.But I don't know. It is all anecdotal but we have been
:07:03. > :07:06.travelling around for weeks and I have been struck by the number of
:07:07. > :07:09.people of all ages who have said they have never voted before but
:07:10. > :07:19.they will jolly well vote for this one. From both camps. It is very
:07:20. > :07:23.striking. This is the most important vote that any of us have ever cast
:07:24. > :07:27.and it is likely to remain the most important vote we will ever cast in
:07:28. > :07:37.our lifetimes. On that, I think everyone can agree. There is a
:07:38. > :07:40.solemnity, a magnitude to this decision that we're making, this
:07:41. > :07:45.ballot, which is actually quite impressive. The power of that and
:07:46. > :07:54.the potential consequences, "Yes" or "No" , is really quite striking.
:07:55. > :07:58.When you speak to people who cast their vote by post, they will tell
:07:59. > :08:02.you that they hesitated and wanted to double check themselves that they
:08:03. > :08:07.were absolutely sure. It is very different from voting in an ordinary
:08:08. > :08:17.general election when you get another go five years or four years
:08:18. > :08:20.later. This is only a one`time thing and that focuses minds. These are
:08:21. > :08:24.votes that will not be taken lightly. And the fact that none of
:08:25. > :08:32.the papers are confident in making a close it is. Everybody wants to sit
:08:33. > :08:36.on the fence because nobody is sure which way it will go. And the
:08:37. > :08:45.campaigners have risen to that challenge. It has been
:08:46. > :08:51.and a privilege to have been part of it. And for every
:08:52. > :08:56.accept that it is coming to an end! It is all downhill from here. I find
:08:57. > :09:05.it hard to believe that is the case. Day of destiny. Don't leave us this
:09:06. > :09:12.way, says the Mirror. This is a paper that does not sell a huge
:09:13. > :09:15.amount in Scotland. Our day of destiny in Scotland with a Union
:09:16. > :09:20.Flag and the blue of Scotland stripped out of it. A rather curious
:09:21. > :09:28.image to project north of the border today of all days. Don't let the sun
:09:29. > :09:36.set on our union. On our 300 years together. Simplistic, some might
:09:37. > :09:44.say, but there you go. This is interesting. Interesting visually
:09:45. > :09:49.but also striking. Talking about the carnival of democracy. That goes
:09:50. > :09:54.back to what you were saying about how it was a privilege to report on
:09:55. > :10:04.this. Does that resonate for you? Absolutely. Even in recent days, the
:10:05. > :10:06.streets have been a life with debate and there is music and there is
:10:07. > :10:13.almost a festival atmosphere at times. It is electrifying. I have
:10:14. > :10:18.not been in Edinburgh all that much but when I have been here, I have
:10:19. > :10:22.noticed the same thing. The country is alive with debate. Political
:10:23. > :10:27.pundits always want more engagement with politics but when they get it,
:10:28. > :10:31.they start warning about divisiveness and things being torn
:10:32. > :10:37.apart. People are having serious, grown`up debate about this in the
:10:38. > :10:40.vast majority of cases, and it is just a great experience for the
:10:41. > :10:46.country. The fact that we are talking not just about party
:10:47. > :10:49.political issues but big issues like the future of the country and what
:10:50. > :10:56.kind of country we want to live in, I think, is why so many people have
:10:57. > :11:00.engaged with this. The Financial Times does write a large piece about
:11:01. > :11:03.a family that is ripped apart, with the mother and the father voting in
:11:04. > :11:10.different ways and then the three children divided as well. They never
:11:11. > :11:15.say that the family is torn apart apart from the fact that they are
:11:16. > :11:19.voting in different ways. We are a house divided this week but still a
:11:20. > :11:25.house, come what may, "Yes" or "No" . Scotland will remain Scotland and
:11:26. > :11:29.it will all be fine in the long run. If there is a "Yes" vote, they will
:11:30. > :11:35.be significant and expensive teething problems. But in the long
:11:36. > :11:39.run, of course this country can run its own affairs. It would be a
:11:40. > :11:42.dismal reflection of 300 years of union if it left Scotland in a
:11:43. > :11:47.position where that was not the case. At the same time, the case for
:11:48. > :11:54.the union seems to be quite powerful and, personally, persuasive. I think
:11:55. > :11:58.the nations of the UK are collectively greater than the sum of
:11:59. > :12:03.their constituent parts. Some may disagree and that is reasonable. But
:12:04. > :12:07.this has been a good campaign. It has been a good moment for Scotland.
:12:08. > :12:12.And it has been a necessary campaign as well. At some point, we were
:12:13. > :12:20.going to have these discussions and if not now, then when? While there
:12:21. > :12:26.will be a deep sadness or anger and frustration depending on the
:12:27. > :12:29.results, in the end, we have to remember that we are all in this
:12:30. > :12:37.together, come what may. It will probably still be fine. One last
:12:38. > :12:43.look at the Herald. A beautiful photograph. Quite a simple front
:12:44. > :12:46.page. It is a beautiful front page that avoids the cliches that many of
:12:47. > :12:52.the others have adorned themselves with. It is a beautiful picture. The
:12:53. > :12:58.Herald is a sister paper of the Sunday Herald. It does not support a
:12:59. > :13:02."Yes" vote, so we are clearly also a family divided, but this is a
:13:03. > :13:08.marvellous front page and best of all has a quote that summarises the
:13:09. > :13:11.message, I suppose, of voting for independence. It says voting for
:13:12. > :13:16.independence is not a vote for a Nirvana or a land of milk and honey.
:13:17. > :13:21.It is a vote for an ability to build a new country and it is a vote for
:13:22. > :13:27.responsibility. What we are voting for is responsibility on our
:13:28. > :13:31.shoulders and I'm not above work and there are thousands of us who want
:13:32. > :13:38.to do just that. That is a more than suitable way to end this. Thank you.
:13:39. > :13:57.And we will see what we all wake up to on Friday morning.
:13:58. > :14:03.Hello, and welcome to Sportsday with me John Watson.
:14:04. > :14:06.On the way this evening: Beaten by Bayern Munich, Manchester City slip
:14:07. > :14:12.to defeat in their opening group match in the Champions League.
:14:13. > :14:13.Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side