17/09/2014 The Papers

Cardiff becoming to an end? `` could? Now, on the eve of the vote,

what is the paper saying? `` what are the papers saying? Good evening.

Coming to you from Edinburgh, let's have a look at some of the front

pages with just a matter of hours to go until the voting booths open. The

Scotsman says the country is going to the polls for a historic

decision. The Daily Express says Scots are being urged to reject

narrow nationalism and save the union. The Independent has the union

and Saltire flags dominating. It has called the campaign a carnival of

democracy from which the world can learn. The message from the Mirror

is clear. Don't let the sun sets on our 307 years to get the. The

Guardian has a map of Scotland on its front page and says that Scots

have 15 hours to decide their country's fate. The daily record has

the final opinion poll and the words all to pray for. And finally, the

Times talks about the future of the UK hanging in the balance, with the

vote, as we keep saying, too close to call. Thank you for joining us

this evening. We have two guests, one very much in the "Yes" camp

and... Let us begin with the Scottish Sun. It has a blank page.

Scotland also starts with a blank page. It does, however, have 13

pages of referendum coverage. The senior parties of Westminster, two

years after plans for the referendum began, trying to figure out what

their plans for devo max might be. They have bottled it. There was talk

about how Rupert Murdoch might be in favour of Scottish independence and

so on. Would`be Sun, out for "Yes" or "No"? They bottled it yesterday

and they bottled it again today. In the end, Rupert Murdoch, wonderful

proprietor though he may be, sees a commercial interest in not backing

one side or the other. It certainly is very close. Many of the opinion

polls are very tight. Day of destiny. Is this a curious photo?

I'm not sure what to say. LAUGHTER. It is an appalling front page. It

looks like our day of destiny is an appointment at a public laboratory.

There is no poetry, no sense of the historic magnitude of the votes that

Scots will make tomorrow. It is dismal, I'm afraid, and there is no

excuse. The truth must out. The Scottish Daily Mail. Visually, Alec

Torelli, we will see this on the front pages, many images of flags.

`` pictorially. If you are going to use flags, that is the way to use

them. It is a great front page until you get to the words but you cannot

have everything. I think the words are absolutely fine, especially from

a newspaper that is validly Unionist. It even has something for

"Yes" voters. This intertwining of the Scottish and UK flags as an

illustration of the sort of oppressive yoke from which Scotland

must be freed and so on, if you want to see it that way. I think you

might be reading too much into that. They might not want you to see

that but it works for both sides. What do you think of this headline?

All to pray for. That opinion poll is very slightly at odds with the

overall opinion polls. The latest one that we were talking about

tonight is nifty 2%, 48%. But again, `` is 52%, 48%. But again, it is

very close. If I were the kind of person who prays, that is not the

result I would be wanting to pray for. It is a respectable headline

and it does get to the guts of the issues. Many people on both sides of

the campaign have no idea how it will go but they are backing their

hunches, consulting their rosary beads, their tarot cards, whatever.

Whatever they believe to try to get some sort of feeling about how this

will go. The truth is that nobody really knows. It is not a bad

headline. That is the amazing thing about this. It could be a landslide

for one side or the other. It could be very narrow. Nobody knows! You

are steeped in this and followed it from the beginning. Did you think we

would reach this point, seven hours until the polling booths open and no

one knowing how it will end up? I always thought "Yes" would win. Deep

down, I still think that. But, really, it has been so tight and the

gap that existed in the polls has narrowed remarkably. But are the

polls capturing what is actually happening? Nobody knows. This is an

unprecedented situation with possibly an 88% turnout. People

voting who have never voted before. I'm not sure the opinion polls are

reaching those people. I don't know. I find it difficult to believe

that people will register to vote because they want to save the union.

But I don't know. It is all anecdotal but we have been

travelling around for weeks and I have been struck by the number of

people of all ages who have said they have never voted before but

they will jolly well vote for this one. From both camps. It is very

striking. This is the most important vote that any of us have ever cast

and it is likely to remain the most important vote we will ever cast in

our lifetimes. On that, I think everyone can agree. There is a

solemnity, a magnitude to this decision that we're making, this

ballot, which is actually quite impressive. The power of that and

the potential consequences, "Yes" or "No" , is really quite striking.

When you speak to people who cast their vote by post, they will tell

you that they hesitated and wanted to double check themselves that they

were absolutely sure. It is very different from voting in an ordinary

general election when you get another go five years or four years

later. This is only a one`time thing and that focuses minds. These are

votes that will not be taken lightly. And the fact that none of

the papers are confident in making a close it is. Everybody wants to sit

on the fence because nobody is sure which way it will go. And the

campaigners have risen to that challenge. It has been

and a privilege to have been part of it. And for every

accept that it is coming to an end! It is all downhill from here. I find

it hard to believe that is the case. Day of destiny. Don't leave us this

way, says the Mirror. This is a paper that does not sell a huge

amount in Scotland. Our day of destiny in Scotland with a Union

Flag and the blue of Scotland stripped out of it. A rather curious

image to project north of the border today of all days. Don't let the sun

set on our union. On our 300 years together. Simplistic, some might

say, but there you go. This is interesting. Interesting visually

but also striking. Talking about the carnival of democracy. That goes

back to what you were saying about how it was a privilege to report on

this. Does that resonate for you? Absolutely. Even in recent days, the

streets have been a life with debate and there is music and there is

almost a festival atmosphere at times. It is electrifying. I have

not been in Edinburgh all that much but when I have been here, I have

noticed the same thing. The country is alive with debate. Political

pundits always want more engagement with politics but when they get it,

they start warning about divisiveness and things being torn

apart. People are having serious, grown`up debate about this in the

vast majority of cases, and it is just a great experience for the

country. The fact that we are talking not just about party

political issues but big issues like the future of the country and what

kind of country we want to live in, I think, is why so many people have

engaged with this. The Financial Times does write a large piece about

a family that is ripped apart, with the mother and the father voting in

different ways and then the three children divided as well. They never

say that the family is torn apart apart from the fact that they are

voting in different ways. We are a house divided this week but still a

house, come what may, "Yes" or "No" . Scotland will remain Scotland and

it will all be fine in the long run. If there is a "Yes" vote, they will

be significant and expensive teething problems. But in the long

run, of course this country can run its own affairs. It would be a

dismal reflection of 300 years of union if it left Scotland in a

position where that was not the case. At the same time, the case for

the union seems to be quite powerful and, personally, persuasive. I think

the nations of the UK are collectively greater than the sum of

their constituent parts. Some may disagree and that is reasonable. But

this has been a good campaign. It has been a good moment for Scotland.

And it has been a necessary campaign as well. At some point, we were

going to have these discussions and if not now, then when? While there

will be a deep sadness or anger and frustration depending on the

results, in the end, we have to remember that we are all in this

together, come what may. It will probably still be fine. One last

look at the Herald. A beautiful photograph. Quite a simple front

page. It is a beautiful front page that avoids the cliches that many of

the others have adorned themselves with. It is a beautiful picture. The

Herald is a sister paper of the Sunday Herald. It does not support a

"Yes" vote, so we are clearly also a family divided, but this is a

marvellous front page and best of all has a quote that summarises the

message, I suppose, of voting for independence. It says voting for

independence is not a vote for a Nirvana or a land of milk and honey.

It is a vote for an ability to build a new country and it is a vote for

responsibility. What we are voting for is responsibility on our

shoulders and I'm not above work and there are thousands of us who want

to do just that. That is a more than suitable way to end this. Thank you.

And we will see what we all wake up to on Friday morning.

Hello, and welcome to Sportsday with me John Watson.

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