Alex Salmond's must-win fight for independence played out on live TV as Alistair Darling is urged to 'keep it boring' Daily Mail

 

  First Minister to go head-to-head with former Chancellor tomorrow night

  Salmond wanted debate with Cameron but Darling is leading No campaign

  Voters have their say in the independence referendum on September 18 

Alex Salmond will tomorrow face one of the biggest tests of his political career as he prepares for a TV showdown that he must win to have any hope of referendum victory.

The First Minister is under intense pressure going into the STV debate, with a new poll revealing that only a quarter of No voters expect Mr Darling to win the contest.

Failure to land a killer blow could end Mr Salmond's hopes of splitting the United Kingdom, and he is receiving help from taxpayer-funded civil servants and a lifestyle guru in a last throw of the dice before the referendum.

Campaign leaders in both camps are taking the two-hour TV programme very seriously, right down to the colour of tie the two politicians should wear, and the broadcaster is hoping for an audience in seven figures. However, experts have warned such programmes rarely reshape the political landscape.

As an uneasy truce for the Commonwealth Games comes to an end, there will now be open warfare between both sides for the final few weeks of the referendum battle, with families set to be bombarded by mailshots costing taxpayers more than £850,000.

Time is running out for the SNP, with a new poll for The Scottish Mail on Sunday showing Unionist campaign's lead has increased slightly in recent days.

The findings are a massive humiliation for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who used a Sunday newspaper interview yesterday to claim that Scotland's stunning success in the Commonwealth Games could give the Yes campaign the 'momentum' to win the referendum. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last night accused her of 'sullying' the Games.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Alex Salmond must leave Alistair Darling 'on the floor' in independence TV debate

Scottish Independence, a Vehicle for Alex Salmond's Grandiose Ego ?

Comment:

To put it quite simply,  Scottish Independence would be both an economic and financial disaster for Scotland and it’s people,  The SNP have no sound economic plan and can’t even decide what currency they want to use,  without the Westminster  Block Grant and the Pound,  any post independence  Scottish Government would either have to borrow heavily from the International Financial Markets and/or raise Taxation. 

Blair Humphreys

Darling’s ultimate TV test... save the Union in two hours. Daily Mail.

It will be the most important televised clash in British history. On Tuesday night, Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling will debate Scottish independence.

 With only six weeks to go to the referendum, more than a million Scots are expected to tune in. Salmond has two hours to revive the flagging case for Scottish independence – and Darling two hours to secure the Union.

Salmond has been preparing intensively for this debate. The word is that he is relying on a lifestyle coach to help make sure he sounds sufficiently upbeat.

As one of his opponents observes: ‘If shouty Salmond turns up, he’ll turn off women.’

Darling is under a different kind of pressure. One big slip and he puts the entire Union in jeopardy. He will spend this weekend conducting mock debates against people playing Alex Salmond.

His team feels that after two years of public meetings and interviews on independence, he knows what he wants to say and how he wants to say it.

But this hasn’t stopped nervousness in London about how Darling will perform. Some Cabinet Ministers are fretting that Darling isn’t Scottish enough.

This might seem a bizarre thing to say about someone who went to school and university in Scotland and sits for Edinburgh South West in the House of Commons.

But in Salmond’s world, Westminster is a foreign country.

‘Salmond will play dirty,’ warns one Cabinet Minister. ‘He won’t hesitate to try to portray Alistair as an English lackey.’

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Commonwealth Games fail to deliver ‘Braveheart bounce’ to Salmond’s YES drive in favour of Scottish independence. Daily Mail

  First poll of Scottish voters conducted since the Games began puts ‘Yes’ vote on 40% – down one point on last month

  Those in favour of keeping the Union remain static on 46%

  Nationalists hoped Games would lead to surge of anti-UK votes 

Alex Salmond begins the most crucial week yet in the battle for Scotland’s future – without the hoped-for Commonwealth Games ‘bounce’ in favour of independence.

Three days before Mr Salmond’s live TV debate with anti-independence campaign leader Alistair Darling, a poll for The Mail on Sunday revealed no boost for the ‘Yes’ campaign from the Games in Glasgow.

The Survation survey, the first of Scottish voters to be conducted since the Games began, puts the ‘Yes’ vote on 40 per cent – down one point on last month – and ‘No’ unchanged on 46 per cent. The outcome will be a bitter disappointment for Scottish Nationalists, who had hoped that scheduling the independence referendum on September 18 on the back of the Games would lead to a surge of votes to break up the UK.

It also flies in the face of reports that a feel-good factor at Glasgow’s success in staging the Games and Scotland’s record haul of medals would provide a so-called ‘Braveheart bounce’ and revitalise the ‘Yes’ campaign.

But the survey does show that Scottish First Minister Mr Salmond is a clear favourite to win Tuesday night’s debate – the first head-to-head contest between the two campaign leaders.

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Scottish independence would be economic disaster, finance experts warn just as the SNP say the economy is key battleground, Daily Mail

  Businesses and academics warn country would be plunged into turmoil

  Scotland would join the list of impoverished European countries

  Another says there would be 'utter panic' if voters back independence

Finance experts, academics and business leaders have raised fears that independence would destroy the economy, hit investment and force companies to migrate to England.

In an unprecedented survey that will prove devastating for the SNP, analysts believe a Yes vote in the referendum could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs and plunge the country into turmoil.

One finance insider suggested Scotland would be added to the list of impoverished European countries left on their knees. Another said there would be 'utter panic' among finance firms and several warned of a 'disaster' for Scotland.

Alex Salmond's separatist vision was dismissed as 'economically incoherent'; there were warnings that 'skilled labour' would leave; and creating a new border would cut gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 3 per cent. 

The findings are particularly humiliating for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who yesterday predicted the economy would be the key battleground in the referendum campaign.

The Financial Times asked a number of high-profile economists and eminent university professors to examine the impact of a Nationalist victory in September.

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Keep William Wallace out of it says Danny Alexander, Daily Mail

I am a Highlander. I spent my early years on Colonsay in the Hebrides, then moved to Lochaber and went to high school in Fort William. One of the most powerful memories of this time was seeing the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge twice a day from the school bus.

This imposing monument commemorates the role played by young men from all over the UK in protecting our freedom during the Second World War.

It’s a sight I have in mind as we approach the decision next month on whether Scotland should break away from the UK and become independent.

That memorial, a tribute to the extraordinary strength of our family of nations, is something I will think of when I watch this week’s TV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling.

It’s not often you’ll see a Liberal Democrat rooting for an ex-Labour Cabinet Minister like Darling. But now, more than ever, with only a few weeks until the referendum, is a time to lay down party political differences and stand up for the interests of Scotland – and the UK.

Expect fireworks, rhetorical flourishes and verbal acrobatics from the Scottish First Minister.

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Standard Life could leave independent Scotland – threatening 5,000 jobs, Daily Express

Labour leader Johann Lamont accused the First Minister of “denial, deception and delusion” after Standard Life confirmed it may flee south of the Border in the event of a Yes vote.

The financial giant, which employs about 5,000 people in Scotland, said it was drawing up contingency plans amid doubts over a breakaway country’s currency and EU membership.

The Edinburgh-based pensions, savings and insurance firm also raised concerns about future financial services regulation and taxation.

And, in another setback for the SNP, RBS used its full-year results to warn that uncertainty over the referendum is already damaging business. The state-owned bank also claimed a vote for independence would “significantly impact the group’s credit ratings” which could be passed on to mortgage and loan customers.

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Something wrong, Alex? Moment Scotland's First Minister is mocked by a fan waving an England flag behind at the Commonwealth Games. Daily Mail

  Fan was at diving final in Edinburgh where England nudged to second place

  First Minister smiled and gasped as flag-waving punter gave knowing smile 

  Salmond infamously unfurled Scots flag in Royal Box behind David Cameron

With just 47 days until Scotland votes on independence, Alex Salmond has been unfurling the Saltire whenever he can.

So a cheeky England fan couldn't resist photobombing the First Minister with the St George's Cross - almost a year after Salmond pulled a similar stunt at Wimbledon.

The politician was watching the men's 10m synchronised diving final in Edinburgh at the Commonwealth Games, which saw England's Tom Daley and James Denny claim silver.

He smiled, gasped and held his hand to his mouth - all the while oblivious to the fan behind him, who gave the camera a knowing smile.

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Is this is the real reason, Alex Salmond wants Scotland to be Independent?

Salmond currency plan dismissed by top bankers, Scottish Daily Express

They believe Mr Salmond’s claim that “nothing much will change” and the pound will stay after a “Yes” is a “huge deception”.

“The best way to keep the pound would be through a currency union like today,” said Sir Martin Jacomb, former chairman of Prudential, and Sir Andrew Large, former deputy governor of the Bank of England. This is not compatible with Scotland being politically independent, and is therefore not on offer,”

The robust intervention by two of the UK’s top bankers came as stock market analysts warned millions could be wiped off companies if Scots vote Yes.

The Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems have told Mr Salmond that there would be no currency union, but he dismissed that as “bluff and bluster.”

Jacomb and Large said: “Alex Salmond claims that nothing much will change, that threats otherwise are a bluff and would keep the pound sterling.

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Further Reading:

Battle for Scotland is ‘still too close to call’

Economic crisis which will hit independent Scotland 

Scotland could run out of cash just like Greece

Scottish Independence, a Vehicle for Alex Salmond's Grandiose Ego ?