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tv   Sophie Co  RT  July 29, 2013 10:29am-11:01am EDT

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so over now it kind of all makes sense but what what's that they're afraid of projectiles but people with guns were allowed to take them into the senate are you kidding me i think the second amendment does a lot more good than harm but i think it goes without saying that for women to concealed carry their hygiene items they should need a permit or permission from anyone but that's just my opinion. i don't welcome one says a shevardnadze and today we're away from our usual moscow studio where in a very special setting astonishingly beautiful shetland isles off the northeast coast of scotland for the north sea. you will find the shetland isles and there is a way of harris to talk to the first scottish minister alexander salant about the
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defining point of every land it's seventeen it's mr salmond's flagship policy to see scotland become independent from the united kingdom where the benefits and the drawbacks let's take a look. in scotland. and appealing to at least a third of the country's four million voters who walks to the three hundred year old political union. who dares break with history to pay less to a foreign pocket retain its share of resource riches hundred it's environment of nuclear friction yes many believe strength lies in the union as referendum counter begins in earnest focus is turning to the key players in the campaign the leaders the media and london's reach. will take the high road and rebuild hadrian's. we talk to alex salmond the first minister of scotland on his
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personal and political quest for sovereignty. aleksandr salmond the first scottish mission thank you very much for being with r.t. today i would great pleasure to be to be here what delight to have you fill me in scope so you have sat recently and this is your quote the political union does not work for scotland anymore until scotland back and imperils our future what is so wrong with remaining within the u.k. . a democratic one. fifty years old. if for two thirds of my life scotland has not had the governments we vote for for two thirds of my entire lifetime scotland has voted in one direction england has voted in a different direction and because it was so much logical scotland we end up with a government westminster which is not chosen by the scottish people so the first argument is the sense that democratic one that nations and scotland's
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a nation have a right to self-determination and the second argument is about what you do with that book you see i think it's a plea universal law anytime anywhere anyplace but the best people to govern the country the best people to choose how a country should be governed of the people who live and work in that country i think that applies everywhere and i think it certainly applies to sculp well you're only fourteen months away from the referendum does it worry you a little that that that the majority of scots do not want independence from p.k. and for the last five years the polls haven't changed that much well if it comes to opinion polls when i was reelected to useable by an absolute majority in a proportional system for most of the scope and a boat three months before the election i was twenty percent behind in the opinion polls i ended up almost twenty percent in front in the opinion poll so i think
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polls change and usually the change in our favor what will change the polls as people get more information about this about the concept of the vote the opportunity of independents the new yes how do we know this because if you pull the people who say we have enough information we already understand the issues then by majority these people are voting yes so as we get more information out to the public of scotland then the train will be there yes direction and would love to be twenty percent from here. probably would do i think we're going to win the f.a. member yes we will think so absolutely we're not talking about the positive sides in case scotland gets independence it would actually hold ninety five percent of you case current oil and gas reserves that is of course if that's divide it geometrically by marriage and from the british. well the powers that be in london
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the old guard would ever allow that to happen but seriously contested the there's no choice basically because the rest of the north sea is divided on equidistance the principle that you outlined if you were to divide it incidentally by the covenant jurisdiction the legal jurisdiction because scotland as a sort of legal system even more scottish waters would be ninety nine percent as opposed to ninety eight percent so the medium line has been the line for the rest of the countries about the north sea for norway for denmark but i would accept there is no choice but to do or not basis and that point is no longer seriously contested of course there are difficulties in terms because the little that's a great asset for scola enormous asset able and wholesale value. thousand thousand million pounds over the next half century or so but of course the liabilities of the united kingdom the u.k. is enormous national day to the if accumulated so we will have to accept provided
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of course we have a share of assets or sheriff the national dead so there are pros and cons but the balance of advantage is overwhelmingly on the independents. you know i've been travelling a lot around here up lately and talking to people especially in the central part of the western europe and people there fail back they hear a crisis that they would be so much better off alone without this the regulations and constrictions doesn't depend is really make much difference for scotland if it is part of you with or without u.k. membership or i think it does mean i'm in favor of being part of the of the european union i think independence is about control of your finances control of your resources in the case of oil and resources in scotland but also control of your revenue if you control your revenue and therefore control your spending and how to distribute that revenue move the population then you are
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a genuinely independent country with independence which in the european union scotland would control one hundred percent all of its revenue base would decide how to spend its finances currently we have allowed control of less than ten percent of our revenue base in the scottish parliament therefore ten percent is not independence one hundred percent even independence within europe is independence well he want independent scotland to retain pound sterling right but if you continue to use currency without u.k. authority what scotland have a lender of last resort proposal is to have a joint parade that had to have an agreed couple say union you know stanley is as much i couldn't see as it's been the bank of england was founded by a scot so we're going to see. well. you know lots and lots of things for the world to be offended by scots but the point i'm making is the ship comes at the present moment doesn't belong to england it doesn't belong to george osborne the chancellor
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is part of the assets of the united kingdom but the point is quite simple we are prepared to take a share of assets and a share of liabilities in the way both these are huge but if of course he was to argue as he suggests he might we can have a share of assets of the common currency then by definition we don't have a share of the liabilities and the liabilities for the data can be huge because there's many international precedents for example the breakup of the soviet union will be newly independent countries did not by negotiation end up paying the national debt of the soviet union so the belongs to london in the present moment if they are to persuade us to accept a share which we are willing to do the new only basis in which we'll do it is if we have a share of the assets as well you can't of one with the other become of the bond with a penny and that is why incidentally after a yes vote for independence will be no difficulty from london about sharing a common currency adam burke is you case second largest city financially in case
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one becomes independent could you see it challenge london is something you would like to see well i think that would be a very real possibility if england were to leave the european union. that is a live possibility that it would leave european union i think the effect of england leaving the european union after scottish independence would be that many headquarter companies would move to scope i think would be very unwise for the good to leave the european union but you know that's a choice for the people of england to make that's their choice and their will just i'm a choice so you can see a subgroup stance we have the financial sector it would get more headquarters on the circumstance but i should say this goes five sets of very strong and very able and particular in the things it does best asset management the long term investment trusts pension funds the long term investment of people's money or corporate money as opposed to the much more phonetic market driven. financial dealings of the of
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the city of london so to a great extent of their scope should continue to do what we do best and that is to manage people's money carefully in long term investments and build up that special someone asset management which is proving so enormously successful this now with companies are melting and growing like aberdeen asset management for example but any major political transformation such as becoming independent from the u.k. new one case really needs a lot of spending how much would it cost scotland to be independent how much would it cost once got to become independent little benefits from scott becoming independent let's take the last five years just for example in the last five years scotland has contributed more by eight million post relative to london than we received back again that is the the relative surplus between scotland and london. million poems as well. who won one
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thousand six hundred of the scots so it's going to be independent over the last five years that every scot be one of those six hundred rich. it's not just about finance of course i mean the reason for scott becoming independent is not that would. the rich are the reason for scott becoming independent schools a nation a nation should be self-governing they govern the feels better than allowing someone else to do it for them but who was a balance sheet calculation then it's very much in favor of scotia independence but can you tell me exactly what is difference between the devil marx and you're proposing just as far as i'm concerned north most of the scots there saying you know we're fine as long as there is more power to read to the scottish parliament within the u.k. plus one it control over taxation and welfare why go through so much trouble for much and i say not come because westminster won't see control over our economy and welfare they've said no to that they've rejected that they say this far and no follow they will not will not concede control over scottish oil and. major natural
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resources or well how to pursue the licensing for renewable energy which as you know we've got a quarter one quarter of the potential will read in renewable energy of the whole call to the prince called and we don't have control over the licensing provisions for the amazing natural resource to london will not concede that that's why we've got a democratic opportunity to refashion relationship among the many things we're going to keep we want to control economy we want to decide on the government they were perfectly happy with the union of the cones for example we want to keep the royal family home the queen as head of state but then a much the queen as head of state sixteen countries at the present moment it has goals and then that should be had the seventeen countries if you think about the history of scotland and scotland and england shared the same monarch when the scottish king became king of england for one hundred years while scotland and england were independent countries for all of the seventeenth century scope in that
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they would were independent countries that shared the same monarch so that's a perfectly easy thing to do in the modern world still you do see that her majesty queen as head of state as will an independent scotland so we'll continue to show. what is valuable and important the social union between scotland england swiss people can travel freely between the countries can visit the friends and families of people from london can come and work and in shetland and people from scotland can go and work in newcastle will stay and remain as it should but will have control over who elects so government and will have control over their finances and spend at least things out of central. or talking to the first scottish minister aleksandr salary here and scotland we're taking a short break now we'll be right back so.
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broken dreams in sobering reality says the u.s. gone from a country with the belief ever greater prosperity and upward mobility to one or more good. jobs that will always be temporary so differently. in the future be defined as the composition the u.s. economy. and i think.
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sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you don't know i'm. welcome to the big picture. to. react to situations as i have read the reports and let you know what the know i will leave them to the state department to comment on your part of the monthly payments if it's ok because i'm going to. say no more weasel words and when you read question and be prepared for a change when you have to run should be ready for
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a battle for the ops page and down the street into question. welcome back you're watching sophie and co and we are talking to alexander salmond the first scottish minister here in shetland isles scotland were talking about why scotland should get independence well talking about travelling freely if you guys become independent as a part of e.u. you would actually have to open your university doris to all the british students who now pay nine thousand pounds a year does this this is where you could succumb to kind of costly for scotland well we believe we can maintain the problem to arrangement we've got legal advice to that effect but i don't and still little more students coming to scott was
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a bad thing this year because of the policies of the scottish cup we have a record number of scottish students studying in scottish higher education a record number of english students fleeing the high fees studying in scottish higher education under record number of international students studying at scottish universities and colleges so we've got three records all in one year that's a great thing for scotland for scope reputation as a great thing for the scottish economy so i'm not worried about having more students of those to scotland but we can maintain a puddle a region which was a perfectly fair at the present moment that's the advice we've got what do you make of the recent claims that the u.k. defense ministry may simply designate their nuclear naval base in first thing as a sarin u.k. territory in case of a yes well of all of the exercises and project feel that the scaremongering campaign that was probably the least successful only lasted for two hours so the
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ministry of defense briefed the guardian newspaper and then during street denied it within two hours of. the paper being printed so that was a scare story whose life. was two hours sold only and of all the skier still isn't a dick alyson nonce of the project feet of produced that was one of the least successful indeed probably the most spectacularly unsuccessful pieces of months in a while why did they withdraw into well of course they know the reaction of scotland to the suggestion they would try to and they call it to make it part of even the even the most fair haven't in scotland if there is such a thing we find objectionable the idea of you could annex part of the land of scotland that's why the a life cycle of only two of us is a scare story but what are you going to do with a because you don't want nuclear weapons but even if you wanted to it's not yours to use when you can to deal with that part well we're going to ask for it to be
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removed quickly and the safely as possible and the emphasis on both we want to move we want the timetable to be quick but we want to do it safely we don't want to we don't want to have any risk to anyone by doing so there are plenty of benefits of stately in english ports in the so very good and for submarines the difficulty is not better. so we supplied with nuclear missiles of course resupply capability and will for america and france and i think it's extremely unwise instantly i think would be ridiculous for the country of five and a quarter million people to have nuclear weapons i think would be unhelpful to the world community it's not going to be the case that scotland will host someone else's nuclear weapons very few countries do that there's also unwise to do that so trident will have to be removed it's up to the people of england the people at westminster to decide whether they want to continue with
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a nuclear deterrent in my view to be very unwise to do so i think it's the most phenomenal waste of money but i agree it's their decision but of course if they make that decision then of course they have to accept the consequences which is to feign some put it put it as well no the only reason that submarine will be on it was his father we as the could think of from the the sentence a population no look it's called is a peace loving country we want to cooperate from neighbors with in favor of nato membership for example because our neighbors other nato bought twenty five or twenty countries in nato non-nuclear countries and so. biffen little yeah but most of the countries actually strive to be new care that's why i'm asking if you become a world leader in case of independence then you know you're faced with countries like iran or north korea who could tomorrow having nuclear weapons and scotland not well i have to say i don't think north korea. is to try the threaten or attack scotland but let's remember the world has two hundred countries almost in it one
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hundred ninety of them do not have nuclear weapons and depending how you calculate these things almost ten probably half. or probably some secretly i think i'd rather be one of the hundred ninety with the weapons than one of the one full with nuclear weapons and there is absolutely no reason on air that a country of five million people should possess nuclear weapons this would not be a good thing for perforation for the safety of the planet nobody seriously argues for that position i don't really want to enter into the debate a boat in with the nuclear weapons all i would say is this if you are actually justifying a nuclear dependent on the basis of a reunion to come then you wouldn't want to try still would try even as a rule choice of nuclear system which frankly was designed by the british government to penetrate the defenses our own moscow that's what it was designed for
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it's not a deterrent against. or for that matter that's no the against the terrorist organization so if you were persuaded in england of the argument of having a deterrent against iran then what you would choose is a deterrent of that sort of skill you go back to an all vulcan bomb or something you certainly wouldn't of a nuclear weapon system to renew it will cost one hundred thousand million pounds over its life cycle that would not be the repair you would choose and certainly scotland doesn't want to engage in that sort of nuclear poker politics. so the u.k. recently placed top on a global soft power survey do you worry that you're going to be left out because obviously you want to be a part of citizens there actually attributing to that and you know i think will do far better projecting our own image of scotland we already do this and we're divestment and we top the league table not just for the u.k. but for europe as far as people coming in to invest in our country and we promote
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ourselves as scotland in terms of soft power when we don't claim to have we're not going to have me so or navies or bomb or whatever that's not what we are we are in terms of soft power in terms of influence scotland is incredibly well placed with a country of five a quarter million people but there are not far off one hundred million people across this planet who either of scottish descent or have an affinity with scotland or will have a connection with scotland in terms of influence so this pilot scotland has a great deal of influence which hopefully we'll be able to use for for good for promoting positively the case of scotland but also for doing what we can in the way that some of the scandinavian countries have done and ten like norway for example in terms of being an honest broker to help to help solve difficult situations we'd like to do that we're willing to do that and of course to the start of obligations to those on the planet who have virtually nothing we already have built up an
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international development portfolio in scotland modest proportions no but something with late to do a lot more off specializing perhaps in renewable energy which we have such an expertise in and water which we have a lot of. and therefore we look to. be welcomed into the community of nations as of the sponsible world so this is. what also the symbol of terms of influence a great deal of influence in terms of military power not very much but if i was offered the choice to be in. country with great influence or great military power than i would choose to be in a country with great influence what do you make of the b.b.c. coverage of your complaint having both in both places really scotland and then the london paste operation i think. the chairman of the b.b.c. trust recently said he thought to cover the good eye for the end was the biggest
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challenge of the b.b.c. had ever faced. i think it has a difficult challenge and i'm not sure that it's getting it right at the present moment. so broadcasters by the nature usually an out and find more balanced than newspapers newspapers don't have to be balanced nor should but broadcasters have to be very careful to be balanced but the b.b.c. finds scotland a challenge because so much of what they report for example in the network news that goes right across the u.k. and viewed this broadcast internationally they report for example scandals in the health service in england as if they were the scottish health service which is run quite separately education difficulties a lingual does of the world educational scope which is run totally separately so they find it very difficult and we feel the challenge to date of trying to differentiate the debate and the position of scotland from the positioning would
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only be that some understandable because you know the covering a country where you're more than one hundred eighty five percent of the people stay in one country and the other fifteen percent have another free country so perhaps they find it too difficult to challenge the law and said it was a greatest challenge it's not one that they're beating us yet and finally have you considered and thought about what your position may be in case of a no would you resign would you stay continue fighting for freedom but only interesting i been in politics for twenty five years or so i'll go with one past the elections another one national life since i turned the last what i was doing on maybe the six politicians over. when you were an opposition and when i became a member of parliament at westminster we had three m.p.'s three out of a parliament six hundred fifty those very easy to be oppositionist to jump up and
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to be noticed because if you didn't jump up and nobody would pay any attention to you whatsoever. when you want to lead a country. it's just a level to be positive to talk about the future to say what you're going to do a lot of people have and. you have to put the accent on the post of and you have to absolutely believe it with every fiber of your being so lesson well before the lesson either one of the national action so the lesson of one every national election and the way of thinking we're looking at the world we are approaching the people i'll take into the life and campaign and one of the things you have to believe is you have to believe you're going to win and you have to believe it with every fiber of your being because if you are to persuade people if you are to have a conversation about the future you have to do it from the basis that we're going to win this referendum and scotland will become an independent country. thank you
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very much for this great talk a great pleasure thank you you are watching sophie and co our guest today was alexander salmond thanks for watching and we'll see you in our next edition. is mother nature. struggling with to. fight for each. let people think higher prices.
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and toilets. spring. please. more news today violence has once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. operation today please. play. live.
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good lover tour. was to build a new. certainly. sound anything to mission to teach creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only. with greece about to get its next bailout traunch at the cost of thousands of more jobs we report on the deadly addictive nemesis that's thriving among those who've suffered years of raging unemployment. explosions jailbreaks and intransigents over justice post gadhafi in libya enjoys more deadly chaos while tripoli refuses to hand over the dad leader or son to the hague for trial.

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