wealthy british style. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. own welcome one says he 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 harris said talk to the first scottish minister alexander salant about the defining point of every land it's seventeen it's mr salmond's flagship policy to see scotland become independent from the united kingdom one of the benefits and the drawbacks let's take a look. in scotland's hands and appealing sounds to at least a third of the country's four million voters who watch to the three hundred year old political union. who dares break with history to pay less to a foreign pockets retain its share of resource riches hundred it's environment of nuclear friction yes many believe strength lies in the union as referendum countdown 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 personal and political quest for sovereignty. aleksandr salmond the first scottish minister 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. . democratic. i'm 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 in westminster which is not chosen by the scottish people so the first argument is the sense that democratic one that nations and scotland's a nation have a right to self-determination and the second argument is about what you do with that book of c. i think it's a pretty 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 what you're only fourteen months away from the referendum does it worry you a little that that the majority of scots do not want independence from p.k. and for the last five years to polls haven't changed. 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 polls change and usually the change in our favor what will change the polls well as people get more information about this about the concept of the opportunity of independents than the yes how do we know this because if you poll the people who say we have enough information and 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 referendum 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 while the powers that be in london the old guard would ever allow that to happen but i believe that seriously contested the there's no choice basically because the rest of the north sea is divided on equidistance the principle that you. if you were to divide it incidentally by the covenant jurisdiction the legal jurisdiction because scotland has its own 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 wouldn't accept that 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 we will that's a great asset for scola enormous asset sale and wholesale value of one point five thousand five percent million pounds over the next half century or so but of course

the liabilities of. the u.k.'s enormous national day of the if accumulated so we will have to accept provided of course we have a share of assets or sheriff the national debt so there are pros and cons but the balance of it 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. in membership i think it's seventy does i mean i'm in favor of being part of the of the european union i think independence is about control of your finances control fewer 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 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 see 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'll be seeing. lots and lots of things of 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 is part of the assets of the united kingdom so 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 native kingdom. the many international precedents for example the breakup of the soviet union really newly independent countries did not by negotiation end up paying the national debt of the soviet union so the debt belongs to wonder. the present moment if they are to persuade us to accept a share which we are willing to do the new only basis on 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 the yes vote for independence will be no

difficulty from london about sharing a common currency adam burke is the case second largest city financially in case cotland 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 there in the believe european union i think that 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 good to leave the european union but you know that's a choice for the people of england to me that's their choice and their legitimate choice so you can see a subgroup stance will be discouraged but i will say that it would get more headquarters on the circumstance but i should say this goes five sets a 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

or people's money or corporate money as opposed to the much more phonetic market driven. financial dealings of the of 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 slow 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. knew what 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 a little benefits scott mccaughey in the pilot we listed the last five years just for example in the last five years scotland has contributed more by eight thousand million post relative to london than we've received back again that is the

the relative surplus between scotland and london. in poems as well. who won one thousand six hundred scots so it's going to be independent over the last five years that every scot be one of those six hundred rich now 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 this as far as i'm concerned north most of the scots they're saying you know we're fine as long as there's more power truly to the scottish parliament within the u.k. plus when it control over taxation and welfare why go through so much trouble for much of the same not come because westminster won't see control over our economy

and welfare they've said no to the projected that they say this far and no for will they will not will not concede control over scottish. or major natural resources or will how to pursue the licensing for renewable energy which is what we've got a quarter of one quarter of the potential will remain renewable energy of the whole quarter the if you put in scotland 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 more government but we're perfectly happy with the union of the cones for example we want to keep the royal family how much the queen as head of state but then a much the queen as head of state sixteen countries at the present moment her scope is independent should be head to seventeen countries if we think about the history of scope and scope of the new 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 on the thing with 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 walk and in shetland and people from scotland can go and work in newcastle all of that will stay and remain as it should but we'll have control over who government and we'll have control over our finances and spending at least things out of central. or talking to the first minister alexander salmon here in the cheval line scotland we're taking a short break now we'll be right back so.

cuba is not a failure of the cuban people. sidel castro. backed by the officials both hostility and suspicion encouraged by the government these

operations against cuba were known to the attorney general of the united states the president united states himself the defendants an intelligence arms had to infiltrate to resist. freedom fighters to terrorists. who is. a real terrorist. on our cheek. pleasure to have you with us here on t.v.

today i'm sure. 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 talking about travelling freely if you guys become independent as a part of e.u. you would actually have to open your university doors 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 stella got more students coming to scott mr black. this year because of the policies of the scottish cup we have a record number of scottish students studying in scottish higher education record number of english students fleeing the high fees studying in the scottish highlands 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 and it's a great thing for the scottish economy so i'm not worried about having more students understood to scotland that we can maintain a region which was a perfectly fair at the present moment that's the advice we've go what do you make of the recent claims that the u.k. defense ministry may simply designate their nuclear naval base and for as a certain u.k. territory in case of a yes well off of all of the exercises and project fear of the scaremongering campaign that was probably the least successful in the only lasted for two hours so

the ministry of defense briefed the guardian newspaper and then doubting street denied it within two hours of the paper being printed so that was a scare story whose life. was two hours old only and of all the scare stories and ridiculous nonsense the project feet of produced that was one of the least successful indeed probably the most spectacularly unsuccessful piece of nonsense why why did they withdraw from two 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 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 but when you can to deal with that part well we're going to ask for it to be removed quickly under 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 vague wooden for submarines the difficulty is not bare from the submarines the difficulty is that we supplied with nuclear missiles of course resupply capability in both 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 the 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 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 trident submarine will be odd it was his father we as the could think of from the the sentence a population no look scott was a peace loving country we want to cooperate if only bush would in favor of nato membership for example because our neighbor saw the need to bot. twenty five of the twenty countries in nato are no nuclear countries and so we'll be a non-nuclear country within the year but most of the countries actually strive to bring you care and that's why i'm asking if you become a world leader in case an 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. to try the threaten or attack

scotland but let's remember the world has two hundred countries almost in it one 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 earth 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 deterrent on the basis of a reunion to come then you wouldn't want to try it and still would try them as a rule choice of nuclear system which frankly was designed by the british government to penetrate the defenses our own most cruel that's what it was designed

for it's not a deterrent against. or for that matter that's new that 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 scale that you go back to and all vulcan bomber or something you certainly wouldn't of a nuclear weapon system to renew it will cost one hundred thousand million pounds over this life cycle that would not be the detail you would. and certainly scotland doesn't want to engage in the 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 the target there if you came citizens they're actually attributing to that and you know i think we'll do far better projecting our own image of scotland we already do this and what investment and we top the lead table

not just for the u.k. but for europe as far as people coming in to invest in our country and we promote ourselves as scotland in terms of soft power when we don't claim to have we're not going to have vast ami's so or navies or boehm 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 or have a connection with scotland in terms of influence so this planet scotland has a great deal of influence which will 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 wheel that some of the scandinavian countries have done and ten like norway for example in terms of be 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 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. will service and will have terms of influence agreed. influence in terms of military power not very much but if i was offered the choice to be able to come to you with great influence or great military power then i would choose being a country with great influence what do you make of the b.b.c. coverage of your complaint having both in both places the b.b.c. scotland and then the london paste operation i think. the chairman of the b.b.c.

trust recently said he thought covering the referendum was the biggest challenge that 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. broadcasters by nature usually and out in five more balanced newspapers newspapers don't have to be balanced nor should it 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 in england as if they were educational scope which is run totally separately so they find it really difficult and really feel the challenge today of trying to differentiate the debate and the position of

scotland from the position living would only be that's 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 will still stay in another free country so perhaps they find that too difficult a challenge it's a long path and said it was the 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 i totally interesting i been in politics for twenty five years or so a lot one passed the elections another one national life since i turned we've lost what i was doing all in 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

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 to be positive to talk about the future to say what you're going to do to people. you have to put the accent on the post of and you have to absolutely believe it with every fiber of your being so. listen well before the west another one of the national action. lesson. every national election and that we think we are looking at the world we're 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 of a good to win this referendum and scotland will become an independent country.

thank you 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. they all told me my language as well but i will only react to situations i haven't

read the reports first so i'm not you know pleased to know i will leave them to the state department to comment on your latter point of the month to say it's secure yet a call is on the docket. no more weasel words when you say and a direct question be prepared for a change when you throw a punch be ready for a battle for the speech mr lepel down difference of cost. they were ready to do anything for their country to me is to love the country more than yourself if you join the military for any other reason that you're probably not going to have a good day they were tools in the hands of the state now they live remembering the past which is impossible to get rid of. the war. but i'll ever

good people to get hurt. but i've heard good people them to be silent. but would prefer not to be sometimes i feel like. i should have died over there are. those. i saw some people who died. there is cheaper than tariff. on our. wealthy british style. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for

a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to conjure reports on. the ice to the right two hundred seventy two the nose to the left two hundred eighty five. the british government's war cry is silenced as parliament rejects prime minister david cameron's call for military intervention in syria. that leaves president obama struggling to gather international support for his plan to launch limited airstrikes against damascus over its alleged use chemical of. well weapons. and emergency crews in russia's far east work around the clock to try to keep floodwaters at bay and evacuated residents as the worst delusion in a century takes a heavy toll on infrastructure.