alastair darling.t is the second time that that men have gone head to head, and they do so before the first ballots go out. it is the eve of the poll. in the next 90 minutes, our guests will face russians from members of our audience, from me, and from one another. i will explain more about the format in a moment. first, the opportunity for both men to make opening statements. the coin tosson for you have over two minutes. >> thank you. this is an extraordinary time for us all. the eyes of the world are indeed focused on scotland. recent history we have stood at the crossers. in 1979, we did not get the parliament we voted for, and torryd have gone 18 of government. margaret thatcher. opportunitytook our , and since the parliament came to scotland, life has been better. we introduced free care for this elderly. removed tuition fees for the next generation of students. we helped by providing security and gave opportunity to the young. when we have problems like the current threat to the fairness -- ship

[applause] >> i agree with much of what alastair has just said there. think that this is been people who have never thought about voting for political parties. this is a hugely exciting time for scotland. the overall result is going to be scotland coming together and pledging a yes vote with 18 months of negotiation involving the scottish national party. but all of the best parts of the challenge of scotland. giving the best possible settlement for scotland. once the referendum is over, it is a matter of team scotland. that is what we need. [applause] >> i want to get some final thoughts from members of the audience about what happened after the vote. >> you mentioned that we would have a turnout of about eight percent in this referendum. how do we make sure that people stay as interested in politics regardless of the referendum? >> we will come back to that in a moment. >> can mr. darling tell us about the further powers he will be campaigning for an scotland? >> and the gentleman here? >> i think that so far many of the points have been about the bene

. >> his opponent, or inside independence campaigner alastair darling went on the attack immediately. >> this is it. he is asking us to take his word for it. on everything. no plan b for anything. trust what he says. sorry, i can't. >> among the issues under debate was currency and whether an independent scotland would be allowed to use the british found. >> only a few months ago, he says if you walk out of u.k., you walk out of the pound. it cannot stop is using the pound, the most important revelation in this debate -- >> for a currency unit to work, both sides have to agree. you see that in the eurozone. why would you expect them to say -- we do not want to join the euro, but we would join a currency union with what would then be a foreign country? you're taking a huge risk if you assume it will all fall into place. >> how would an independent scotland survive gekko should it relies so heavily on revenues from north sea oil? >> this is a subsidy going into commissioning -- >> i am asking you. if you suddenly lost revenues, the equivalent of everything we spent on schools, half what

host: that was alastair darling who laid out the arguments against independence. scott's will go to the polls september 18, decide whether or not to leave the united kingdom. alex salmond from the debate last that made the argument for independence. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> since the parliament can do scotland, life has gotten better. personal care for the elderly. move tuition fees for the next generation of students. we helped the old by providing security and we gave opportunity to the young. like theave problems ferguson shipyard, we can act decisively to save jobs. but there is far too much that still controlled at westminster. we could not stop the bedroom tax. we can't stop illegal wars. we cannot stop the disabled with welfare cuts. billionsstop countless being wasted on a new generation of weapons of mass destruction. now we have the opportunity to change all of that. three weeks on thursday, we can take matters into scottish hands. to go backward. more and more scots want to complete the whole world journey. the case for independence de

second debate between scottish national party leader eric salmond and better together campaign leader alastair darling. there has been have occasion for an independent scotland. british premier david cameron believes scotland should stay in the u.k. 51% of voters support staying in the u.k. live coverage of the debate begins at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> next week, special primetime programming on the c-span networks. monday on c-span, from glasgow, debate over scottish independence. on tuesday, an issue spotlight on irs targeting of conservative groups. wednesday night, the principle 's magnetrd connecticut schools, on educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds. a hearing on private and target -- antipoverty programs. friday night, native american history. on c-span two, book tv in prime time. discussion about school choice. wednesday at 8:00 p.m., interview with the author of the biography about neil armstrong. thursday night, a tour of the headquarters of book publisher simon & schuster. "in-depth" with former congressman ron paul. an american history tv -- [no audio] tuesday, t

he's against alastair darling. they'll get a chance to vote on the issue in a referendum in a few weeks time. many are undecided there is, as they say, everything to play for. which is why this huge battle hit the small screen. a tv debate, a chance to convert or convince. no sign of this man, prime minister david cameron, refusing to take part. this is a fight for scotland being waged by scots. >> every time scotland goes into a germ election there's -- general election, we have a risk of having people we didn't vote for ruling over us. >> any 8-year-old can tell you the flag, capital of a county and its currency. i assume the flag is the same, the capital edmonton, but you can't tell us the currency. >> john knows a lot about this subject. would this have made a difference. >> what if it hasn't made a difference, doesn't move the opinion polls. that will be crucial. the f side wept into the debating chamber, behind in the opinion polls. this was their best opportunity of gaining momentum to narrow the lead. if th

came back fighting. 71% thought alastair darling had won the second. let's talk with alan crawford. highlights, what were they, alan? >> well, again, darling, the former chancellor, they tried mond hard to press alex sal on the currency. he managed to get concession from darling. it is not something that darling would like to happen. he conceded that point. then, as you said, they talked about oil. darling again was trying to push -- said that the scottish government's estimates of revenue were wildly optimistic but again salmond was tough to pin down. he accused darling of talking down scott land and all the way he was pushing darling very much on to the back foot saying that he essentially wasn't willing to champion. >> the first debate didn't really move the debate when it came to the polling numbers. a little bit maybe. do you think last night had any effect? >> all of these polls cannot be wrong. they all show that the yes campaign led by salmond has a long way to go . the polling expert wrote before the debate that salmond needed a game changer. certainly he won by a large mar

blindness long damage and death let's get more on this now and more splay should know the dangers from alastair hay a professor of environmental toxicology think is much alister for being with us here in our t. now what kind of health threats exactly do the substances at the plant post tell us more. well as you suggested the facts. on many organ systems this particular chemical it's coal not troops or benzene or horror nights you've been seeing it is something that affects oxygen carrying potential into blood and it causes a condition called meant him a globe anemia and in essence that prevents the gym being carried around in the bloodstream so you can get a range of effects as a result of that and most organ systems are affected then i'd not convinced about the massive ecological damage my view is that you should never attack a chemical plant anyway well if you know what we will discuss it a little a later but i'd like to go back now to the risks that you were talking about you know just judging by what you told us it's pretty serious you know that the health problems that all of those chemica

is economic woes are partly due to the sanctions against russia and alastair now michael ross joins us live now to discuss this are low michael do we have you on the phone line yes yes yes we do have you thank you so much for joining us here today so the question here is what's the reason for the year is a poor g.d.p. growth there are several reasons but the main factor of course of the sanctions against russia when you take for example the big german companies almost every big german company has close business ties with russia it's specially those companies who are in the german docks the boards bomi to here in frankfurt and everybody is suffering more or less so at the end of the day we. not only psychological effect those sanctions but only a business effect and we have enough problems here in europe and especially in the eurozone sold this is something that we don't need and if you speak to the business leaders behind closed doors they are all against the sanctions. well angle of merkel says that her country is an example of how to combat high deficit so why our german business is

one hundred forty five plants that house potential biohazards that are considered to be at risk alastair hay a professor of environmental technology told us more about the potential dangers here than. if it is vaporized in some way and that would possibly be by direct hits with explosives or very intense fire the chemical gas at the vapor once it's in the air for a very long time. degrades in the atmosphere very very slowly if it lands on stall or water it's also there for quite a long time it doesn't degrade it will easily that has implications obviously for people for the environment for any crops that are grow so really a chemical plant ought to be a no go zone in any conflict. other developments tonight russia says it will supply the threatened regions with humanitarian help a move that's now been approved by kiev earlier the ukrainian authorities have been opposed to any help from moscow the red cross has also been invited to provide aid for the people of new gun specifically to after that city declared a humanitarian disaster last week rif notion is there for us. the ganske may luk

morepect alex to be much aggressive, much more negative when he takes on alastair darling.when they met for debate on the television the view is that he lost the -- the debate. he has the last opportunity to engage with a huge audience. whether this would be broadcast to put in a much more persuasive for coherent case in favor of independence of the pressure is on him to win. most of the pundits say if it is a score draw, if they come out even, that is a good result. all they have to do is defend their lead in the polls. mmond makes alex sa the best of it. that is another good question. most have made their mind up. there is this contest for the hundreds of thousands of scots who may not yet have decided. trying to establish how many that is is quite difficult. you have to work out how you would judge whether somebody is wavering or undecided. we can estimate that approximately half a million scottish voters which is approximately 20% of the electorate either genuinely or are d [indiscernible] this could be one of the most significant events. unlike in the u.s. where you ha

he's up against alastair darling. the man in charge of keeping it together. scots will vote on the issue in a research um. many are undecided. there is, as they say, everything to play for. [ clapping ]. >> reporter: which is why this battle hit the small screen. a tv debate, a chance to convert or cop vips. >> no sign of this map. prime minister david cameron refused to take part. this is a fight for scotland being waged by scots. >> every time scotland goes into a general election there's the risk of having people we didn't vote for rolling over us. that happened for more than half my life. >> any 8-year-old can tell you the flag, capital of a country and its currency. you can't tell us what currency we will have. >> john curtis is professor of politics and knows a lot about the subject. do you think that will have made a difference? >> if this debate has not made a difference, if it doesn't move the opinion poll, that will be crucial. the side went into the debating chamber behind. this was their best opportunity of trying to gain momentum, to narrow the l

alastair, you know that.e] >> you are spending more than you are bringing in. >> can you allow me a minute to get another question then? >> sure. >> am asking you if you are hit with the 6 billion pounds lost the studies that you quote with approval in your white paper, how would you find that? will you raise taxes? cut services? professional studies have shown that scotland will be a prosperous economy if it is independent. you have 150 billion pounds -- [indiscernible] >> we are putting a hold -- [indiscernible] --[gavel pntdown ounds] [applause] you now have eight minutes to cross examine alistair darling. >> alastair, how many children in scotland is it estimated that will move into poverty by 2020, 'sven that the u.k. government welfare spending cuts? >> too many children are moving into poverty. >> when i was in government -- >> it depends on what the government policy czar, but -- policies are, but -- >> how many is the estimate of the children. >> there are too many children living in poverty. extra c

they thought that alastair darling was the most convincing. stephen booth joins us now.urrency union without a political pact was stupidity on stilts. last night's debate came down to the pound. union in thecy eurozone about the lack of fiscal union and the problems that has caused in the eurozone. and the discussion about brexit. it is much more integrated into the u.k. than the u.k. is into the eu. >> he dismissed the u.k. opposition sharing the currency as a campaign tactic designed to scare the people of scotland. >> the key question is the uncertainty. no one necessarily knows what will happen. >> thank you for joining us today. they to chat to you about the johnson report and the debate last night. was -- i got it wrong. i think it is a contentious issue. mayor.s the london not the lord mayor of london. >> when you wake up at 2:00, these mistakes are justified. >> as fedex express makes acquisitions expand across africa. we look at the opportunities with doing business in the continent. more to come in the next half-hour. ♪ >> welcome back. let's look at the dollar

alastair darling said that a currency union without a political union is stupidity on stilts. >> thathere the eurozone will want to try to go. for the political union. the difficulties they have had since 2007-2008 have been very acute. the whole exercise has been hugely difficult and painful. you got massive unemployment. youth unemployment is catastrophic in the south of europe. maybe, they are going to have to have very big fiscal transfers. av they will have to go forward within the eurozone to that place. i think it would be difficult democratically. project is the euro very well conceived. for the u.k., that is not the issue. we're not going to be in the euro, north denmark or sweden. -- nor is denmark or sweden. >> there is a tension there. work -- for it to >> you need relationships. >> to you think it is viable? >> i think it is totally doable. changes that i was outlining, a healthy relationship by way of free eurozone and we are off to the races. if we can get those reforms, put them to the people in a referendum in the country, we have not had a referendum on europe for 40

in scotland, to compare it to a major natural resource like oil and gas, there were many points, alastair. [applause] how on earth can you say that 50% of your tax revenue is a bonus? >> i think the rest of us realize that what you are doing is you are trying to spend money over and over again, but you can't do it. >> they said they are not planning in that regard. do you believe that? >> yes. it is to find out what the will of the scottish are. no if's or but's or going back. that is why the decision is so a -- irrevocable. and that is why we have to make this with eyes wide ope. the reason they are not planning if there is no mandate. >> with the u.k. cap it, they said, yes, it was disgraceful that the u.k. government had not made any planning. between the u.k. government and the scottish government. isn't it reasonable that we should have plans for the u.k. government, because of the sovereign will of the scottish people? [applause] though -- iaying went to get back to my other question. saying you are prepared to negotiate on that point? 5.5 years is a very reasonable timescale as we

in scotland, to compare it to a major natural resource like oil and gas, there were many points, alastair. [applause] how on earth can you say that 50% of your tax revenue is a bonus? >> i think the rest of us realize that what you are doing is you are trying to spend money over and over again, but you can't do it. >> they said they are not planning in that regard. do you believe that? >> yes. it is to find out what the will of the scottish are. no if's or but's or going back. that is why the decision is so a -- irrevocable. and that is why we have to make this with eyes wide ope. the reason they are not planning if there is no mandate. >> with the u.k. cap it, they said, yes, it was disgraceful that the u.k. government had not made any planning. between the u.k. government and the scottish government. isn't it reasonable that we should have plans for the u.k. government, because of the sovereign will of the scottish people? [applause] though -- iaying went to get back to my other question. saying you are prepared to negotiate on that point? 5.5 years is a very reasonable timescale as we