Scottish independence: Salmond says Scotland is 'on cusp of making history'

Right, that's all from the Referendum Live team for today. We'll back back at 08:00 tomorrow - hope you can join us then.

For more on the referendum, including news, analysis and background, go to the BBC's Scotland Decides website.

That's the end of the referendum debate from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, which gave 7,500 16 and 17-year-olds their chance to hear arguments from a panel made up of politicians from both sides of the debate.

James Cook introduces a video of some of the country's young people reciting Christine de Luca's poem The Morning After, which was inspired by the referendum debate.

Mr Galloway is last. He says: "We stood against Hitler and fascism. Ask your grandparents how important that was."

Mr Harvie says: "It could spark the type of democratic renewal the rest of these islands have been waiting for as well."

Ms Davidson says: "We can be a better country without being a separate country".

Ms Sturgeon says: "Independence is not a magic wand but we'll make the decisions that shape the type of country we are."

I am currently undecided as to which way to vote on 18 September. Which succinct statement would the Yes and Better Together campaigns like to make that would help me make my decision?

Ms Davidson says Ms Sturgeon was in charge of the health service when privatisation increased in the Scottish NHS.

She says the Scottish government has chosen to protect the NHS less than Westminster, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

"How many times has Scotland voted Labour, only to end up with the Tories?" asks the deputy first minister.

"We are not subsidised," says Ms Sturgeon. "Don't let anyone tell you that we are."

Mr Galloway says "a Labour government will be here in May" and the privatisation agenda will end.

An audience member says the Barnett Formula will be scrapped if Scotland votes No.

Another asks why we should risk the free services we have now by voting Yes.

Patrick Harvie says there is a difference between controlling policy and finance.

He says the NHS in England is being privatised, which will "impact on the Scottish budget", which will "degrade the quality of care" available.

He says Scotland needs its own voice to avoid "privatisation by stealth".

If we stay in the UK, will privatisation of parts of the NHS be inevitable?

Mr Galloway asks "Any chance of getting a word in?"

He says he is as concerned about food banks in other UK cities as much as he is about them in Glasgow.

He adds that he is here to argue for the young people in the audience, and says there is "super devo max" on table.

Read more about the rival oil claims here.

An audience member says Westminster has "squandered Scotland's oil".

Ms Davidson says it is industry experts who say the oil is running out - not Westminster.

She quotes Sir Ian Wood, who says the SNP has "over-estimated oil revenues by 60%".

Nicola Sturgeon says there are "billions" of barrels of oil left in the North Sea, with a value of around a trillion pounds.

She says Scotland must decide how to "best steward" oil development for the next 40, 50, 60 years.

An audience member accuses the SNP of "lies" with regard to oil revenues.

Mr Harvie says clean energy sources are also an important part of Scotland's future economy.

Mr Galloway says oil prices are volatile and it is unclear how long North Sea oil will last.

Oil is expected to run out by the year 2050 when many of us will be grandparents, so who or what will pay our pensions?

The Scottish Conservatives leader says "we are part of a wider union that allows us to pool and share resources".

"That's why public spending in Scotland is £1200 per head more than in other parts of the UK," she adds.

The deputy first minister says Westminster "decides how much of our own money comes back to us".

She says independence "means we keep the taxes hear and decide the priorities - like free education".

Ms Davidson says an independent Scotland would have "a £6bn black hole" and that education budgets have already increased in Scotland.

Mr Harvie describes making the younger generation pay tens of thousands of pounds for higher education as "a scandal".

He says independence is about better public services but also responsible spending plans.

Mr Galloway says he is "very concerned" by the "130,000 college places cut by the SNP".

He adds that there isn't even a currency to pay for college places or anything else in an independent Scotland.

He wonders why the SNP is "so determined to keep the English pound".

Ms Sturgeon says she grew up in a working class family and benefited from a free education, so she "would not" remove it from others.

She says the Tories want to cut the Scottish budget and "if that happens it gets harder to protect the things that matter".

Ruth Davidson says college places in Scotland have already been cut, and that new powers are coming to allow more control over finances.

"Don't let the Nationalists fool you," she adds. "It's our decision whether you vote yes or no."

If Scotland stays part of the UK, will we eventually have to pay tuition fees for higher education?

Patrick Harvie says banks should "invest in the real economy" instead of "gambling on the casino economy".

George Galloway says "you won't have a currency, you won't have money".

To boos from the audience he says Scotland would be a "colony like Panama or Gibraltar".

An audience member says his father has seen "significant loss in his company's turnover due to international companies not wanting to invest in Scotland".

Ms Sturgeon says she is surprised to hear George Galloway "telling young people to be intimidated by the financial markets".

She claims the "No" campaign is "scaremongering" on the issue.

George Galloway says "there are already too many barriers and borders in the world".

He adds current austerity measures are nothing compared to the "disruption and destruction of separation", and points to news that some banks have outlined contingency plans around a Yes vote.

Ruth Davidson says she doesn't want to see "barriers and red tape", adding that many Scottish jobs are linked to the UK and young people may choose to move elsewhere in the UK to work.

Nicola Sturgeon says too many young people are leaving Scotland to seek work elsewhere, and independence would mean the ability to create jobs.

"You are the future of Scotland and you're the reason an independent Scotland will be a roaring success," she tells the audience.

The first question is on education in an independent Scotland.

The BBC's James Cook is introducing the panel.

Right, the Big, Big debate is kicking off... don't forget you can watch it at the top of the page...

The BBC debate from Glasgow's SSE Hydro, with 7,500 participants aged 16 and 17, begins in around seven minutes.

The BBC asked around 1000 of them to fill in a questionnaire about the issues that mattered to them in the referendum debate.

A total of 97% thought university fees was the most important issue to them, but the economy (94%), currency (88%), welfare (88%) and pensions (84%) also scored highly.

You can read the full story here.

It is not long to go now until the Big, Big Debate at the Hydro in Glasgow.

First time voters aged 16 and 17 question a panel of including Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie for Yes Scotland, and MP George Galloway and Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson.

You can watch the debate live on this page from 21:00 or on BBC One Scotland.

We're having a few technical problems at the moment - sorry if you're not seeing the pictures on our live text page. Trying to fix the issue now.

ie the Downing St meeting with supermarket and food bosses happened, but PM's lobbying them to talk about Scottish price rises was elsewhere

Alex Salmond has written to the prime minister and his most senior civil servant demanding an explanation for the Treasury's "deliberate attempt to cause uncertainty in the financial markets".

He has called on cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to investigate why "a Treasury source" discussed RBS plans to relocate its headquarters to London if Scotland votes for independence, with the BBC several hours before it was announced to the markets.

RBS joined Tesco Bank, TSB, Lloyds and Clydesdale Bank in issuing market advisories on their contingency plans in the event of a "Yes" vote today.

In the latest daily question, the BBC's Jamie Ross asks how might the referendum result affect Scottish sport?

How important is the financial sector to Scotland's economy? BBC Business explores the issue.

You might be interested in why so many banks - Lloyds, RBS, Clydesdale, TSB and Tesco Bank - have all said in the past 24 hours that in the event of Scotland voting for independence they would move their legal homes south of the border or create new English companies for some of their operations.

Why have they moved in a sheep-like way in collectively making these disclosures?

Well they all had to consider making this announcement last weekend when opinion polls showed the possibility of Scottish independence was no longer remote.

As I have mentioned many times, they had been considering for months how to ensure their main transactions would continue to be in sterling and how to be confident they would still be regulated by the Bank of England and would have access to the Bank's emergency lending facilities (which is a matter of corporate life and death, literally, in a crisis).

Without being able to demonstrate such continuity of currency and regulation, there was a risk they would lose access to vital credit and that depositors would take flight.

Read Robert's full blog

Tonight, we are keeping the Referendum Live page going right through until after the The Big, Big Debate has been screened in Scotland.

An audience of 8,000 schoolchildren packed the SSE Hydro in Glasgow earlier this afternoon. The 16 and 17-year-old first time voters had the opportunity to question Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie from the Yes campaign, and Respect MP George Galloway and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson who support a No vote.

The debate, chaired by James Cook, will be shown on BBC One Scotland between 21:00 and 22:00. It will be shown in the rest of the UK between 22:40 and 23:40, apart from in Northern Ireland, where it will be shown at 23:15.

Former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has indicated that he could return to front-line politics in Scotland to lock horns with Alex Salmond.

During a speech in Kilmarnock, he accused the Scottish First Minister of deceiving voters about his current powers to improve the health service.

Mr Brown said if Mr Salmond continued with this theme he would join the Scottish Labour Party leader in challenging the SNP.

"I say this to Mr Salmond himself - until today I'm outside front-line politics," said Mr Brown.

"If he continues to peddle this deception that the Scottish Parliament, under his leadership, cannot do anything to improve the health service until he has a separate state, then I will want to join Johann Lamont in fighting him in securing the return of a Labour government as quickly as possible."

Referendum Tonight on BBC Radio Scotland is your late night round-up of the day's events from the campaign.

Graham Stewart turns on the spotlight on the 16 and 17-year-old first time voters.

This comes as thousands of them make up the audience at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow for tonight's BBC TV debate.

Our panel will discuss the day's events and two comedians, one from each camp, will give us their take on the latest developments.

More than 8,000 school children from across Scotland are currently inside the SSE Hydro in Glasgow taking part in an independence debate.

Chaired by James Cook and featuring a panel of Nicola Sturgeon, George Galloway, Ruth Davidson and Patrick Harvie, the debate will be broadcast at 21:00 tonight BBC One Scotland.

You can see a 360 degree shot of the debate taking place here.

Supermarket giant Asda has warned of cost implications if Scotland votes in favour of independence.

Chief executive Andy Clarke said the company would have to create a separate Scottish business in the event of a Yes vote next Thursday.

Asda has 61 stores and depots in Scotland and employs 22,000 people.

Mr Clarke said he accepts the vote is a matter for the Scottish people but added that he would be "ducking his responsibility" if he did not offer an "honest assessment" of what independence could mean for his company.

"It will be no surprise to voters that if Scotland votes for independence, it would be imperative to establish a separate Scottish business," he said,

"Currently, our systems are set up for one single UK market, we use the same currency and we operate under the same rates of VAT. By operating in a market serving 63 million customers we achieve major efficiencies and economies of scale.

"If we were no longer to operate in one state with one market and - broadly - one set of rules, our business model would inevitably become more complex. We would have to reflect our cost to operate here."

Mr Clark added: "This is not an argument for or against independence, it is simply an honest recognition of the costs that change could bring."

A vote in favour of independence could raise many questions and upset markets in the short-term, according to the International Monetary Fund.

"The main immediate effect is likely to be uncertainty over the transition to a potentially new and different monetary, financial and fiscal framework in Scotland," said IMF spokesman Bill Murray.

Treasury sources have dismissed as "absurd" claims by Alex Salmond [see 12:33 entry] that they deliberately leaked news about RBS preparing to relocate its headquarters.

A source described the claim as a "desperate distraction tactic".

Treasury sources say they were responding to inquiries from journalists. It is understood they were contacted by The Sun newspaper after Lloyds had issued a statement about their future. Questions were then put to the Treasury about the future of RBS.

The source said the story about RBS potentially moving its headquarters had already been reported elsewhere previously.

The source also suggested that claims by Mr Salmond that any decision by RBS to relocate would have no impact, was wrong. The source said if RBS had its headquarters in London, the banking rules under which it operated would be drawn up by the Bank of England.

Dozens of Labour Party heavyweights have arrived in Scotland to join leader Ed Miliband's "fight" to save the union.

Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, former foreign secretary Jack Straw and former Northern Ireland and Welsh secretary Peter Hain appeared at a rally in Glasgow city centre.

Better Together leader Alistair Darling was also at the event, along with former prime minister Gordon Brown and party peer Lord Foulkes.

Mr Miliband said: "We are here in solidarity because we are Better Together.

"There is no bigger issue in this referendum than the National Health Service. The real risk to the NHS is independence."

He added: "It is because of the achievements of Donald Dewar, because of devolution that the National Health Service in Scotland is run by the people of Scotland.

"The only person who can privatise the National Health Service in Scotland is Alex Salmond.

"We are proud to stand here and fight for jobs, for the NHS and for our country."

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says an independent Scotland would probably have to spend less on the NHS than if it remained in the UK.

The Institute said that, even with the higher oil revenues predicted by the Scottish Government, Scotland would need to borrow more - or tax more - than the rest of the UK if it wanted to increase spending on the NHS.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman says there have been a number of interventions from businesses which drew attention to "the risks and uncertainties" that people in Scotland may face.

He said it was important people heard the voices setting this out ahead of the referendum.

Asked if the Prime Minister felt his visit to Scotland had been a success, the spokesman said it was right to go and make the case for a No vote. Mr Cameron will return to Scotland ahead of the 18 September poll.

The spokesman repeated that the Government had made no contingency plans for a Yes vote and said its entire focus was on making the case and arguments for the UK staying together.

He added that if the Scottish people voted to separate, there would be a considerable period of negotiation.