UK media debate Scotland's future ahead of historic vote
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E-mail Xinhua, September 18, 2014
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today program on Wednesday morning, leader of the No campaign Alistair Darling and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond made one of their final debates on the future of Scotland.
On the program, Darling made his last-ditch efforts to remind the Scots that there would be no way back in case of a Yes vote.
"I believe that voting no gets you a stronger Scotland, with a stronger Scottish parliament. Voting yes brings all sorts of risks, on currency, on jobs, and I think the majority of people in Scotland just don't want that," he said.
"There are so many unanswered questions, so much uncertainty as to how it would affect families, with price rises and so on, which is why I think, by the end of tomorrow, we'll win," he continued.
He added that the vote is not like a general election "where if it doesn't work out, or you don't like the government of the day, you can kick them out."
However, on the same program, Salmond dismissed the proposal of more devolved powers offered by the Better Together campaign.
"These are the same package that was announced last spring, reannounced a week ago and repackaged in desperation yesterday by the three Westminster leaders," he said.
"Wake up on Friday morning to the first day of a better country...It's about you. Your family. Your hopes. Your ambitions, It's about taking your country's future into your hands," the first minister was quoted as saying in an open letter published by Scottish newspaper the Daily Record.
British opposition Labor Party leader Ed Miliband was also making a string of campaigning visits to Scotland in the coming days, in a non-partisan effort to save the 307-year-old union.
On the final day of campaigning, also grabbing headlines in British media were those voting guides detailing the concrete steps of the referendum.
The polls are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. on Thursday and close at 10 p.m., local time. Counting of the votes begins at 32 regional centers of Scotland after the end of polls. First results are expected to come out from around 1 a.m. onwards on Friday.
While separate total counts will be announced in each of the local authority areas, the final overall result of all 32 local totals will be announced by the Chief Counting Officer in Edinburgh at around 6.30 a.m.- 7.30 a.m. on Friday morning at the earliest.
More than about 4.29 million people have registered to vote in the referendum, and both campaigns expect the turnout to be high.
In October 2012, Cameron and Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement, allowing Scotland to hold an independence referendum in autumn 2014 on the question of "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
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