Analysis: Salmond struggles badly during debate

The great debater, Alex Salmond surprisingly struggled last night.

Running behind in the opinion polls, Scottish National Party leader, First Minister Alex Salmond was said before last night’s two-hour debate in Glasgow to need a killer blow.

The Yes campaign is behind with little more than five weeks to go before Scots go to the polls on September 18th in a vote that both sides consistently declare is “the most important act of our lives”.

However, within minutes of the debate with former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, an opinion poll from the Guardian/ICM - admittedly with a small sample of 520 people - gave it to Darling by 56 points to 44 points.

That had not been part of the script, since much of the Scottish media’s pre-debate analysis had focused on Salmond’s margin of victory - even if they expressed doubt that he could secure a knock-out blow.

Salmond opened strongly, but struggled badly when he was pressed on whether Scotland will be part of a sterling currency union with the rest of the United Kingdom.

This option has been ruled out by the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - but the Yes campaign insists that they will be forced to back down if Scots vote Yes.

Mr Salmond’s debate tactics provoked surprise at the Royal Conservatoire - particularly when he focused on jokes made by Labour and Conservative MPs, demanding that Darling dissociate himself from them.

In one, Labour’s Andy Burnham had joked that Scottish drivers will have to drive on the right-hand side of the road if they vote Yes on September 18th.

Meanwhile, Conservative Philip Hammond - never much known for displays of humour - had joked that an independent Scotland would be more at risk of attacks from outer space.

Clearly bemused, perhaps even relieved, by Mr Salmond’s line of questioning, the former Labour chancellor - who leads the pro-Union Better Together campaign - said Scots wanted “a grown-up” debate.

However, Mr Salmond put Mr Darling on the defensive when he asked him repeatedly if he accepted that Scotland could be independent and successful - a reply that Darling studiously avoided giving.

Equally, he pointed out that Scottish MPs of all hues had failed to stop the introduction of the so-called bedroom which penalises local authority tenants if they are deemed to have too many rooms.

Curiously, Mr Salmond did not press Darling sufficiently on the details of the extra devolution that the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats now say will be given to Scotland if voters rejected the independence call.

In his closing remarks, the Scottish National Party leader focused on a number of strengths in the Yes campaign - particularly Scots’ dislike over the decades when they have been left with Conservative governments in London that they did not elect.

“Firstly the point I made that for more than half my life – the same experience for other Scots – that we have been governed from Westminster by governments we didn’t vote for,” he said

“If we’re independent we get the government we vote for at each and every election,” he said, adding that “Scotland is a wealthy nation with abundant natural resources”.

Three hundred and fifty carefully-selected members of the public were given tickets for the event - 40 per cent of whom have said they intend to vote Yes; 40 per cent No and the remainder undecided.

However, the focus of many of those who asked questions on economic matters - the currency, pensions, etc - indicated that Better Together’s warnings - if disliked - have struck home.

In the minutes after the debate, the No campaign was ecstatic: “This was supposed to have been the Battle of Bannockburn. In fact, it has turned out to be Alex Salmond’s Waterloo.”.

However, the Yes campaign insisted that Salmond had won, saying that his declarations that “sterling belongs to the Scots as it does to the rest of the UK” had struck home with the TV audience.

Both men will come back for a second round in three weeks time: the Yes campaign has more work to do than even it believed would be the case following last night’s debate. Salmond must get the subjects away from currency, pensions and other economic issues

An international audience was able to watch the debate online, though the demand was so heavy that the STV service struggled. However, the debate was not shown to TV audiences in England and Wales.