Yes given boost by Salmond's victory in the second debate

The second Scottish independence debate took place a short while ago and Alex Salmond won it by several furloughs. The Guardian published a quick poll which showed that seventy-one percent of the population agree with that verdict which will leave the Yes campaign enthused for the final three weeks until polling day.

The best moment came when a member of the audience asked the deceptively simple question: "If we are better together, why aren't we already better together?" Given that Scottish supermarkets employ bouncers to stop hungry people stealing food, that was a telling point.

A woman then told Alistair Darling that the next time he had fancy dinners with rich businessmen who want to take over the NHS, he should remember that Nye Bevin is sitting on his shoulder. That point got a loud and raucous cheer from the audience.

Darling was jeered several times, and as the debate wore on, the cheers for Salmond became louder. He seemed to relax and began to taunt Darling who responded by shouting as he felt the debate slipping away from him.  

I cannot remember anything that Darling said, but Salmond's sound bytes stick in the mind. A hundred thousand children expected to slide into poverty with current Westminster policies and a similar number of disabled folk losing their benefits. All that against a background of £4 billion a year being pissed away on Trident. 

With just over three weeks until polling day, and with the postal votes starting to go out tomorrow, this is just the boost that Yes needs.