Scotland Decides: The Big, Big Debate

Scotland Decides: The Big, Big Debate was a one-off British television programme broadcast by the BBC on 11 September 2014, a week prior to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The 60-minute show was recorded at Glasgow's OVO Hydro during the afternoon prior to broadcast. It was presented by Scottish journalist James Cook before an audience of about 7,500 16- and 17-year-olds, first-time voters on the day of the referendum, some of whom were invited to quiz a panel of prominent politicians from both the "Yes" and "No" campaigns.^[1]

The audience included representatives from every secondary school in Scotland, while the panel was made up of Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie from the "Yes Scotland" campaign, and Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson and Respect Party MP George Galloway representing the "Better Together" campaign.