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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: We are going to talk now to Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister. I hope you heard Sir Ming there but you know the kind of thing that the no camp are saying, Sir Ming was saying we’re optimistic, we’re right to be given the polls but we’re not complacent. Not good news for you.

NICOLA STURGEON: Well on the contrary. With a year to go, the yes campaign is full of optimism. There are some very interesting polls in the Sunday papers today, one poll showing that people who are now undecided are rearing towards the yes campaign and secondly, if people see a no vote as being a vote for no change, which it most certainly is, then equally they are more likely to switch to being yes voters. So with a year to go there is all to play for and there’s a great deal of optimism on the yes side.

DM: But this latest polling is 32% yes and 49% no. I mean you have got a heck of a lot of ground to make. I was talking to some political commentator saying, well Alex Salmond and indeed yourself, you are wily political operators, you must have something up your sleeve.

NS: We go in with a year to go with polls showing, as I just said, all to play for. But if we look back over the past few months then I think the most significant development in the campaign has been the fact that both sides, the no side as well, concede that Scotland can more than afford to be an independent country. So the question is not can Scotland be independent, everybody accepts that, we’re a wealthy country but the question is, should we be independent? And on that question, over the past 14 years of devolution we have demonstrated that when decisions are taken here in Scotland on health and education, then we get better decisions than we do when we leave those decisions in the hands of Westminster because at Westminster we often get government that we don’t vote for. Most people in Scotland didn’t vote for the current UK government so just as now where we have decision making powers over education, we can protect free access to university education, if we had powers over welfare we could stop the deeply damaging cuts we are seeing to the incomes of some of the most vulnerable in our society.

DM: But what happens, Nicola Sturgeon, if that government, a lot of which you didn’t vote for and we know the particular party you didn’t vote for, what happens if the economic recovery – if you accept there is one – if that gets entrenched and the benefits start to be seen in Scotland and things like the Help to Buy scheme we’ve been discussing, start to make a real difference to people’s lives?

NS: As we see economic recovery, that’s more of an argument for Scottish independence, firstly because if we have our hands on the levers of economic policy then we’re going to be better able to ensure that that economic recovery happens but also as we see the economy recover, it is all the more important that we are able to share the proceeds of that, share the benefits of that more equally than we see under Westminster government. You know, the UK under Westminster government just now is the fourth most unequal society in the developed world. If we have these powers in Scottish hands, in the hands of the Scottish parliament, the Scottish government, then we can make sure that, as we do just now in areas that are currently devolved, that we take better decisions.

DM: I’ve got a couple of specific questions here. About energy policy and energy resources, we know about the oil industry and of course it seems there might be more to go from the North Sea than we imagined a few years ago but what about fracking, where does the Scottish National Party stand on that? Would you like to see widespread fracking in Scotland, keeping the fruits of that if it exists?

NC: No, I think there is a deal of scepticism and we need to make sure that we proceed carefully but the big questions on energy in Scotland are firstly how we ensure that we steward our vast oil and gas resources better than has been done over the past 40 years. If we compare ourselves right now to Norway, Norway is sitting on a massive oil fund because it’s invested the proceeds of its oil and gas resources whereas in Scotland we’ve got a share of the massive UK debts. We need to make sure that we get those decisions right for the future and of course Scotland doesn’t only have massive oil and gas resources, we’re very lucky when it comes to renewable energy as well and we need to make sure that we have the right decision making powers to take the right decisions there too.

DM: And on HS2, much debate of course in England, at the moment only scheduled in many years to come, if it is built, to reach to Manchester and Leeds. Presumably if it went all the way to Scotland that would help an independent Scotland’s goods reach those continental markets?

NS: Well an independent Scotland will continue to be in the European single market and that means if the trade flows between Scotland and England, with independence it will be as they are just now. In terms of high speed rail, we are talking very closely to the UK government just now because we want to make sure that Scotland benefits from that as well and we don’t want Scotland to be at the tail end of that, we want Scotland to be factored into that from the word go so that we make sure we are benefiting. As a Scottish government right now with significant powers over transport, we are very keen to continue that dialogue.

DM: Okay, Ms Sturgeon, very good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed. Deputy First Minister there, Nicola Sturgeon.