Victoria Derbyshire's Scottish independence debate

In a year’s time people living in Scotland will cast their vote in a referendum that could change the future of the UK. They'll be asked "Should Scotland be an independent country?" and that's what we'll be debating on Monday 16 September at 10am in our largest ever Victoria Derbyshire audience debate.

More on that to come, but first some facts.

Yes Scotland is the official campaign for independence, while Better Together is the group arguing to keep the Union. The Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish Greens and independent MSP Margo MacDonald back independence, while Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are opposed.

The vote will take place on Thursday 18th September 2014. Everyone over the age of 16 who lives in Scotland will get to vote, but registered Scots who live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland won't get a vote. Non-Scots who're registered to vote in Scotland will get a say.

The question "Should Scotland be an independent country?" came about after protracted negotiations. The Scottish government's original version of the question, "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?", was dropped after the Electoral Commission raised concerns it could lead people into voting "Yes".

In the events of a “Yes” vote, Alex Salmond the leader of the SNP wants to declare Independence Day in March 2016, with the first elections to an independent parliament in May. However, before that happens though a constitutional settlement would need to be agreed with the UK government, involving weighty issues which may take a long time to resolve. The independence referendum has been described as a once-in-a-generation event, so a “No” vote would put the issue to bed for the time being.

On Monday 16th September at 10am Victoria Derbyshire will be debating the key issues. We’ll be joined by leading members of the Yes Scotland campaign, the Better Together group and around 300 5 live listeners from right across the UK.

Opinion polls show a large number of people are yet to make up their minds on how they'll vote, so during the programme we'll ask our studio audience to vote twice. Once at the beginning of the programme and once again after they've heard the debate. As well as the main question, we’ll be asking what the rest of the UK would be called if Scotland does vote for independence, what would happen to the monarchy and if Scotland would keep Sterling as a currency.

The economy will also dominate the debate. The Yes campaign saysScotland generates more money for the UK economy than is handed back by Westminster and that after independence that cash can be spent where it's really needed. The No campaign says Scotland's economy benefits from the security of being part of one of the world's biggest economies, from bank bail outs to green energy subsidies, and so cutting ties built up over 300 years would leave Scotland dangerously exposed in a volatile world.

The debate will be filmed and broadcast on the 5 live website, BBC News Channel, Red Button and the BBC News website from 10am on Monday 16 September. It will also be broadcast again on 5 live on Sunday 22nd September at 8.30pm.

To join in the debate you can call 0500 909 693, text 85058 or use the hashtag #5livedebate.

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Associated content

Video: What would independence mean for Scotland?