Has Alex Salmond lost weight? He’s looking pretty alluring in this video, especially his sparkly little eyes at about 3:10-3:20, and those tiny eyebrows I’ve never really noticed before. In the view of Channel 4’s Matt Frei, it’s probably because he’s gearing up to become megalomaniacal prime minister of an independent Scotland.

Joking aside, this interview could easily have been a disaster, Salmond holds his own well against a pretty terrible interviewer. Some interesting points are raised however. We are urged to compare the fiscal union of Scotland and the rest of the UK to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands’ Benelux union rather than the vastly larger and less stable Eurozone. The Yes Campaign’s ideas about British identity are also well represented by Salmond, whilst the interviewer displays the assumptions and prejudices of the more ill informed of those in the No camp rather luridly.

Of course what everyone genuinely interested in Scotland’s future wants is more serious debate on topics like financial and social union, certainly not what we’re getting here. Cameron’s refusal to engage is looking increasingly rude and priggish, especially in light of his slightly odd request that everyone south of the border call someone Scottish and tell them to vote no. Why doesn’t he come up here and tell them himself?

Video – Channel 4 News

Words – Lotte Mitchell Reford