Scottish pro-independence leader wins television debate ahead of referendum

Scotland's pro-independence leader Alex Salmond won the second Scottish independence TV debate with Alistair Darling after the showdown descended into an angry shouting match.

The debate, held ahead of the 18 September referendum, saw Salmond relentlessly talking over and at Alistair Darling, the leader of the "Better Together" anti-independence movement who won the first debate.

The 90-minute debate, hosted by the BBC in front of an audience of 200 at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, offered both men a key opportunity to appeal to voters.

Salmond and Darling butted heads on issues such as Scotland's use of the Pound Sterling if independence was achieved, North Sea oil revenues, welfare and tax rates.

In a poll conducted by the Guardian newspaper and ICM, 71 percent of over 500 respondents judged that Salmond had won, against 29 percent who said they thought Darling had triumphed.