Politicial heavyweights John Swinney and Iain Gray went head to head in a business-themed independence debate in Dundee on Monday evening.
Mr Swinney, the finance secretary and SNP MSP for Perthshire North, represented the Yes campaign, while Labour finance spokesman MSP for East Lothian Mr Gray spoke for the Better Together campaign.
Thorntons Solicitors organised and hosted the Question Time-style debate, which was chaired by The Courier’s deputy editor Steve Bargeton.
Prominent members of the business community from across Courier country and beyond made up the 120-strong audience for the invitation-only event.
The assembled guests had the chance to put questions and concerns about Scotland’s future to the speakers.
Scott Milne, joint managing partner at Thorntons, said the event, which had been three months in the planning, aimed to get answers on a number of important issues.
“We were delighted to be joined by John and Iain,” he said. “We organised this event on behalf of our business clients so they could ask questions about the issues surrounding the independence debate which will affect their businesses.
“There has been increasing conversation about how the independence debate will affect businesses and we were interested to get real political views about how these issues will affect our clients.
“We were thrilled with the response our Question Time session has received and that so many of our clients were able to come along, many from far afield.
“We were also grateful to Steve for agreeing to chair the event,” he added.
The firm invited their guests to submit questions, which Mr Milne said revealed many common topics. These included a perceived reluctance to invest in the Scottish market, corporation tax incentives, the European Union, renewables, student job prospects for the future, and whether an independent Scotland will continue to receive agriculture subsidies.