Rival political leaders make their pitch in BBC live debate Well that was certainly a lively debate. Scotland's rival political leaders made their pitch to voters in the first TV debate of the Holyrood election campaign. Nicola Sturgeon expects a second independence referendum to take place within the next two years if the SNP wins the Holyrood election, she confirmed last night, as she faced increasing pressure from the public about her priorities during the first televised leaders’ debate. Here are the key talking points from the debate. Captain Corelli's Mandolin writer calls for SNP to explain how independence would work We love getting letters from our readers and this next one really jumped out at us. The author Louis de Bernières has called for the SNP to explain how independence would work in a series of pointed questions. Writing a letter to The Scotsman, the Captain Corelli's Mandolin writer claimed the public were “entitled” to answers and outlined 12 issues he wanted addressed. Read the full story here If you want to send us a letter the best way is to email [email protected] Woman discovers preserved WWII air raid shelter hidden in tenement What a find! For decades it lay concealed under a mountain of discarded carpets, paint pots and other household junk. Homeowner Mia Gray was stunned to discover that the old Victorian washroom beneath her tenement had been used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War. Take a peek inside the forgotten shelter here. We're now offering more FREE newsletters We've increased the number of specialised newsletters we offer. During lockdown many of our readers like the convenience of us bringing the news to them via email. We now offer three new newsletters. Like this one they'll be totally free. Scotsman politics: The latest Scottish political news and analysis from our specialist writers direct to your inbox (twice a week) Opinion: Expert analysis and agenda-setting opinion from our team of columnists with insight from our comment editor (once a week) History and Heritage: Features on Scottish history, heritage news, nostalgia and archive picture galleries (once a week) Sign up to any of these for free right HERE. Thanks for reading, more headlines are below. Sam Shedden, [email protected] | 