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5 live's chief political correspondent, John Pienaar, on what the latest pledge from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders means for the Scottish referendum.

The pledge, to persuade voters in Scotland to vote no to independence, is signed by David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg and made up of three parts. It includes equitable sharing of resources and preserving the Barnett funding formula.

John Pienaar explains each part of the pledge including an explanation of the Barnett formula: "It's the way in which the UK Treasury puts money into Scotland, public money into Scotland...it's named after the treasury minister under Harold Wilson, Joel Barnett, and it means money is allocated to Scotland to make sure that its needs are met, but not allocated according to need, it's allocated using a formula related to the population".

"The latest pledge means the formula will carry on...even though they are talking about putting more power into the Scotland parliament, there would still be that safety net of money from the UK treasury"

"It's not news, it's going to continue, so here is a promise to live up to promises that have been made before."

The "Yes" campaign have questioned why the offer is being made at this point in the campaign and described it as an "insult" to voters.

Download John Pienaar's Referendum Roundup here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/5lnews

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