21/09/2014 BBC Weekend News

Downing Street has dismissed claims that politicians are backing away

from a promise to give more powers to Scotland following the

independence referendum. Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, said

Westminster leaders were already tearing up their pledge to deliver

more devolution. This morning, political leaders in Scotland

gathered for a church service intended to promote unity after the

divisions of the referendum campaign. Michael Buchanan reports.

Symbolism matters in politics and this morning rival politicians came

to St Gyles Cathedral in the heart of Edinburgh in a show of unity.

They lit a single candle to show their willingness to co-operate and

move on from the divisions of the referendum. But away from the Kirk

the squabbling goes on. The SNP say the pledge by Westminster

politicians to devolve more powers to Scotland is already being broken.

David Cameron doesn't think he can carry his own backbenchers never

mind the threat from UKIP unless he links Scottish progress to England.

Labour doesn't want to do that because they would lose business in

the House of Commons. That's logjam that Westminster leaders got

themselves into. The problem revolves on the Prime Minister's vow

that Scottish devolution should take place in tandem with other change.

He wants to ban Scottish MPs voting on laws that only affect England.

Today David Cameron says a fair and lasting settlement for England is

needed. You can't have Scottish MPs continuing to vote on all these

different matters which only affect England. Welfare, areas of

education, so on and so forth. That's got to be sorted out. That's

saying it is common sense and most people agree with that. Far from it

says Ed Miliband. He says change needs to be properly considered. I

am open to the idea of greater scrutiny and we've got to look at

all these issues, but we can't do it on a back of the envelope fag packet

way. We spent two years trying to keep our country together. Let's

have a proper constitutional convention. Let's admit look at

these issues. There's a sense in Scotland that a debate about how the

country is governed has become an argument over the future of England.

And staged photographs cannot hide the extent that post-referendum

bickering continues. Ross Hawkins, given there's a reconciliation

church service this does seem to be getting bitter. What exactly is the

Government saying about its promise? There's a certain irony to it isn't

there. For a while we had the political party leaders agreeing

about everything for the sake of a referendum campaign. Things have

changed. Some Tory backbenchers were keen on stopping Scottish MPs voting

on English-only issues and David Cameron embraced that idea. The

Conservatives would like to pressure Labour and say let's see if you will

back this concept itself. The great secret of the Westminster leaders at

the moment is not quite as noisily as they bicker on the subject of the

Scottish vow that they made, they say that they continue to agree. The

words of one Downing Street source, it will happen, no ifs, no buts and

why is that? Because all three party leaders know that the Scottish

people will hold them to the promise they made. There must be a danger

that the English or those who represent the English will say they

are the ones being lied to because their timetable won't be stuck to.

The And that's the view that some Conservative backbenchers took

beforehand. It is a view that will be emboldened by David Cameron

appearing to explicitly linking the ideas of change at Westminster and

change in Scotland when he came out within an hour or so of the

referendum result being declared. But while he wants those two things

to run side by side, the one is not conditional on the other, they say.

Alex Salmond say Scottish people shouldn't buy any of this, but

Downing Street Lynn assist that whatever happens to what they would

like to achieve at Westminster, those promises in Scotland will be

stuck to and that vow will be seen through. Ross, thank you.

The wife of the British hostage, Alan Henning, has made a public

appeal to his captors. In a statement issued by the Foreign

Office, Barbara Henning implores Islamic State to release him, saying

her husband is a "peaceful and selfless" man. Mr Henning, a taxi

driver from Salford, is being held by militants in Syria. Caroline

Hawley reports. This was Alan Henning preparing a convoy of

urgently needed supplies for Syrians. It was while inside Syria

on another convoy that the 47-year-old father of two was

captured last December. Now a week after his kidnappers threatened to

kill him his wife has appealed for his release, saying he was driving

an ambulance full of food and water when he was taken. A Barbara said:

On his way Alan Henning explained why he had taken the risk to go to

Syria. It is worthwhile when you see what is needed get to where it needs

to go. That it all worthwhile. No sacrifice we do is nothing compared

to what they are going through every day on a daily basis. Nicknamed

Gadget because he helped fix things Alan Henning wasn't a Muslim.

Assalaamu alaikum brothers and everybody watching... But the convoy

was organised by a Muslim charity and many Imams and Islamic groups

have urged his kidnappers to let him free. They've asked them to see it

in their hearts to let Alan Henning go.

In Turkey, tens of thousands of Kurdish refugees have crossed the

border, fleeing Islamic State militants in Syria. The UN Refugee

Agency says about 70,000 have crossed in the past 24 hours because

of intense fighting between IS and Kurdish forces. The militants have

captured more than 20 villages along the border.

After three months of negotiations, Afghanistan's presidential rivals

signed a power-sharing deal today. Former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani

will share power with former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Allegations of massive electoral fraud prevented a government from

being formed earlier. Ed Miliband has said that a Labour

Government would raise the minimum wage to ?8 an hour by the end of the

next Parliament. As the party's annual conference gets under way in

Manchester, Mr Miliband said the increase will stop ordinary working

people being left behind. The minimum wage for workers over the

age of 21 is currently ?6.31. It is due to increase to ?6.50 from 1st

October. The Labour leader says a rise to ?8 by 2020 will give

businesses time to plan and adapt. Let's go live to Chris Mason at the

conference in Manchester. How significant a figure is ?8 given

what inflation would do anyway in that timescale? Labour are keen to

make the case that this is a significant policy development. They

are also keen to elbow out of the debate and the discussion all of

this talk about the constitution, the discussion you were just having

a few moments ago. It is central to Ed Miliband's economic picture. His

idea that the economy isn't working well for ordinary people. He says

the the country is hurting and that's central to the whole Labour

policy platform on the countdown to the next election. He says this has

to change and yes OK inflation will erode some of that, but overall they

say on current projections it is greater than the rate of inflation.

Put things into context, about one in 20 of the workforce at the moment

are on the minimum wage. This is something that affects a decent

number of people. The theory is those just above it might see wage

increases if the minimum wage was bumped up. Concern from employers

this lunchtime, the CBI making the case that the current rate is at

high as it can go without putting job creation at risk. The

Conservatives pointing out there is an increase above the rate of

inflation coming next month. This central to Labour's policy pitch

this week in a rather noisy environment outside the conference

hall. Some left-wing demonstrators making the case that Labour has left

them behind. Plenty more debate to come in the next couple of days.

Around 2,000 marches are planned in cities across the world today to

demand urgent action on climate change. One of the first rallies

took place in Melbourne, Australia. The biggest march is expected to be

in New York, where the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, will join

celebrities, business leaders and environmentalists. A global climate

summit is being held at the UN on Tuesday.

The next news on BBC One is at 6.30pm. Bye for now.

Good afternoon. About this time last week my colleagues had some stats on

just how dry September had been this