01/12/2011 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight on your national news:

Proposals for same-sex marriage, now the Church of Scotland joins

the opposition to the legislation. Breaking news tonight, the SFA is

investigating Rangers chairman Craig Whyte after the club admitted

he'd been disqualified as a company director. How strong is your

average high street cup of coffee? A survey finds some have six times

more caffeine than others. Fi have too much caffeine I do get a bit

shaky but in this one I do not find how strong it is. I cannot taste it,

I cannot tell. And later in the programme. Rescued after two days

stranded by the floods. We hear from the family whose home became

an island. Good evening. BBC Scotland has learned that the SFA

are investigating Rangers owner Craig Whyte after the club admitted

yesterday that he had been disqualified as a company director.

If they are not satisfied that Whyte falls into their fit and

proper person guidelines, they will take action against the club. Our

senior football correspondent Chris McLaughlan is here. Chris, what

more do we know? He took over the club earlier this year. He is a

controversial character. He had been disqualified after being in

charge of a company that went into administration. There are fit and

proper persons guidelines that the SFA work too. He could be in breach

of those if he has been disqualified as a company director

in the past five years. The SFA and investigating. The sea have been in

dialogue with Rangers and have requested clarification from the

club. -- say. What has the reaction been so far? Nothing from Rangers.

In terms of possible sanctions there is nothing set in stone here.

At the moment this is still an investigation. If Craig Whyte is

found to be in breach of the fit and proper persons guidelines then

sanctions could be taken. The Fire Brigades Union has called for a

thorough investigation into the operation of hydraulic platforms

following mechanical failure of one machine during a big fire in the

centre of Glasgow earlier this week. A firefighter, suffering from smoke

inhalation, couldn't be brought down to safety and was forced to

climb down emergency ladders. Our Home Affairs Correspondent, Reevel

Alderson reports. It was one of the biggest buyers in Glasgow in recent

years. At its height, 100 firefighters were tackling the

blaze in a disused warehouse. One firefighter suffered the effects of

smoke inhalation but he could not be brought down because of a

technical problem. Union leaders say they are concerned. We are

concerned about the reliability and suitability of this vehicle. I

could take you back five or six years where there have been major

breakdowns with them. It is extremely concerning. Strathclyde

Fire And Rescue Service says that the machines have been successful

in taking part in 70,000 incidents since they were introduced. The

cost half a million pounds and the Fire Service says they are used so

much that intermittent mechanical failures can be experienced but the

union is not convinced. The A have been complaining about the use of

these platforms since they were first introduced six years ago.

They said this could have been a disaster if the firefighter at the

top of the platform had collapsed because of the effects of smoke. If

that had happened they would have had to send up two more officers to

rescue him. The machine in question is being looked at by a fire safety

officers and engineers. The Church of Scotland has told Scottish

ministers than the law in Scotland should not be changed to allow gay

marriages. This comes as the Kirk submits their formal response to

the Scottish Government's consultation on the issue. Aileen

Clarke has this exclusive report. The Scottish Government -- the

Scottish Church Today told the Scottish Government it could not

support the proposals on the marriage. The believe that marriage

should be between a man and woman. We believe that is of supreme

importance. Same-sex couples are not disadvantaged legally or

financially by not being able to be married. There is therefore no need

to rush this forward without a much fuller debate. There are 198

countries signed up to the United Nations and of those only a small

10 have explored the issue of same- sex marriage. A Church of Scotland

member was dropping in support of traditional marriage at a meeting.

The members of the Church of Scotland will be absolutely

delighted that the leaders of the Kerkow have given such a clear and

unequivocal response to this consultation. It is based on pure

biblical guidelines and endorses all the good that marriage has

brought traditionally two Scottish families. It is not pleasing

everyone in the Turf. One day Minister says he is disappointed

and there is a long way to go. The consultation period ends next week.

You're watching Reporting Scotland from BBBC. Still to come on the

programme: Post Offices are doubling up as florists, and even

butcher's shops, we look at how diversifying has helped their

survival. In sport: Neil Lennon defends the Celtic captain after

the Europa League defeat by Atletico Madrid. And find out why

these rugby players are what Shakespeare called marvellously

hairy about the face, all that later. The main road to Argyll

won't open again until at least tomorrow because of a landslide. It

happened this morning at the Rest And Be Thankful, west of Loch

Lomond. It's the third time in four years a landslide has hit the A83

and it means long diversions. Our reporter is at the scene. How is it

looking tonight? UC the-times in four years. I have been here every

single time it has happened. -- You say three times in four years.

There has been unusually heavy rain. About one-quarter of the average

monthly rainfall has fallen in 48 hours. 80 tons of rock and soil

fell down the mountainside. That is the concern now. The mat is being

cleared away. Emergency services can get through but safety is a

priority. Engineers will do a safety assessment at First Light

tomorrow and they will then decide whether the road is safe to open.

Diversions at the moment are up to 70 miles at the extreme. This road

is a local lifeline. The Scottish Government has spent �700 million

on it since the last landslip. Everyone has their fingers crossed

that the green light will be given tomorrow morning to get this road

reopened. BBC Scotland has learned that four staff at Edinburgh

council have been dismissed following uproar into a multi-

million-pound housing repair scam. -- Following approach. Around 14

other members of staff have been suspended from work while

investigations are carried out. A separate police inquiry is also

continuing. At Holyrood de First Minister faced his opening round of

questions but with the Labour leadership contest entering its

final phase, who is best placed to counteract Salmond and the SNP?

know he is on the way out! He is indeed but who will replace the

Labour leader to tackle Alex Salmond? Here are the main leaders.

To one Lamont counts union support among her advantages. -- Joanne

Lamont. She says she is ready for Alex Salmond. It is not about

having a personal debate with Alex Salmond and to can be loudest and

strongest? It is about battling ideas and it is about two futures

for Scotland, either inside or outside the United Kingdom.

Mackintosh says he can appeal to the next generation. -- Ken. He

says he will not get sidetracked by Alex Salmond. People are worried

about their jobs, pay freezes and employment. That means ignoring

Alex Salmond, it is not about them. Tom Harris at Westminster, he says

Labour need a complete overhaul to avoid their relevance. He will

confront Alex Salmond, albeit from a distance, for now. He idea of

that party being led from Westminster is not new, Alex

Salmond did it. I am eager to get stuck into Alex Salmond's nonsense

about independence. I think the majority of Scots want to believe

in a future for Scotland that is within the United Kingdom. There is

a board for union members and affiliates and one third will be

parliamentarians. A new ministerial post is being created by the

Scottish Government to tackle youth unemployment. The role will come

with �30 million to reduce the number of young people out of work

in Scotland. The new minister will not be a member of the Cabinet. The

amount of caffeine in the coffee from high-street coffee shops they

the sixfold according to research by Glasgow University. Some call

fees were so high in caffeine that just one Cup exceeded the amount

recommended for pregnant women in one day. Over the last decade or so

the number of coffee shops has exploded. There are now more than

14,000 of them in the UK. But do you know exactly what you are

drinking? Glasgow University researchers found a huge difference

in the caffeine hit you would get from 20 different coffee shops. It

is based on an espresso with 50 milligrams of caffeine. Starbucks

has 51 milligrams and cost a 157 milligrams. An independent

patisserie had a whopping 322 milligrams. Did the customers know

Would it surprise you if I told you it was six times stronger than some

of the other coffees you could get around here? Really? That is good

coffee. I like it. So you do not mind it being very strong? No, I

like strong coffee. If I have too much caffeine I do get a bit shaky.

But this one, I do not taste how strong it is. You cannot sell.

much caffeine is dangerous to unborn babies but researchers say a

pregnant women have no idea how much they are drinking. They should

not have more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is

supposedly four cups of coffee. Our data shows that if you went to a

certain coffee houses, you could get that and more with one shot of

espresso. Are the owners of this cafe told me there were surprised

by the high levels of caffeine, but did use a good quality been. Costa

said their analysis suggested caffeine levels were lower but

decaffeinated drinks were always available.

Some of the other stories: A fatal accident inquiry has heard that a

teenage girl who it fell to her death in an apparent suicide pact

was the victim will sustain bullying. 14-year-old Georgia Rowe

and Neve Lafferty, 15, died after falling from the Erskine Bridge in

2009. For both were residents at the good shepherd care home in

Renfrewshire. To order's key worker, Elizabeth Wilson, told the inquiry

the teenager may have felt that staff could not protect her.

The threat of strike action by ScotRail train drivers has been

lifted after a union reached an agreement on overtime working.

Trains have been cancelled. For ScotRail will employ an extra 32

drivers next year and the union Aslef will allow its members to

continue working on their rest days. Susan Boyle is among the nominees

for next year's Grammy awards. The Blackburn born singer is nominated

at the -- in the best traditional pop vocal category in The Gift. The

winner will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on February

12th. Post offices in Scotland are

becoming more scarce. If you want a stamp, you might end up looking in

a florist, a garage or even a butcher's shop. It is all part of a

strategy for to help post offices diversify and survive.

A bunch of flowers with your book of stamps. They are all for sale

under the same roof. This might seem an unlikely mixture but it is

proving popular. I have looked at the market conditions and like

every retailer, trade is not what it used to be. I do not think

traders can just relied on operating their core businesses.

This for me was an opportunity to reinvent my business to attract a

lot more retail. Shops like this can benefit from having a post of

is on site because it gets people through the door. Customers come

into use the post office and then have a look around to see what else

they might buy. Times are tough on the high street and every little

helps. Here in Sky this post of his doubles up as a garage. It is

working well for the business and the community it serves. But not

everyone is doing so well. Post offices are being forced to change

fast. It is deteriorating. People are using e-mails instead of

letters. Consequently, the postal service reduces. They are using

cash machines, not coming into the Post Office. Could we lost the TV

licences. The end result, a rapid fall in the number of post offices.

12 years ago there were almost 2000 across Scotland. By last year, it

was just over 1,400, a fall of about 50 each year. Now up

partnership is seen as the key to reversing that decline. We have

seen our customer profile changed. Customers are able to do so many

things in so many different ways now, rather than just go to the

Post Office. So it is vital we help to maintain post offices, whether

in rural villages or in high street locations. Back at the florists,

business is brisk and the postal service, in decline for years, may

have found a way to grow again. The sport.

Neil Lennon has sprung to the defence of the Celtic captain Beram

Kayal. Beram Kayal appeared to duck to avoid being hit by the ball in

last night's Celtic Europa League game against Madrid -- Atletico

Madrid. When it came, the strike that sank

Celtic has a duck to thank for finding the net. The strike was

made all the more clinical by Beram Kayal getting out of the way.

think it was misjudged. He could not do much about it. He did his

best, a split-second reaction. Ultimately that was the difference

between the two sides. The visitors came closest first. But buoyed by

recent domestic form, Celtic turned the screw. Samaras, though took the

best of the opportunity. He was not the only one with hair in hands,

his player was stretchered off after twisting his ankle. Early

indications are it is not as bad as first feared. Celtic chances kept

coming. Just after Cooper thought he had levelled. But he was flagged

offside. The replay showed he had no complaints. The result sends the

Spaniards through. Celtic must now travel to Italy in two weeks to

secured their place in the last 32. St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas

will serve a one-match touchline ban after being found guilty of

misconduct. He was reported for an offensive gesture here in his first

game in charge against Rangers at Ibrox.

Scotland's head coach Andy Robinson is hoping to increase his headline

backroom staff by bringing in someone with international

experience, only after the Six Nations competition ends in March.

Robinson says he remains totally committed to the site though he is

one of the four runners to manage the British and Irish Lions on

their tour in 2013. It is hypothetical. One of my goals is to

create as many Scottish lines as possible. For the tour in 2013. --

Scottish Alliance. So I am challenging players to become

British Lions. It is December 1st and lots of

sports men and men in general are breathing a sigh of relief because

they can at last shave off their moustaches. The facial hair they

have grown throughout the month of November to raise awareness of

men's health issues and raise cash, too. Glasgow Warriors even made

sporting a moustache compulsory. We decided we were going to support

Movember, a charity which tries to raise awareness for prostate cancer

and the general men's health issues. That is a brown moustache. Your

hair is red! I did not think Ginger facial hair was good. I used some

hair dye. You could show that of her liberty would be the role of

the dies and �100 for whatever number came up. The Errol Flynn

look? Sir Walter Raleigh? Hell's Angels? Geography teacher? And

Timor's. -- teen Wolf. But which is In the end, they can only be one

winner of the moustache of the date Award ended will be this gentleman.

Look at that brisling, lustrous, proper moustache. It is a great

honour. I feel a bit naked without one!

I am going to shave mine off afterwards!

Firefighters had to use river rescue equipment on what was dry

land to get a family to safety near Dumfries. The couple and three

children had been cut off by floodwater for two days. The only

access road to their cottage was under several feet of water after

Tuesday's downpour. For our reporter was there to see it will

happen. Trapped on the wrong side of a

float. Their access road was engulfed by Tuesday's downpours.

are bringing an adult and two children... After two nights and no

sign of respite, they call for help. The fire service displayed --

deploy it their water rescue team. It was women and Children First.

The toddlers and their mother. night when the bad weather was

coming in, we thought we would be stuck here for a while. Time to get

and now. The father and eldest daughter were soon save as well.

really wanted to go and play with my friends but I couldn't because

we were stuck and could not get out. It was boring. There was no real

danger involved this time but it was a useful acting for the water

rescue team, who expect this kind of incident to become much more

common. It is one of the things we are going to be doing, because of

the changing environment. We will be doing it more and more often.

Two years ago the same cottage was cut off for six weeks by a third.

The family are just hoping they make it back for Christmas. -- by a

flood. It has been quite a day again. How

Very windy for the Northern Isles but it will improve overnight. It

will be cold and frosty. Widespread frost across the mainland and the

islands tonight. The showers we have seen in the West today are

becoming confined to the west coast. Under the clear skies, temperatures

rapidly diminishing, down to miners one, even in the towns and cities.

A cold and frosty night. But we do have tomorrow's some showers

pushing in. Although it will be a frosty part especially for eastern

parts and central parts, cloud following in an rain as well and a

strengthening south-westerly breeze, too. Some of the showers turning

win the other the highest ground across the north of the country.

Come mid-afternoon, and East-west split. Perhaps just the Far East

holding on to the dry weather. Cloud and rain at times but nothing

too heavy. Some of the showers turning wintery across the hills.

Showers hanging on over the Northern Isles as well. Some gave

full strength wind through the afternoon. The rest of the

afternoon and evening, showers continuing. The pressure map shows

there is that weather front that will bring the cloud and rain

across the country tomorrow. Moving out towards the North Sea. Noses

the tighter isobars coming down from the North West. -- notice of.

Cold air coming down over the whole country tomorrow. In the wind it

will feel much colder, like zero Celsius or one Celsius. Some

sunshine, some showers. A bitterly cold day. For Sunday, less cold.

Some sunshine in the east. In the West turning wintery even in lower

levels. Tonight, frosty and cold A summary of the top stories: The

Governor of the Bank of England has warned that we are heading into

another financial storm. Sir Mervyn King says that Britain's high

street banks must do more to protect themselves from the shock

waves of the eurozone crisis. BBC Scotland has learned that the

SFA are investigating Rangers' owner Craig Whyte after the club

admitted yesterday he had been disqualified as a company director.

If they are not satisfied that he falls into their fit and proper

person guidelines, they will take action against the club.

The Church of Scotland has told the Scottish Government that the law

should not be changed to allow gay marriages. The Kirk's view came in