19/10/2012 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight: Passions run high at the

SNP conference over NATO membership. I could tell you right now, I speak

to the grassroots of this party and may do not what Trident. We have

moved on from being a party of protest to a party of power. We are

here not by accident but by design. The leadership breaths a sigh of

relief as it wins the vote to ditch its opposition to NATO membership.

Also in the programme: 20 injured as a plane is evacuated at Glasgow

airport after smoke fills the cabin. Passengers have been describing the

panic. The stewardess said for everybody

to evacuate the plane and then it was hurrying. And And later

tonight: The Highland village that's about to twin with its

namesake on Mars! And a Celtic sporting challenge as

Scotland's best Shinty players prepare to take on a team of Irish

hurlers. The Scottish National Party has

voted to abandon its long-standing opposition to membership of NATO.

The decision was taken in the last hour at the party conference in

Perth following a heated debate. Here's our political correspondent

Raymond Buchanan. Apologies, we're going to join up

our Political Editor. This has been a significant moment for the SNP?

have been speaking to several delegates after the vote. It was

described to me as being cathartic. He meant it cleanses the issue

within the SNP and allows them to go for it. There were two arguments

given. One was that Scotland should co-operate with our near neighbours.

They are members of NATO but it was really striking how throughout the

debate, the element that came through was one of pragmatism. He

had speaker after speaker saying, do you want to win this vote in

2014 or not? Like it or not, this question of NATO has emerged as a

potential obstacle. Some saw it as unacceptable that Scotland would

leave NATO upon independence will therefore be SNP believes they have

to remove that obstacle from their advance offer for independence.

Alex Salmond is Updating his speech as we speak. Aircraft operator Jet2

have launched an investigation after 20 people were injured when

one of their planes had to be evacuated on the runway at Glasgow

airport. Passengers spoke of their panic as the pilot was forced to

abort take off with smoke filling the cabin. Steven Godden reports.

Is that everybody off? They were supposed to be flying off to the

sunshine but instead passengers faced a frantic evacuation captured

on Ulwell fallen. -- our mobile phone. Heading down the runway on

the route to Alicante, the captain was forced to slam on the brakes

after smoke filled the cabin. could smell the smoke and then you

could see it coming from the side of the plane. The stewardess said

for everybody to evacuate the plane and then it was hurrying. Everybody

panicked. People were trying to reach into the overhead lockers to

reach their baggage and were told not to. In the scramble to escape,

20 people were injured with six needing hospital treatment. I have

in Gerry's there and on my back. When you went down the sheet,

people came down behind you. -- chute. Why did you decide to jump

off the wing? Have it was the only way you could get off. Aircraft

operators Jet2 have launched an investigation into the cause but

have praised the way their staff dealt with the emergency. A they

carried out a lot of training on this and they said it went to plan.

They said it was really easy because the passengers were very

co-operative and helpful. runway reopened but the majority of

passengers set off for Spain on board another Jet2 when this

afternoon. Some could not face the journey and chose to keep their

feet on the ground after the early- morning drama.

A scary experience at the time but what has been the consequences of

this incident? It is still being felt here tonight. The runway was

closed for the best part of three hours this morning which led to

cancellations and diversions and delays tonight. Although that is

inconvenient, the people most affected were the people on that

plane. As you heard, the vast majority have flown off to Spain

but some have chosen not to, but also one is still in hospital

because of the state of her injuries. All of them will await

the outcome of Jet2's investigation into why what should have been a

routine flight to the Sun turned into such a traumatic experience.

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

programme. Why organisers of a conker competition are having a

hard time finding enough chestnuts for the event.

In sport: The Hearts manager gives us his view of the transfer embargo

placed imposed on the club, and we meet the Scot who wants to make

Formula One history. Keep your engines ticking over, I'll be back

later. Police have renewed their appeal

for information two weeks after the brutal murder of a pensioner in

West Lothian. 67-year-old Ronnie Simpson was found dead in his flat

in Armadale. He was described as a small, frail man who would have

been unable to defend himself. Rob Flett reports.

This is the last known image of Ronnie Simpson are taken from CCTV

footage in his local shop. He was the victim of a sustained assault

which left him with head injuries. Forensic officers are still at work

in his flat. They are convinced there remain traces which could

lead them to his colour. The Friday night before his body was found,

police investigated reports of shouting in his flat. By the time

they got here, the House was in darkness and there appeared to be

nobody at home. Police still have no motive as to why he died.

still have a vast amount of resources committed. There are also

people involved elsewhere. Ronnie Simpson enjoyed a trip to his local

pub but he rarely had visitors back to his flat. We have seized a large

amount of material from the surrounding region, from businesses

and domestic properties and from up buses. We are watching it in real

time and we have an excess of 1000 hours of CCTV footage. Her police

are confident the answer to his murder lies in the evidence already

other but they continue to appeal for or further information which

could help them catch his killer. Council leaders in the capital are

calling on Parliament to change the law so they can build a badly

needed �45 million new school on common land. Critics say the move

by Edinburgh council would put at risk green spaces right across

Scotland. This report from our education correspondent Seonag

MacKinnon. A quiet corner of Edinburgh that

may soon be a little less green. Council leaders say this is the

only possible site for a badly needed new secondary school. I have

a strong concern about losing the green space for this region because

once it is on it is gone forever. It should be of concern to the

whole of Scotland because if they can put legislation through for

this piece of land, it can happen anywhere. By try telling that to

pupils and parents of this school. They have been waiting for eight

years to end lessons in this building. This is the only

available local site but the council has lost a long battle in

the courts and now it wants a change in agony the up of lots.

Already, some common land has been used to deliver schools. They're

examples in North Lanarkshire where common man has been used for the

deployment of schools. We believe schools are for the common good of

the community. Many parents back calls for MSPs to remove the legal

block. Our legal replacement is urgently needed and we know already

there is only one decent site for the school. This school is

marvellous with by great head teacher and a wonderful ethos. It

achieves and wonderful -- an awful lot but to achieve its potential it

needs a better building. council is now offering to turn

part of the present campus into a park but protesters want to retain

the one they already have. A look now at what else has been

happening across the country this Friday.

Aberdeen's been named as a "supercity" in a list compiled by a

bank. HSBC says it believes the energy industry makes it the only

Scottish city helping to spearhead the UK's economy.

Plans have been unveiled for a new distillery on Speyside. Chivas

Brothers is proposing to open on the former Imperial Distillery in

the village of Carron near Aberlour. It was mothballed 14 years ago.

Harris Tweed manufacturers are hoping for a sales boost from

former Soviet countries. Manufacturers of the unique textile

say they've had strong interest following a showcase event held in

the British Embassy in Moscow. The operator of the Northern Isles

ferry service is planning to cut up to 36 jobs. Serco Northlink which

took over the passenger and freight routes between Aberdeen, Shetland

and Orkney in the summer, says it's already begun talks with staff and

unions. Transport Scotland says plans to

develop the Aberdeen bypass are underway after protesters lost

their appeal against the new road at the Supreme Court, on Wednesday.

Construction is expected to start in 2014.

There's more from your area, and the latest news, 24 hours a day on

BBC Scotland's website. The community of Glenelg on the

edge of the West Highlands is about to twin with its namesake on Mars!

It follows the Rover Curiosity's flight to a rocky part of the red

planet, also called Glenelg. Iain MacDonald boldly went along.

It's not the Red Planet. These are the five Sisters. It is another

piece of West Highland scenery but over the hill there, their strange

things going on. The Martians are on the move as they are up moving

towards the twinning with the Red Planet. The Explorer currently

travelling across Mars is destined for a place called Glenelg.

arrives on this part of land which means it is time for a twinning

ceremony which involves an astronaut who has made by a flight

into space. There will be a presentation by Nasa about the Mars

curiosity but then I will talk about human exploration because

after we went to the moon, I hope some day we can send people to Mars.

I star-gazing session with Scotland's astronomer Royal and a

message from Sir Patrick Moore. The organisers insist this weekend will

be out of this world. If you have a passion for the stars,

why not take a look at the BBC's Stargazing Live sect for advice on

everything from choosing a telescope to photographing the

Something else that is on another planet - David Currie is here with

sports news! The six Hearts players and manager

John McGlynn who did not receive their October salaries as scheduled

on Monday have now been paid. This is the second month in succession

there has been a delay in their wages and the SPL dashed out a

transfer embargo to the Tynecastle club. McGlynn says they just have

to suffer the punishment. They have got rules and regulations and they

will do what any sea is fit. I cannot appeal to them at any anyway.

Whatever will happen, it will happen and we will get on with it.

A Scottish racing driver waves goodbye to a life on the German

touring car circuit this weekend, as she continues her quest to be

the first female Formula One driver. Susie Wolff, from Oban, has been

signed by Williams F1 team and is enjoying her first taste of life in

the very fast lane. Blink and you will miss her. It is a massive jump

up from Sol and car racing. I have dreamed about this day for a long

time. Susie Wolff has been under serious for the past few years, but

has now been signed up by the Williams F1. Do it is very fast.

And it breaking his phenomenal. It is amazing how late you can break.

But can she eyes to the very top of a male-dominated sport? As thing I

gene is really to see how far I can go off. Williams F1 of the site

have a fantastic team and a fantastic drivers waiting in the

wings to get her chance. Remember the name - Susie Wolff.

One of the more unusual international sporting challenges

involving a Scottish team takes place tomorrow. Scotland's shinty

players play Ireland tomorrow in Inverness, but it is not quite as

straightforward as that. Scotland players at in training for an

international contest against Ireland. But the shinty players are

taking on hurling. They think they're sport as the best in the

world and we think that shinty is the best. So what sort of name

which you have for this? So far, there has been all hybrid named,

but simply shinty - hurling. There is the variety of scoring systems.

The contest is played over two matches - one in Scotland and one

in Ireland. You get two points for a win at one point for a draw and a

bonus point for two or more goals. You also need a degree in

mathematics to probably work out who has won. Yes, shinty - hurling

is complicated, but actually, it kind of works.

Just by four I go, after a frankly depressing seven days for Scottish

football, in which we lost two World Cup qualifiers and dropped to

the bottom of our group, something to cheer us all up. There are still

some who think we can maybe still make it to Brazil 2014 - and the

last man to take us to a World Cup Finals is one of them. Andy Murray

was two sets down and won the three sets in a row. Paul Lawrie was 10

shots behind at Carnoustie and came back and you would not have given

him twopence for his chances. But that is the Scottish resilience. We

are are a nation of fighters and I would always maintained, that is

until it is mathematically impossible, we will always fight on.

Craig "Braveheart" Brown. His glass is not just half full, it

positively runneth over with optimism!

They came, they saw, they did not conker. The organisers of the

Scottish Conker Championships say a combination of the weather and

disease has left them without the hundreds they need for the event

this weekend. But the answer has come from an unlikely source -

England. Searching for Horst chestnuts in vain. The crop has

been so poor it has threatened the Scottish championships this weekend.

We had Frosts going into April and May and a wet summer season and

this is their results. But is pretty ridiculous. George Moffett,

the original string or in the championship demonstrates the

technique. This is probably the hardest here we have ever had that

I can remember. They do not just look in Congress, they are very

difficult to hit. I have been The deal has been saved by an

unlikely hero. He is from England. How do these compare the normal

ones? He these are probably better than the average Scottish conker.

around 80 competitors are set to give it a go to more of.

How is the weather looking for the Scottish Conker Championships? It

has been fairly damp and miserable today. Tonight, staying cloudy, but

there rain will be fading. It will become confined to the far north

and the Northern Isles by tomorrow. Overnight, gently dry but cloudy.

Not a cold night, with temperatures between four-six Celsius. Into

tomorrow and the try start, particularly away from Orkney and

Shetland. Mist and fog to start the day, but that should push away as

the afternoon progresses. By mid- afternoon, Tenby just getting up to

12-13 Celsius. Across parts of Argyll, maybe a bit of wetness. The

north-west Highlands will enjoy spells of sunshine. If you are that

it tomorrow tell walking or climbing, here are the conditions:

The wind will be fresh across the eastern side of the Cairngorms. If

you are out and about on the inshore waters, here are the wind

The rest of the afternoon into the evening, staying dry, but that

cloud will begin to Return. Into Sunday, the area of high pressure

continues to exert its influence. Another nice day, but some rain

could force its way into the likes of Lewis and Harris. Again, mist

and fog to start off with, but that burning off and some nice bells of

sunshine in the afternoon. Monday is not looking too bad either. That

weather front just beginning to work its way across and by Tuesday,

it will bring some more cloud and Now, just before seven o'clock, a

summary of tonight's top stories. Andrew Mitchell has quit as the

government's chief whip after his altercation with the police in

Downing Street. The SNP has voted to abandon its

long-standing opposition to membership of NATO. The decision

was taken at the party's conference in Perth following a heated debate.

20 people have been injured after a plane was evacuated at Glasgow

Airport. The Jet 2 aircraft was about to take off for Alicante when

the cabin filled with smoke. Six passengers were taken to hospital

and one was admitted. A taxi driver has been sentenced to

life for murdering a woman in Swindon in March last year.

Christopher Halliwell killed Sian O'Callaghan. It has emerged that