04/02/2014 Reporting Scotland

into Friday morning and enhance the risk of flooding. That is all from

us, Tonight, on Reporting Scotland: The

boss of oil giant BP speaks out about independence. Bob Dudley says

it poses big uncertainties for his company. And I am really looking

forward to the day when I will be able to legally and officially

celebrate the marriage of people like Larry and Gerry. A historic day

for those campaigning for gay marriage. But as MSPs prepare to

vote it through there is still opposition from churches.

We look at the state of the housing market as latest figures show sales

are on the rise. And the story of the former

Commonwealth Games champion, who nearly wasn't.

Good Evening. The man behind BP, one of the first companies behind the

north sea oil boom, has told the BBC, Scottish independence poses

"big uncertainties" for the company, and that Britain "ought to stay

together". The First Minister, Alex Salmond, says BP's chief executive,

Bob Dudley, is entitled to his personal opinion on Scottish

independence. Steven Duff reports. Since the very start, BP has been

synonymous with exploration in the North Sea. That first trickle will

grow and by 1977, supplies from the 40s field alone will amount to at

least one quarter of the oil we require as a nation. BP has sold off

many of its old assets but is still investing heavily, like here west of

Shetland. The big players in UK oil and gas have remained quiet on the

prospect of independence until today. There is much debate about

the currency, what would happen with the currency and whether there are

connections with Europe or not. These are quite big uncertainties

for us. At the moment we are continuing to invest at the pace

because these projects are underway but there is a question. I think all

businesses have a concern. My personal view is, Great Britain is

great and it ought to stay together, in my view. First Minister, can you

give your reaction to Bob Dudley's comments please? Obviously, Mr

Dudley is entitled to his personal opinion. BP have massive investments

planned in Scottish waters. Rightly so, because they make a lot of money

from exploiting the natural resources. There are many chief

executives firmly in favour of Scottish independence. Bob Dudley

welcomed primers to David Cameron to the Aberdeen headquarters in 2012.

-- Prime Minister David Cameron. There are a full range of people in

business in Scotland who are very worried about what the future will

hold if Scotland votes for independence in September. These

people and title to have their say. The Scottish government has got to

start taking them seriously. Tonight, the industry body Oil and

Gas UK say they are neutral organisation and will not enter into

the discussion on Scottish independence.

Let's cross to the Scottish Parliament now and join our

political editor. On the face of it, this seems to be a gift to the no

campaign. I think if you are sitting in a housing scheme in Dundee or

Glasgow and you think Bob Dudley has spoken so you will vote no, I do not

think that. This would seem to reinforce doubters on the face of

it. What would the supporters say about it all? There are chief

executives and big business leaders who support independence. BP does

not appear to be sufficiently anxious that it is scaling down its

investments in the waters of Scotland, quite the reverse. And the

third point, if Mr Dudley is concerned about the currency and

anxious to retain the currency, they say that is precisely why they are

arguing for a shared currency post independence. They say this would be

a case to put in favour of retaining the currency in the case of a yes

vote. We leave Brian but we stay with Holyrood.

Within the next few minutes, Holyrood is expected to vote to

allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The first same-sex weddings

could be held this autumn. Supporters see tonight's vote as an

historic moment for equality. Critics say same-sex marriage could

lead to discrimination against those opposing it. Here's our political

correspondent, Glenn Campbell. The celebrations of those who have

campaigned for same-sex marriage started early at Holyrood. Scotland

supports equal marriage. Larry and Gerry have waited a long time for

their love to be recognised in marriage law. Today, there wait is

almost over. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in 16 countries

around the world, including England and Wales, where the first

ceremonies are expected to take place at the end of March. This is

one of the biggest historic moments in the history of Scotland. The

Health Secretary hopes gay and is being couples will be able to marry

in Scotland before the end of this year. The first weddings are likely

to be in October at the earliest. 34 years after we decriminalised

homosexuality in 1980, we now have full legal equality. Same-sex

marriage is posed by some on religious grounds. The law makes

clear that no church or faith group will be forced to solemnise marriage

between two men or two women. There is a real prospect that in the

future, there will be a challenge, perhaps a successful one, and the

church may be faced with a choice of either having to do all marriages,

same and different sex, or no marriages at all. In parliament,

last-minute attempts to amend the law to bolster the rights of those

who oppose same-sex marriage were defeated. We may be opening the door

to more discrimination. Reform supporters said there was nothing to

fear. Sunken Confetti -- some Confetti will be thrown, some cake

will be eaten and with a little bit of luck, some of these people might

live happily ever after. When this couple said their I dos, it looked

like a wedding but they were declared civil partners rather than

wife and why. They see this as a chance to upgrade their

relationship. You are married but it is a gay marriage. You would never

apply that to anything else in life. You would never say, I am going to

do the gay dishes now. For better or worse, same-sex marriage is to

become law in Scotland. We have just heard from the

parliament that same-sex marriage has indeed been approved by 105

votes to 80. The number of Scottish homes

changing hands rose sharply over the last year. The average price of a

home also increased by around ?5,000. Our business correspondent

David Henderson is here and can tell us more. Are these signs of a

genuine recovery in the Scottish property market? The market does

seem to be picking up but some parts of the country are faring better

than others. In the last year, the average price of a house rose on

average by 3.1%. But there are huge variations across the country. Go to

the east coast, to eat low on, property prices rose by almost 15%

in the year. -- two East Lothian. On the west coast it is a totally

different situation. Their prices fell by almost 9%. So huge

variation. One thing is clear, more and more people are choosing to buy

or sell their home. Getting ready to move. The

Pickfords depot near Glasgow is filled to the rafters with boxes.

They are the contents of people's homes, already to be shifted around

the country. The number of house sales have risen. Staff here have

noticed a steady increase in business. The market is more buoyant

than what it has been. The market fell towards the tail end of 2007.

We have seen a marked increase this year and we are up again on what we

were last year. All the signs are looking very good for the Scottish

market. So more people are buying and selling but most banks are not

lending in the way they did before the financial crisis. This mortgage

broker told us that still presents a big hurdle for first-time buyers.

The deposits are minimum 10%. The client had to find a 10,000 pounds

deposit plus legal costs and the cost of refurbishing. For some,

there is a different challenge. Soaring prices. The market in

Stonehaven has been pushed up by the strength of the north-east economy

and that affect is having an impact elsewhere as well. Edinburgh has

traditionally done better than other parts of Scotland and Aberdeen is

also a hotspot. It basically comes down to where people want to live.

These are the areas where you traditionally see the market

performing slightly better. So the housing market has bounced

back a bit. Some places faring better than others but the total

number of houses which are being bought and sold are still well below

where things were before the financial crisis. Average house

prices are still 5% down on where they were at the peak of the market

seven years ago. Thank you very much.

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

A kiss for returning airmen, as the Dambusters arrive back in

Lossiemouth from their final Afghanistan tour.

In sport, the new manager of Dundee is set to be announced. We'll have

the latest. And could this be an Olympic Sport? You won't see it in

Sochi, but synchro skating could be the next big thing on ice.

The Unite union's dismissing a leaked Labour party report on

alleged vote rigging in Falkirk as a ''stitch up''. The document says

there's no doubt the union recruited members in an effort to manipulate

the selection of a parliamentary candidate.

Last summer, allegations that the Unite union had rigged the selection

of a Labour candidate provoked headlines, suspensions and briefly,

the involvement of police. Central to the row, a party report, the

contents of which were kept secret until now, the day the Labour leader

sought to redefine relations with the unions. Among the charges in the

leaked document, that members were recruited without their knowledge,

pressured into completing direct debit forms and evidence that

signatures were forged. Unite have dismissed the contents of the report

insisting none of the charges were substantiated. They have described

the document as a stitch up and repeated their call for an

independent enquiry to establish what happened here in Falkirk.

Officially, Labour determined that no one had broken the rules when

they said in September evidence of wrongdoing had been withdrawn.

Today, as the party's executive committee backed a one member, one

vote system in elections, the message was to move on. Those people

made complaints and they decided they did not want newspapers

crawling all over the front garden and upsetting their kids and it was

not worth fighting about and they withdrew their complaints. As far as

I am concerned, it is just a piece of history. But locally, Labour

activists say the row has damaged the party. What we have is a trial

where the case for the prosecution has been heard, and inevitably when

you only have the case for the prosecution, the verdict is guilty

but that is not the way we do justice in this country. An

investigation is still ongoing with the result still stung way. The

Falkirk row is set to rumble on. The convener of the union has been

sacked by the plant's operators. The union says he was dismissed in his

absence and the owners say they have no comment to make.

The RAF's dambusters squadron have arrived back at their home base of

Lossiemouth after their final tour of duty in Afghanistan. The 140

aircrew and engineers will be transferred to other units as their

own 617 tornado squadron is being suspended. But as Craig Anderson

reports the dambusters will fly again.

Touching down on home soil, 617 Squadron arrived back to an

emotional welcome from their families. It is a bittersweet return

as they are saying goodbye to the aircraft they have flown for decades

and they will be disbanded. It was a very emotional time. For me, it was

a dream come true to go and why this fantastic aircraft, and to have the

privilege to buy the last operation was amazing. Formed in 1943 to drop

the famous bouncing bombs, the crew are well aware of the protest today.

We had the 70th anniversary last year than that focused everyone's

attention on what it meant to be a part of this, and we studied the

history and made sure we understood what our forebears dead in 1943. We

call them in very high esteem. -- did in 1943.. They arrive home with

mixed emotions to be disbanded, although only temporarily. Today has

been the end of an era. A look at some other stories from

across Scotland this Monday. A leading academic has resigned from

a body set up to advise the Scottish government on ferry services. He

said the interests of passengers were sidelined. The government says

it is disappointed and will now publish the minutes and agenda of

the meetings. The continued difficulty of

combating superbugs has been discussed by the board of NHS

Highland. They are still failing to meet national targets for rates of

transmission. Glasgow's electricity bill could be

significantly reduced thanks to a move to change street lighting. It

is the first local authority in Britain to take up a loan from the

green investment bank. A clipper which had lain in Scottish

waters for nearly a century has arrived in Australia where it will

become a tourist attraction. It was built in 1864 to transport migrants

to Australia. An event to mark the 700th

anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn is to be cut by one day.

It is now on the Saturday and Sunday with extended hours. 2000 tickets

have been sold. Two treasure hunters have uncovered

what's believed to be the biggest collection of medieval silver coins

ever found in Scotland. Gus Paterson and Derek McLennan, from Ayrshire,

made the find with their metal detectors in a field near

Kirkcudbright. Willie Johnston reports.

It had been a cold and miserable day of treasure hunting when in the

gathering gloom has detector suddenly sprang into life. He had

struck gold, or more accurately a silver penny. And not just one. He

immediately said to me it could possibly be a war. We concentrated

and started digging. -- hoard.. Each penny was a weak's wage. The coins

spun the reign of five kings. If you look at the picture, you can see a

head on one side. The coins were shown off to local

schoolchildren and tonight the wider community will see them before they

are taken over by the crown. They will share a finders fee. Who knows

what else is out there? It is certainly worth looking.

But have they found a new manager for Dundee? !

Let's get the latest sport now from Rhona. The developing story of the

day is who will be the new manager at Dundee with Paul Hartley the

hotly touted name in the frame. Jim Spence has been following

developments for us. What's the latest? We thought we might have

heard by now. The Dundee chairman is in Texas and

is conducting things from their but it is Paul Hartley that is the man

he wants. Paul Hartley is a man with the great playing career, 25

Scottish caps. I was on the streets of Dundee today and these were the

thoughts of the fans. He has proved he knows what it takes to get

promotion. I think he will deal better with the players. I wondered

why he changed from Alloa. Here's a good manager. Dundee seems set to

announce this tomorrow and we expect a press conference on Thursday when

he will be unveiled. Now, a look at what else is

happening across Scottish sport. After their defeat against Ireland,

Scotland are expecting another forceful encounter when they meet

England on Saturday. Scottish team management say the pressure on

England will be just as strong. There is pressure on both teams and

various pressure on us to make sure we can do ourselves justice.

The Scotland cricket team have arrived home having qualified for

the 2015 World Cup. They say they see their achievement is absolutely

massive. They will play the likes of Australia, New Zealand and England.

I cannot put it into words. It is huge for us and for the future of

cricket in Scotland. We're absolutely delighted to have gone

over there. Kirsty Gilmore has been short listed

for the European Young player of the year. She is number 25 in the world.

The South Korean won in's Carling team have completed a training camp

in Aberdeen and I head of the Winter Olympics.

There are more sports stories and all the latest news 24 hours a day

on the BBC sport Scotland website. The winter Olympic Games will begin

later this week in Sochi. Ice skating of course will feature

prominently. However you will not see the event our reporter David

Currie has been investigating, although there are calls for it to

be included at future Games. Figure skating is difficult enough

as an individual event. When two people are involved it's more

complicated. Put even more skaters in the picture and you've got

synchro skating. It is just great fun for everybody, any age. Anybody

can join in and it is just a bit of fun. You are identical twins? Does

that give you an advantage? Not really! It helps that we look alike

because we have to look the same with our hair swept back but other

than that no advantage. The ladies of this skating club in Braehead are

the recently crowned British champions. It has been a challenging

year than we have worked hard but also as a team we took quite a few

risks this year. I am overwhelmed and happy for them.

The British champions are always keen to try out new talent.

Looks like another dreadful day at the office! Speechless.

Staying with sport, in the run up to the Commonwealth Games we're

bringing you stories from our past champions. This week, our Games

reporter, Lisa Summers has been speaking to 74-year-old Jim Alder.

He won gold for Scotland in the marathon in 1966 in Kingston,

Jamaica. But as we're about to hear, things nearly went horribly wrong.

It was tropical heat, 90% humidity and the race was early in the

morning. It was 50 years ago but he remembers the night yesterday. I got

past the world-record holder. Jim Alder had a comfortable lead in the

closing stages but something went wrong. What a desperate then this

is. He took the wrong way. What a disaster!

There were no markers to tell me where to go. I went in the car park

and into the stadium and there was the Englishman ahead of me. I

couldn't believe it but I caught him 50 metres from the tape. Scotland's

first gold medal... An epic effort from Scotland. He was born in

Glasgow and was fostered by a couple from Northumberland at the age of

nine. It is supposed to be called but it is base metal dipped in

oxidised silver. He said he would love to have a role the summer. I

don't know whether they will get a lord or lady involved but I would

love to do it. And just one more look back to 19 66. If ever there

was a true meaning of marathon effort, Jim Alder is your man.

Wet and windy, I'm afraid. Fairway Drive to start but turning wet and

increasingly windy. The letters across Ireland and the south-west.

Of it, largely dry with clearer skies and temperatures taking a dip

with some patchy frost but turning increasingly wet and windy.

Temperatures for many a roundabout for Celsius. Tomorrow will be a wet

and windy day with a yellow warning in place across Tayside for the time

in the central belt and then turning wet as the day wears on with that

continuing to spiral in and it will be windy. The West Coast will ease

but still strong across the East Coast. Brighter skies towards the

north and north-west. Pretty wet and windy across the Northern Isles.

Overnight, the rain continues to spiral around this centre of low

pressure but it feels we eventually. We can see the low

pressure goes away and there is more rain in the forecast. This area of

low pressure coming our way but on Thursday, a number of showers around

and still windy for the south-west. For Friday, not looking too bad and

it should be mainly dry but still a bit cloudy day in the east coast

with outbreaks of rain. This area of low pressure is making its way

across the Atlantic through the week and over the weekend that our lives

meaning wet and windy conditions for Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks. Now, a reminder of tonight's main news.

While we have been on here, same-sex marriage has been approved in the

Scottish Parliament. 105 MSPs voted in favour, . The chief executive of

BP has told the BBC Scottish independence poses big uncertainty

for the company. The first Minister says he is entitled to his personal

opinion. Our next round-up is at 10:25pm and

until then, have a good evening.