09/12/2015 Reporting Scotland

Tonight, on Reporting Scotland - Alastair Carmichael will remain

in Parliament after surviving a legal challenge against his

But views about the outcome in his Northern Isles constituency

I still think what he did was wrong, and I still feel he should have

stepped down. I think to leave him be now. Better the devil you know.

Donald Trump finds himself on the receiving end of that famous

catchphrase, losing an honorary degree and a place on a group

promoting Scottish business in one afternoon following his

As Celtic fly out to Istanbul for their final European match

of the season, John Collins says it's one game the team could do

And we'll explain why these giant pink bunnies are proving

the antidote to the Granite City gloaming.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland,

Alistair Carmichael, has survived a legal challenge

He lied about the leaking of a memo during the general election

campaign, and four of his constituents had argued that meant

But two judges have ruled his behaviour was not in breach

Here's our Political Editor Brian Taylor.

As the member of Parliament... Elected in May, Alistair Carmichael

now continues as MP for Orkney and Shetland. With customary pomp, the

news was relate to the House of Commons by Speaker John Bercow. The

judges have determined that the petition be dismissed. Here's where

we started, a report in the Telegraph in April, a month out from

the UK general election. Alistair Carmichael eventually admitted

leaking an internal memo suggesting Nicola Sturgeon had indicated at a

meeting with the French ambassador she wanted to see David Cameron

returned as Prime Minister. But first Alistair Carmichael denied all

knowledge in a Channel 4 interview. This is already on public record,

the first time I knew this was when I received a phone call on Friday

afternoon from a journalist making me aware of it. Nicola Sturgeon

strenuously denied the claims and diplomats stressed they were wrong.

Petitioners from Mr Carmichael's constituency said his election was

based on a lie and took the case to an election court who heard the case

from both sides. Today the judges provided a verdict on three points.

They said firstly missed, core's comments constituted a false

statement of fact, in other words a lie. Secondly, they noted the

intention of his conduct was to further his own electoral interests.

They said election law did not apply to lies in general. It applies only

to lies in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate.

On the third and final test, the judges were not satisfied beyond

reasonable doubt. The case was dismissed. It has been a very

difficult, stressful and expensive few months for me and the rest of my

family. I have been cleared today of the breach of representation of the

people act which was put against me by nationalists. They brought what

has been a highly politically motivated case. What a lot of

nonsense. The only politically inspired acts in all of this, as

admitted by Mr Carmichael himself, was leaking a memo he knew to be

false in order to somehow try to attack the Scottish National party.

In Kirkwall this afternoon, the petitioners voiced disappointment

but claimed a moral victory. No matter what political party a person

belongs to, they should be honest. They are representing us. Our

democracy is a very fragile thing. If we allow people to represent us

in a dishonest manner, then I think the democracy will fall. The full

court ruling also considers the MP's dealings with the Cabinet Office

enquiry. At this he says he was at best disingenuous and at worst

evasive. This afternoon he was back at work in the Commons and says he

will devote his efforts to serving his constituents.

Our reporter Craig Anderson is in Kirkwall.

Our reporter Craig Anderson is in Kirkwall for us.

What are Mr Carmichael's constituents making of all this?

You have to look at the political context here. The generations,

Orkney and Shetland have been among the strongest heartlands for the

Liberal Democrats and liberals in the whole of the UK. Alistair

Carmichael, in the footsteps of people like Joe Grimond and Jim

Wallace. He had a fairly comfortable majority until the election in May

when it was slashed to just over 800 with the SNP snapping at his heels.

He lost 20% of his vote, they put 27% on theirs. Some of the language

since this action was launched against him has ranged from the

fairly intemperate to the unbelievable vitriolic. In small

communities like there are up and down the Northern Isles, I think

some of these divisions will take time to heal. Because of that,

there's little wonder that on the streets both here in Orkney and

Shetland today, the differences were clear to see and hear.

I still think what he did was wrong, and I still feel like he should have

stepped down. He's a good politician, but he made a mistake. A

lot have done a lot worse and got away with it. It's nonsense. The man

is a proven liar, he admitted it. Now he has permission to carry on

line until the next general election. He did some unwise stuff,

but over the years he has been a good MP. Any grievance I have had,

he's done what an MP should do. I trust him. You have been hearing

from the people who brought the court case, will the legal fight

continue? I don't think it will, actually. They say this is the end

of the road legally for them. They are not going to seek a judicial

review of this very unusual election court hearing. They are looking at

the finances as well. It has cost them over ?200,000 so far, most of

that raised through crowdfunding. They have most of the money, but if

costs are awarded against them, and that hearing still has to be held,

then they would have to pay for Alistair Carmichael's legal expenses

as well. They say they will not be pursuing any more legal action, but

that might not be the end of the whole affair. As they point out,

some of the comments that the judges made will now be going, in the whole

of this judgment, to the Parliamentary standards Commissioner

down at Westminster. That Commissioner might have something to

say about Alistair Carmichael's future as an MP.

Well our correspondent David Porter is at Westminster.

David, a sigh of relief no doubt, from Alistair Carmichael,

but this isn't the end of the matter for him.

Alistair Carmichael has spoken of his relief at the court findings,

and has been key to be portrayed as a picture of business as usual. He

was betrayed in the House of Commons taking part in debate this

afternoon. The challenge is not over, now it's the turn of the

Parliamentary Commissioner for standards. As far as she is

concerned there is an ongoing enquiry against Alistair Carmichael.

Katherine Hudson can come to three conclusions. She could decide there

is no case to answer. Or there has been a technical breach in which

case an apology would do. Or if she believes its serious enough, she

could refer it to MPs and they can decide what, if any action, to take

against Mr Carmichael. You talk to the commission, and they say the

enquiry is ongoing. They will not give a commentary. When asked how

long it will take, they say, it will take as long as it takes.

And Shelly Joffre will have more reaction and analysis

of the Carmichael judgement, on Scotland 2015 tonight,

Donald Trump has been dropped as a Scottish business ambassador

by the Scottish Government, and stripped of his honorary degree

Mr Trump, a presidential candidate in the United States,

has called for Muslims to be banned from entering the USA.

Here's our political correspondent Andrew Kerr

on the First Minister's action against him.

Donald Champ made the comments after a multiple shooting in California.

Are you a bigot? Not at all. Probably believes that anyone you've

met. Donald Trump has been moved as a global Scott, since their business

ambassador for the country. I think we've seen in terms of the reactions

to the comments he has made this week, just how rightly offended

people are. My judgment is that he's not the kind of person who is

suitable to represent dockland in the way global Scots do. That's why

I've taken this decision. He has extensive business links in

Scotland, including a golf links in Aberdeenshire, and the Turnberry

resort, as well as aviation in Prestwick airport. No word from him

tonight, but the First Minister's opponents say he she should have

taken action more quickly. Donald Trump has been saying these things

for months now. For example, saying things about Mexicans coming to

America, and I did not see the First Minister saying things then. He's

upset Muslim leaders here as well. His comments are just as extreme as

Isis. Isis are very much like, let's kill anyone who doesn't, with us,

goes against us, and is not part of our ideology. Which is nothing to do

with Islam. And in Westminster, a call from an SNP MP to have the

presidential hopeful banned from entering the UK. He's certainly been

a frequent visitor since 2006. Politicians from all parties like to

court big business, but sometimes big business can come back and bite

you. That's why the First Minister has taken firm action today.

And in the last hour we've heard that Robert Gordon University has

decided to revoke the honorary degree they awarded to Mr Trump

Our reporter John McManus is there for us tonight.

John, they've been under a lot of pressure, haven't they?

Yes, this drama has played out over the last three days pretty quickly.

He made his comments about Muslims on Monday. On Tuesday he was roundly

condemned on both sides of the Atlantic, and a petition asking

Robert Gordon University to revoke his degree was started. This time

yesterday we were told the principle was still considering the issue, but

in the last hour and a half they have confirmed they are terminating

their relationship with Donald Trump. They say comments in as made

during the course of the US presidential election campaign, are

incompatible with the ethos and values of the University. It seems

that his own brand, his public image is incompatible with the university,

and they are not prepared to countenance that.

Scottish Labour has accused transport minister Derek MacKay

of misleading parliament over maintenance works

Labour claim comments Derek MacKay made on BBC Radio Scotland

The row centres around whether planned repairs

to the bridge five years ago would have replaced the section

of the crossing which is now damaged.

Tonight, Mr MacKay clarified his stance that the current fault

was not in need of repair five years ago.

Meanwhile Holyrood's Infrastructure Committee is planning an enquiry.

Up to ten councils could lose money for breaking a deal

with the government on teacher numbers.

The government gave councils cash so they would not

But according to official statistics out today,

ten of them are still employing fewer teachers than last year.

Our education correspondent Jamie McIvor is here,

The number of teachers has been falling for several years.

And the Scottish Government wanted this to stop.

But they don't employ teachers, councils do.

So this year councils were told they would get ?51 million

between them specifically to maintain teacher numbers.

Despite this, in ten council areas, the number of teachers still fell

and, in some cases, this could now lead to financial penalties.

Trying to maintain teacher numbers is a tricky challenge. Even giving

councils money to do this, is no miracle cure. While most managed,

ten didn't. Of course I'm disappointed that a small number of

local authorities have not met their commitments. But to be in constant

dialogue with partners in local government, we will be in

discussions about this, and Mr Swinney will stay more about this

next week during the budget. Nationally the government has got

its way. Teacher numbers across Scotland were practically the same

as last year. But some councils reported significant drops. In North

Lanarkshire, 58 fewer teachers. In Glasgow, 45. In relatively small

Argyll Bute, 31. There are big concerns there. In certain areas

there are issues that need to be addressed. Areas like Glasgow, which

had a significant drop, there has to be further incident investigation

into why that happened. Funding always splits opinion. The body that

represents most councils calls the focus on teacher numbers crazy,

simplistic and ill thought through. But councils did still sign up

to the budget deal on teachers, even if some felt they had

no real alternative. The government is likely to be

sympathetic to councils that tried hard to maintain numbers,

but narrowly failed. Should any lose out on cash, though,

it could provoke a huge row. How do you teach people

about energy, how much we all depend on it and how to keep

supplies secure? A new exhibition at Glasgow's

Science Centre aims to let people experience the power and importance

of energy for themselves. Our Science Correspondent

Ken MacDonald has been Who is going to keep the lights on?

In all polity, this generation, this is where they are learning and the

fun begins. You can explore all of the primary sources of energy such

as the wind, solar power, hydro, tidal, they can generate electricity

by dancing on a dance floor. Essentially, understanding all of

the technology behind power generation. Powering the future

opens tomorrow. This lucky bunch got a special preview. Their verdict? I

think it's amazing they've managed to make all of this. I really like

it and I have enjoyed it and I've learned lots of new things. I think

it's really cool that they are able to make such good examples of things

that would happen. I think it's amazing they've just completed this

and it's absolutely amazing. It's designed to be more than amazing. To

LA us and inspire young people to choose careers in the energy sector.

The younger we engage young people who find these things interesting

than the sooner we can develop innovative solution focused young

people to join the energy industry including oil and gas. With so many

energy sources, some of the highly controversial, resenting a balanced

picture could have been compensated. We keep it simple. We take it back

to the science on the physics and then we create a level playing field

where different options are compared side-by-side. The young people got

to test everything apart from one thing. Nuclear power is very much

apolitical hot potato. Just imagine these mousetraps and these ping-pong

balls representing uranium with neutrons energy being released. If

only we had a spare neutron to drop into the mix. Yes, we have.

Let's get the latest sport now with David.

The Celtic manager Ronny Deila has told us he'll select a young side

His assistant John Collins agrees the match against Fenerbhace is one

Celtic could do without, given they can't qualify

for the Europa League knockout stage.

But, as Chris McLaughlin reports from Turkey,

Deila's dilemma is that his side needs more experience in Europe.

Good evening from the stadium here in Istanbul. Celtic trailing behind

me as you can see. They arrived around two hours ago and left

Glasgow airport early this morning. They are well aware this game

tomorrow night is pretty much meaningless, in fact, so much so,

the assistant manager John Collins said it's a game they could pretty

do without, so does the manager agree? I think it's a good challenge

for us. We have to do use the games in Europe to get the experience we

need because we have a young squad. This game is one of them, what we

have to handle and hopefully we'll get into Europe next year and tried

to get better. Around 1000 1200 Celtic fans are expected ahead of

this game tomorrow night. I have some special advice from the Foreign

Office given recent security scares, being told not to travel on the

metro and also advising not to congregate in large groups with

colours and flags. Plenty more build-up tomorrow across all BBC

outlets head of the match. The Scotland international

Steven Naismith says he could be approaching a crossroads

in his career. He's been a bit-part player

at English Premiership club Everton recently and may have to move

in the January transfer window But he's not just concerned

about his own wellbeing, Steven Naismith can't pick used of

not thinking of others less fortunate than himself. The Scotland

striker was in Glasgow at a Christmas lunch which he sponsors

for the city 's homeless. I enjoy it, you meet a lot of great

characters, who will tell you what they think about football and how

good a footballer and a bad footballer you are and things like

that, so it's great to go in and the afternoon. Home in footballing terms

for him at Everton but having only started five matches this season,

he's contemplating his future. If something comes up in January and

the manager thinks it's best for me to move on, then it's something to

think about but it's got to be the right thing. Everything out there in

my career so far, it's felt right. I think I need to have the same

feeling. Having been a first-team regular at Kilmarnock and Rangers,

this is his biggest challenge of his club career. At the start of the

season, one I wasn't playing, not many people would have said they

would have scored a hat-trick, it shows you how quickly things can

change. He inspired those he met today and he will be chewing over

his own future in the coming weeks. One of Scotland's star performers

at the recent rugby World Cup says the national team should be aiming

to win all their matches at next John Hardie feels the form Scotland

showed must be carried The Edinburgh forward has been

talking to our reporter Brian Just a few weeks to go before the

big event, it's not Christmas, but the double-header between Glasgow

and Edinburgh Rugby and the children here at the academy have been

getting some expert coaching from one player who will be involved in

these games. John, you must be looking forward to this event? Yes,

I've heard so much about it at the rivalry and I hear it goes up a

notch, so I'm looking forward to it. Catching up with a few mates in the

Glasgow team, it will be a bit of fun, great. You're catapulted

straight into the Scottish Rugby World Cup squad, so how do enjoy the

experience? It was an awesome experience, something I'll never

forget. It was awesome. I can't put other words on it, to be honest. It

has a great experience. The boys played well. We are not too far away

from making a semifinal which would be cool. Of course, the six Nations

coming up just after the New Year. How high should Scotland be

challenging in the six Nations next year? I think we'll season high

standards. If I'm involved, yeah, we'll be looking to every game and

that always the goal, taking one game at a time, and we know we can

make sure we play with the best. We should go in there confident.

Exciting times for Scotland and for Edinburgh and Glasgow Rugby in a

couple of weeks' time. This weekend, European action for both clubs. Keep

up-to-date on the BBC sport website. I'm sure we will, David. Thank you

very much indeed. Now as Christmas approaches,

we're seeing more than enough giant illuminated Santas,

reindeer and snowflakes. But in Aberdeen, people are seeing

a rather different festive image. Aberdonians are not over

indulging in seasonal spirit. Instead, it's an art project

bringing seven-metre high luminous and our reporter Fiona Stalker

has been to see them. Massive lit up air filled rabbits,

like something from your wildest dreams. This colony of bunnies made

union Terrace Gardens there Warren in the name of art. Making artwork I

get a bit frustrated there is a barrier between people that they're

not allowed to touch things but I deliberately make these things so

people can gently touch them and every now and then you might see

lipstick mark kisses on them. People get quite amorous with them which I

really like. I like crossing over that boundary. These bunnies have

lit up skies and imaginations, from Sydney to Istanbul to Boston and now

they are here as part of Aberdeen's Winter Festival, only a hop away

from the Christmas village. I like them. Why'd you like them? Because

they are big. There are great, good use of space. Fantastic. But the

rabbits have got some very twitchy. My first impression, really

disappointed for some it reminds me of Easter. This is Christmas, and we

have bunnies. It would be lovely to see a nativity something which

reflected Christmas. We have Christmas music and Christmas lights

so where is the Nativity? Organisers say it's about attracting people to

the city centre. As the wind started a blowhard in Aberdeen, the bunnies

face a difficult first night in the new Scottish open.

And the bunnies have actually had to be deflated tonight

Now just before the weather, here's a reminder of how much rain

Greenkeepers at an Aberdeen golf club were called into action

to rescue a salmon that had become trapped in a bunker.

It happened at Peterculter Golf Club on Monday morning.

The course was flooded over the weekend, after the River Dee

And one of the keepers managed to grab hold of the fish and release

So, will it be raining cats and dogs, and salmon?

Yes, wet and windy weather still to be had, I'm afraid. It has been very

wet and windy, reports of trees being blown down in the Borders.

Some lorries were blown over in the Isle of Skye. Wet and windy weather,

strong gusts, it's not over yet, a moody picture across the Hebrides.

Yes, we have had some quite gloomy weather so far today. You can see

the strongest gusts, 75 mph, in the Borders, 70 miles an hour, and the

Central Belt, 50-60 mph. We will continue to see some very strong

wind as we had to the evening, some weather warnings in force, yellow

warnings, for wind, rain, and they will expire as we had through the

night but a warning for the wind, it will continue tomorrow as well

across the northern and western aisles, and for the north-west

coast, too. We have seen the back of the rain continuing to edge away

from us. Behind it, much colder air after what has been a mild day

today, still some strong gusts to be had across the Northern Isles,

perhaps storm force for a while. Temperatures dipping 21-3 and the

showers falling snow up over the higher levels towards the North and

even the lower level for a time with a risk of icy stretches tomorrow

morning. Generally, brighter day. There will be some very blustery

showers falling snow over the hills, especially towards the north but

also some sunny spells as well, so a close look tomorrow afternoon, some

strong gusts, feeling much colder, 5-6 and further towards the north,

the showers falling snow over the higher ground and to lower levels

for a time. The best of any brightness towards the East, with

gusts of 60 miles an hour across the northern isles and then, by Friday,

still some showers, still quite blustery, some snow over the hills

and there will be some brighter spells and feeling much colder, 5-6,

but the wind will tend to ease and they will tend to ease for Saturday,

as well. Some rain in store for Sunday.

I'll be back with the headlines at 8.00pm and the late bulletin just

Until then, from everyone on the team, right across

the country, have a very good evening.

Christmas Day may be the highlight of the holidays...