17/03/2016 Reporting Scotland

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Tonight on Reporting Scotland - tax takes centre stage in the coming

election campaign, as party leaders clash at Holyrood.

College lecturers go on strike, in what could become the most

serious industrial dispute to hit Scottish education for a generation.

We catch up with the little boy severely burned in a gas explosion

in Pakistan, as he pays a visit to the First Minister.

We're live in Cardross, to see the new lease

to a neglected architectural masterpiece.

And we find out how Glasgow paved the way for the cartoon characters

and superheroes we know today, with the world's first comic book.

The election campaign hasn't even formally started,

but already, tax is shaping up to be a key

battleground in the run-up to May 5th.

In Holyrood today, Nicola Sturgeon said she wouldn't follow

the Chancellor's plan revealed in his Budget yesterday to provide

But opposition leaders pressed her to give more

Here is our political editor, Brian Taylor.

New tax powers, due next year, mean Scotland's ministers are players,

not observers. They can change the UK plans. The Chancellor has

increased the income threshold at which people start paying the

higher, 40p rate of tax. That adds up to a tax cut for higher earners

from next year. Labour says it would up to a tax cut for higher earners

reverse that for Scotland. It also plans a 1% income tax increase

across the board. And also plans to increase the top tax rate from 45p

to 50p. When thousands of people are increase the top tax rate from 45p

losing their jobs because of cuts to councils, a tax cut for the better

off simply cannot be a priority. This parliament should not be a

conveyor belt for Tory austerities. The First Minister said she would

spell out detailed plans next week. But when questioned repeatedly, she

made plain she does not like the Chancellor's tax cut for high

earners. I think the decision to give a large tax cut to 10% of the

population at the highest end of the income spectrum, is the wrong

choice. Clearly if I think it is the wrong choice, Presiding Officer, it

is not a choice I am going to make myself. So what might she offer? She

has already said, noting craze in the standard weight, arguing that

would penalise the poor. She is sceptical about increasing the top

rate for Scotland alone, fearing that high earners could declare

income elsewhere and dodge the tax. But it looks like she will reverse

the Chancellor's increase in the 40p tax threshold. From April 40p higher

rate of tax comes in when you own more than ?43,000. The Chancellor

April next year to ?45,000, a has increased that from

April next year to ?45,000, a cut for higher earners. Limiting the

increase to the CPI inflation rate would mean only a tiny increase in

the threshold, sharply reducing that tax cut.

It is about cross-border calculation is. The Tories said Scotland must

not display the wrong message. I do not want to see a sign which

says, higher taxes here, because I think that is

the wrong choice for Scotland, and I am not the only one. And the Liberal

Democrats, who also back a penny on tax, queried how services would be

protected otherwise. Having rejected our penny for education proposal,

how will the First Minister prevent damaging cuts to education budgets

and colleges...? Today's exchanges confirmed, the Scottish Parliament

elections in May will focus on tax. The driver of the bin lorry that

crashed in Glasgow in December 2014 killing six people has appeared

in court charged with dangerous 59-year-old Harry Clarke allegedly

drove a car dangerously on 20th September 2015 knowing he had had

two previous medical incidents. He appeared in private

in Glasgow Sheriff Court this afternoon and made no plea

or declaration and has been released Tens of thousands of college

students had lectures cancelled today, after teaching staff went

on strike in a dispute over pay. Unions say the action has

been a long time coming, with its members also unhappy

with college budgets Colleges had appealed

for the strike to be called off. Here's our education

correspondent Jamie McIvor. All we want is equal pay! All across

Scotland, it has been a day of massive disruption for college

students. Some 4000 lecturers at 19 colleges were out on strike. What do

we want? Equal pay! The issue is pay as leader discrepancies between

different colleges. The legacy of the days when there was no national

budgeting in college page of out on picket UG was Susan. She is a

budgeting in college page of out on business studies lecturer and she

wants these disparities to be dealt with quickly. Every student who

achieves a HND has to achieve the same standard of performance. And

every lecturer who is involved in the delivery for those students is

also having to meet the same standards of performance. She earns

about ?3500 more than Katrina, who has a very similar job, at a

different college. And there are other examples. In fact, the union

claims the gap is sometimes more than ?10,000. If you are a nurse,

you will get paid the same regardless of where you work. If you

are a policeman, the same. If you are in the further education sector,

lecturing, that does not happen. The organisation representing colleges

is disappointed the strike went ahead. It says an agreement could be

closed off over the last 20 years, those differences have built up in

local management and unions negotiating. And now we are in the

first period of national budgeting and we need to

get to a point where we talk about those differences and look to

harmonise them so that there is fair pay for doing the same job. Right

now we do not have. That we do not have people doing the same. Job they

do different things, with different working hours. This strike is.

Overpaid it will be resolved if there is a deal on. Page but many of

those taking part are keen to highlight other concerns as well. We

are seeing the number of students reduced, and at the same

time, anomalies in terms of pay rewards for principal macros which

is fuelling the anger that there is one rule for one set of workers, and

a different one for others. cash from the Scottish Government.

Lecturers to their concerns to Hollywood. Talks are due tomorrow,

but many more strikes are planned. You're watching Reporting

Scotland from the BBC. Still to come on

tonight's programme. the end of ancient fishing

traditions. In sport, we're with the Scotland

rugby team in Dublin, as head coach Vern Cotter

makes three changes And it's another date

at Hampden for Hibs, as Anthony Stokes helps them secure

a Scottish Cup semifinal spot. The President of Ghana has arrived

in Scotland on a trade visit amid controversy over his country's

human rights record. John Dramani Mahama received polite

applause at Holyrood Question Time, President Mahama has come to

Scotland to strengthen ties with Scotland. It is more prosperous than

many African countries, but it still has an unenviable human rights

record. We really want to press on some of the specifics around use of

torture, around tear gas, around how LGBT people, women accused of

witchcraft, are being treated in these countries as well, to make

sure that the world is watching when these issues are happening in other

countries. Members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery the

president of the Republic of Ghana. Polite applause in Hollywood but

some MSPs, including the Labour leader, sat on their hands. The

preserving officer resisted calls for her to raise human rights

abuses, leaving that to the First Minister. What specific human rights

concerns with you raise with the president of Ghana? I will make

clear to the president of Ghana the importance of equality and

tolerance. These are in my view universal values. The government

later said there was also a specific discussion on the rights of gay

Ghanaians, who can be jailed because of their sexuality. What do you say

to those who criticise Ghana's human rights record? As a Ghanaian Heavey

checked my credentials, the president addressed a meeting of

MSPs, boycotted by the greens. Human rights transparency and the rule of

law is strong... President Mahama was treated to lunch of smoked

salmon. Now, he and the Ghanaian delegation are heading to Aberdeen

to strike new business with the oil and gas industry. The president is

coming here because he recognises the skills and expertise and

technical knowledge which the businesses which operate in the

North Sea can bring to that market. President Mahama is to be honoured

by Aberdeen university. And as he heads north, he will be hoping to

leave human rights controversy behind him at Hollywood.

Edinburgh council has been forced to close three more schools after

structural problems were discovered. The decision follows the second

closure of another primary school yesterday. Safety inspections were

ordered after a wall collapsed during a storm in January. All four

schools were built ten years ago by the same contractors.

The death has been announced of the Very Reverend Dr Sandy McDonald,

a former Moderator of the General Assembly

Dr McDonald served as Moderator for a year from 1997.

Mohammed Sudais' life began in the most traumatic

Aged just two months, he was seriously injured

in a gas explosion which wiped out the rest of his family.

His uncle - who lives here - brought him from Pakistan

to Glasgow, where he could receive the care

he needed, with the Scottish Government sponsoring his treatment.

Now, almost three years and a dozen operations later,

Mohammed and his relatives have met the First Minister.

The report contains images of Muhammad before his treatment which

some people might find distressing. This two-year-old

has already travelled a long road in his

short life. And today, the next step - he and his family meet the

First Minister. It was a chance to thank the Scottish Government and

the Scottish people for saving his life. We hope that he will have a

normal future. The surgeon had some plans for him so he will definitely

have more operations. But as you see here is a normal boy. He is a very

happy boy. And all this happened due to the compassion and kindness of

the Scottish people and the Scottish Government. He was less than two

months old when a gas explosion in his hometown of Peshawar killed his

mother, father and brother. His uncle managed to bring him here from

Pakistan with the support of the Scottish Government. Suffering 80%

burns to his face, the doctors in Pakistan said they could do no more

for him. In Scotland he underwent life-saving surgery at Yorkhill

Children's Hospital. His family cannot believe the transformation.

He is like a little devil. Whatever he can destroy, he is going to go

there and throw everything. But he is a very happy kid. As soon is he

stepped in the house he brought all the happiness to our house. He is a

beautiful baby brother and I cannot ask for a better brother to myself

and to the family. It has been a big day for Sudais and his family. But

while they are ready to relax with a cuppa, the typical toddler is ready

to go. We get tired and he doesn't. A centuries-old salmon fishing

tradition is set to end as a Government ban on killing wild

salmon in inshore waters On the Solway Firth, nets

near the mouth of the River Annan are being dismantled ahead

of the change and those who work Kevin has tended the nets here for

35 years. Now he is taking them down. Salmon

fishing will be a structured across Scotland from the 1st of April. In

places like Annan, the ban will last for a year, will be longer. He can

still catch and release, if fishing with rods, but that is not possible

with the nets. It is the end of an era. In 1538, King James V conferred

on the people of Annan the right to fish by means of nets like this,

so-called poker nets, further out in the US jury, as well. It is a right

they have exercised for nearly 500 years. This is really part of the

heritage of the town. And it should really be kept on. I am very

disappointed with the way it has been dealt with. Nets April are

blamed by many river owners for exacerbating the salmon shortages by

stopping fish getting back to their valuable angling areas. They seem to

be able to take take what the rest of us do. These have been here four

years, they should not be lost. And then there is half netting, dating

from Viking times, and unique to the Solway Firth. Because these nets are

carried not fixed, catch and release will remain an option for them. But

not, says this veteran, a very attractive one. I don't think you

will get very many going out there at two o'clock in the morning when

it is windy and rainy, just to catch salmon and let it go. He expects the

skills involved to diminish and maybe die. Kevin knows that

commercial net fishing here is finished. But he hopes that

eventually, when stocks recover, a symbolic heritage net fishery can be

established to keep alive ancient ways.

It has been described as a modernist masterpiece,

of accolades for its innovative design.

But St Peter's College in Cardross was used as a training college

for priests for just over a decade before it was abandoned.

Now, 50 years after it first opened, it has a new lease of life,

Our arts correspondent Pauline McLean is there.

It is pretty much 50 years to the day that this place opened in

Cardross. Upright modern building designed to wrap around the original

old house that was on this country estate and create a Catholic campus

not just for training priests but for the whole Catholic community. At

its height it was meant to accommodate 100 priests but it never

quite reached that capacity and eventually the college closed down.

And for the last 30 odd years it has lain empty. This is pretty much all

that remained of it, the shell of the building, there was little left

to restore. The charity decided the best way to approach it was to open

the country's first modernist ruin for people to come and look at much

as they would a cathedral or a castle. It is quite a piece of work.

It is a good reflection of what can be done. You let any artist worth

their salt, a musician, a visual artist, theatre or Opera, it doesn't

matter, if you respond to this place and space, great work will come from

it. The first people to come through will be in the next half an hour and

they are trying out some of the lighting. It looks absolutely

brilliant. 7500 people have tickets to come and see the building over

the next ten days and experienced this performance and, long-term, the

hope is that this will allow them to reopen the building permanently so

everybody can come and visit. Thank you.

Let's get the latest sports news now from David.

Vern Cotter says his focus is solely on winning Saturday's match

in Ireland and not about Scotland's final Six Nations standing.

Scotland are already in Dublin for the match on Saturday and so is our

reporter. Where else to be on St Patrick's Day but Dublin? But for

the Scottish players arriving today, the focus is less on revelry and

more on the Irish rugby hosts. It will be tough. They have just come

off a buoyant victory against Italy. They will have been preparing for

this game so it is exciting to be able to have another crack at good

opposition and see how we go. Vern Cotter makes three changes with Tim

Swinson and Ryan Wilson coming into the pack and with Finn Russell ruled

out, Duncan Weir comes in at ten for his first start of the tournament. I

feel excited about the opportunity. Going to Dublin, the champions of

last year, it is a big challenge but I'm looking forward to it. Scotland

can finish second in the championship if results go their way

and rise to seventh in the world but the head coach is not keen to dwell

on such thoughts. Not thinking about it, just about the game. With less

than 48 hours until kick-off, it is unlikely the Scottish players will

be partying for St Patrick's Day but a victory in Dublin on Saturday and

there would be much to celebrate. Leigh Griffiths says the Celtic

players are affected by constant speculation about the future

of their manager. The Parkhead striker responded

to suggestions that out of work managers such as David Moyes,

Malkay Mackay or even Neil Lennon It is frustrating for us because it

is disrespectful. We are still top of the league so for other managers

to say they are interested when there is someone still in charge, it

is poor from them. I think the gaffer will ignore it, but we are

frustrated with it. Motherwell manager Mark McGhee says

he may need to ask or a postponement of Saturday's Premiership match

with Aberdeen because of a virus So many have reported flu-like

symptoms that Fir Park stadium was shut down yesterday with McGhee

saying he may struggling to put His opposite number

is sympathetic to a degree. If we turn up and there are more

missing, we would be concerned as to whether the game could go ahead. But

if I get nine or ten, the ones that have been playing every week, I

would be quite happy. It is very unusual for the league to postpone a

game. I'm confident that it will go ahead. It would be very unusual for

it to be cancelled. The Hibs manager Alan Stubbs

says his players showed "great character" to respond

to their League Cup final defeat by booking a return

to the national stadium. They can now look forward

to a Scottish Cup semifinal after two goals from

the on-loan Celtic striker Anthony Stokes helped

knock out the holders, After questions over his form, Hibs

on loan striker finally came good. It is Anthony Stokes with the

opening goal! And he was not finished. After a defensive mistake,

they made it to Noh with Stokes showing his poaches instinct to get

his second overnight and set them on course for the win. Inverness would

not give up without a fight and Ian figures got the goal. John Hughes

was hoping for a revival but it would not come and the only poke in

the eye was for the goalkeeper's apparent loss of a contact lens. He

was booked for time wasting and will miss the semifinal. The focus was on

Anthony Stokes who almost got a hand trick -- hat-trick. I am fully

supportive of him, that is why he has been in the team. He has

undoubted ability. We are out, simple as that, they were poor goals

to lose. The second half, a real up and add them performance, we got the

goal and they were on the back foot but it was too late. Hibs back to

winning ways after five games without victory. The semifinal with

Dundee United is on the 16th of April.

Glasgow's well known for its banter, but it's being claimed the city

is the first place to translate that bawdy and often satirical wit

First published in the early 19th century, "The Glasgow Looking Glass"

is described as the world's oldest comic.

It's the centrepiece of a new exhibition hoping

to establish Scotland as the recognised birthplace

The Glasgow Looking Glass, published in 1825 and claiming to be the

worlds first comic book. Its pages poked fun at all of society. Some of

the jokes even 150 years later are still funny, there is a great one

advertising lodging in a well aired room and the picture is a prison. It

was 16 years before Punch and any of the ones in Paris that we know

about. They were poking fun at people happily here in Glasgow. The

founder, William he is, was a showman who switched to satire on

the page as the prefix work -- printing Works could produces,. This

exhibition also highlight the modern graphic art still thriving here

almost two centuries later. This is one of the local -- local artists.

From judge read -- Judge Dredd, his work is much in demand. The Scots

are renowned for their storytelling, I think we punch above our weight in

a lot of different areas. It seems that Glasgow in particular has a

wealth of talent both in the independent press and mainstream

comics. I'm not sure why it is but it certainly seems to be the case.

So from soppy romances to Scooby Doo, this exhibition pulls together

all kinds of art but there are calls for a more permanent hub to properly

showcase the impressive comic artists of Scotland.

Now here's Shelley with details of Scotland 2016.

Tonight, no tax cut for high earners in Scotland say all but the Tories

so are we set to become the highest taxed part of the UK? And counselled

on the verge of crisis, how can they balance their budgets? Join me on

BBC Two at 10:30pm. Braemar was the hottest spot in Britain today with

temperatures how high? 19 degrees. There was beautiful sunshine around

and 19 degrees but just 50 miles east, what a difference, 7 degrees

for Dundee and Aberdeen. You can see that cloud burning back as it did

for most of the mainland but around the coast it was somewhat stubborn.

If you had the sunshine, beautiful scenes like these. But if you had

the mist and cloud, it was a bit like that. Heading through the

evening and overnight, it stays dry but the low cloud reforms and moves

back inland. Still some clear conditions in the north-west and

south-west, a touch of frost but for many, four or five Celsius.

Tomorrow, high pressure firmly in charge again which means a lot of

dry, settled weather but also cloud, probably more than today. Still some

brightness coming through, most likely in the north-west and

south-west but eastern parts of the Central Belt probably not improving

as well as today. If you had the sunshine, double-digit temperatures

but it will feel chilly in the cloud, particularly on that east

coast. Further north and the cloud is still with us in the far north

and Northern Isles and sick enough for the odd spot of rain. The rest

of the afternoon and evening, once again reforms -- thick enough. The

weekend will look a bit like this, dry but cloudy and really quite

great. Some drizzle in the far north pushing down the eastern side, some

brightness to the south of the hills because the breeze is from the north

but it is like. Sunday into Monday, the high-pressure slips further west

and south, introducing some wet weather in the north and the further

south you are, the dry it will Now, a reminder of

tonight's main news. Tax is shaping up to be a key

battleground in the run-up In Holyrood today, Nicola Sturgeon

said she wouldn't follow the Chancellor's plan to provide tax

cuts to higher earners. But opposition leaders

pressed her to give more detail I'll be back with the headlines

at 8pm and the late bulletin just Until then, from everyone

on the team right across the country, have

a very good evening.