27/04/2016 Reporting Scotland

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

Convicted drug smuggler, Melissa Reid, could soon be back

in Scotland after spending almost three years in prison in Peru.

A woman dies after being attacked at a house to the south of Glasgow.

Also on tonight's extended election special, just one week

Labour launches its manifesto, saying it marks a return

The Conservatives' Ruth Davidson joins me live in the studio

for the latest in our series of leader interviews.

And after floods from storm Frank ruined people's homes,

businesses and infrastructure, how the army is still

A convicted drug smuggler, Melissa Reid, could soon be back

in Scotland after spending almost three years in prison in Peru.

Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, was jailed in 2013

for trying to smuggle cocaine worth one and a half million

A Peruvian judge will decide in the next few days whether she'll

be released and expelled from the country, or transferred

Here's our home affairs correspondent, Reevel Alderson.

It began on the Spanish island of IB is, where Melissa Reid on the left

and Michaela McCollum from Northern Ireland were recruited to smuggle

drugs. The women were arrested in August 2013 in Lima with cocaine

valued at ?1.5 million. The pair claimed they had been coerced to act

as treadmills but later pled guilty in approving court. McCollum was

freed from jail last month but was ordered to spend part of her parole

in Carew. Melissa Reid opted to take a different approach. She returned

to court where a judge considered whether she should be expelled from

Peru. While it is unclear exactly what is happening to Melissa Reid,

her family are hoping it will not be long before they can welcome her

back home. 18 months ago her father took part in a Foreign Office video

warning of the consequences of taking part in drug smuggling around

the world. It is horrendous to see your daughter in handcuffs, the

living conditions she has to put up with. Events such as Christmas are

nonexistent for us, there will be no celebrations in our house, no

Christmas tree, until we get her back and. If Melissa Reid is

expelled from Peru she will be able to come home here, without spending

any more time in prison. Well our reporter in the Peruvian

capital Lima is Dan Collyns To be perfectly honest there's not

much more that we can add at this stage to the report that we have

just heard. We still don't know the decision of the judge. As we heard,

Melissa Reid attended the hearing decision of the judge. As we heard,

yesterday, and that decision, we are yet to hear the decision on that,

and the Foreign Office has also confirmed that we are still waiting

to hear that decision from the judge. We do understand, though,

that if that decision is confirmed by the judge, Melissa Reid will be

able to return home a free woman. Previously we'd understood that the

legal team had applied for a transfer back to the UK under a

separate agreement which would have meant that she would have had to

serve the remainder of her sentence, having to serve 30% of her sentence

in Peru in a UK prison. We understand that this could be

in Peru in a UK prison. We superseded by this other agreement

which would allow her to return home a free woman. Michaela McCollum, her

friend and partner in this drug smuggling crime which they committed

in 2013 is now at liberty in Peru. She has to sign in at a police

officer every month, and she has two remain in contact with the

authorities. She will have to serve the remainder of her sentence which

is a little more than three years in Peru. Melissa wanted to return home

to be reunited with her family, and hopefully this will come off for

her. If she is released she will return home as soon as possible. She

may even be remanded to the plane at Lima's remain a -- main airport to

take her home. A 39-year-old woman has died

after being attacked at a house in Newton Mearns in East

Renfrewshire. Police say the woman died following

a disturbance at the property Officers are thought to be following

a definite line of inquiry. Forensics team has spent much of

today at this home in Beech Avenue. Police were called at around

midnight after a disturbance. The 39-year-old woman who lived here

died. It is understood she was the mother of two young children and had

lived here with her husband and children for some years. Neighbours

expressed sadness and disbelief at what had happened. One had written a

note on this bouquet. I just felt I had to do something. It is such a

small neighbourhood. You only hear about it in other places. When it

happens on your own street it hits you. I am really shocked. This is a

very quiet area. You never hear of anything like that here, I am badly

shocked. Police have been following a definite line of enquiry and it is

understood that robbery is not thought to be a motive in this case.

This is the kind of quiet suburban street where

people not wave and For a young mother to lose her life

in such circumstances has shocked and upset people here.

The Scottish Labour Party has launched its manifesto

for the Holyrood election, saying it's "a return

Labour plans to increase income tax in Scotland to boost

spending on schools, the NHS and other services.

Party leaders say the richest will pay most - while the low paid

will be helped by a UK increase in the point at which

Here's our political editor Brian Taylor.

Grassmarket, awaiting the latest manifesto. Into the mix

deliberately bland, even iced onto cupcakes. Scottish Labour has

struggled of late. links to a pledge to protect health

spending, passing on all UK increases. This is a manifesto in

the best traditions of the Labour Party. A key policy, 1% of all tax

rates plus a new 50p top rate to boost

public spending, particularly education.

You cannot get a world-class education system on the cheap.

Somebody has to pay. We are going to ask the richest 1% to pay more tax

so that we can invest in our schools. We will also put a penny on

the basic rate of income tax that we can generate the revenue is we need

to stop the cuts. If we choose not to do that, we are faced with ?3

billion worth of cuts yet to come to our schools, community centres,

libraries, care for the elderly. All those public services we hold dear.

We have a chance to stop the cuts, to invest in the future. Within the

package that comprises Labour's education policy they are

breakfast club for every primary school.

guaranteed GP appointment within 48 hours, although that is not

necessarily with a GP. 60,000 affordable homes plus extra help for

first-time buyers. Among other policies, Labour plans police

re-form with greater local accountability. They'd ban fracking,

unconventional drilling for gas. And they'd used Holyrood powers to top

up pensions for women is born in the early 1950s who have lost out on UK

changes. Kezia Dugdale rules out another referendum on independence

jarring the lifetime of the next Holyrood parliament. The manifesto

reflects Scottish Labour's decision that Trident should

A sign, she says, that this is about different line.

A sign, she says, that this is about party policy, not the personal

A sign, she says, that this is about choice of the leader. Final major

manifesto, finally launched, final We now have a complete set. Complete

set of the major manifesto is indeed. In our end is our beginning.

The fundamental division that has been there from the outset of this

prolonged election campaign remains there with

only one week to go. That is on tax and spending.

Labour's offer is a penny across all bands, whereas the SNP say they will

reverse a planned tax cut for higher earners but would not impose an

increase on the standard rate, arguing that it

would be penalising the poor for cuts imposed elsewhere.

The Tories say people in Scotland should not pay more than people

UK, and the Liberal Democrats are also in favour of a penny across all

bands. A fundamental choice and a fundamental series of offers.

A poll this evening suggesting a setback, electoral

It's not exactly good news for Labour, coming on the day of their

manifesto launch. This poll suggesting that

a 1-point lead on the constituency, but is two points

behind the Conservatives on the list vote.

Given the importance of the top up list vote it could be the case that

it would leave Labour, in terms of conservative in third place. Labour

discounts that, you would expect them

so, but they are able to counter any trend in that direction.

Other suggestions, a comfortable lead in first place for the SNP, and

just possibly the Greens ousting the Liberal Democrats in fourth. The

caution, though, it is one pole and the vote that matters comes in a

week. But it might put a smile on Ruth Davidson's face when she is

interviewed on this programme. Union leaders from shipyards

on the Clyde have been lobbying MPs at Westminster over fears that

a delay in Royal Navy work Our correspondent David Porter

is at Wesminster for us tonight. David did any of the lobbies

or politicians thrown any light they may disagree on, all sides

agree on one thing. Royal Navy orders are vital, not

just for the prosperity of the yards, but more fundamentally

for their survival. Originally the UK Government said

that it wanted to order 13 of the so-called type 26

frigates. government and ministers have said

that they are committed. That those vessels will be built and

constructed. The language they are using is quite

stark. They say the future of Scottish

shipbuilding is hanging by a thread. They say they fear that if those

orders are delayed or some work is moved down

south to England, that that would have

very worried that the workers on the Clyde are perhaps

A lot of promises have been made about building frigates. The huge

amount of investment that has not happened.

constant slippage in the frigate building programme. What we are

being told is that the government are pushing BAE Systems to cut the

work and outsource some of the work are pushing BAE Systems to cut the

that was planned for the Clyde down to England. The issue was raised by

the SNP at Prime Minister's Questions? It was, the Nationalists

raised the issue together with what they said was the ongoing crisis in

the UK steel industry, and they they said was the ongoing crisis in

accused David Cameron of basically selling the UK and Scottish steel

industries and Scottish shipbuilding industry short. They did Cameron

said that this was a very good example of where the UK and the

Scottish governments should work together. Particularly on areas like

procurement. And he queried how much Scottish steel was being used in the

new Forth Road Bridge crossing. He also made the point as well back if

it was an independent Scotland, there would be no UK warships being

built on the Clyde. Thank you very much.

Well it's time now for the latest in our series of interviews

Tonight it's the turn of Ruth Davidson the leader

Ruth Davidson wasn't an MSP at the time of the last Scottish election.

As a former journalist, she knows the meaning of a photo opportunity.

And like so many Scottish Conservatives, she is trying to

reach out to those who believe the party is more of a sewer flume

banner bonbon, even when they find the policies more pleasant on the

planet. Unusually for the leader of a major party, she is not even

pretending she has a chance of becoming First Minister. Instead her

aim is to turn the Tories into the main opposition party at Holyrood,

to make things sticky for the Scottish Government. In the party's

manifesto, she says she is applying for the job of Leader of the

Opposition. One thing Ruth Davidson would strongly oppose is any renewed

drive for independence. The party says its commitment to keeping

Scotland in the UK is beyond question. But how would it use the

powers of the Scottish Parliament? Top priorities include what is

described as a competitive rate of income tax, and more money for

mental health services. Winning won't be the measure of success for

Ruth Davidson, it will be coming second. But is this realistic, and

what might a strong Tory opposition be like? Can she take the bull by

the horns? Some interesting photocalls there.

At the buffalo farm, we were talking about the rural economy and rural

businesses, so I thought I would go to one that was a little bit

different, in Fife, not far from where I grew up, in fact. You have

made the defence of the Union one of the key part of this campaign, and

one of the pivotal issues of the independence referendum was Scottish

shipbuilding. And yet, we here tonight, there are very real fears

that the industry that you said would be safe is facing some very

real problems. Well, I have heard the concerns from the unions, I

spoke to the Defence Secretary at the weekend, and there is a

comprehensive guarantee of the work coming in terms of the Type 26

programme, the offshore patrol vessels that were promised in

November of last year. That is ?8 billion worth of investment in the

Clyde, and I think it is worth pointing out that although the SNP

have been ramping up the rhetoric on this, the UK Government does not

build complex warships outside the UK. If Scotland had been

independent, none of this work would have come to the Clyde. But there

was a guarantee, and we're not talking about orders not coming to

the Clyde... Hang on a second, we're talking about delays that will cost

jobs. Two, outsourcing of some of the work. Can you give us a

guarantee, you heard the unions, they say they are still in the dark,

David Cameron was asked at Prime Minister's Questions, he did not

answer the question. Here and now, can you tell us there will be no

delays and no outsourcing? These are the questions I asked the Defence

Secretary at the weekend, and his answer to me was absolutely. What

was in the SDSR is what the UK Government is going out with, no

changes since November. I have said we need to make sure the workforce

feel secure, and there are issues about that. If there is an issue

regarding wind down of work on the carrier programme, mostly being done

and recite, and work starting on the Type 26 frigates, that is where the

company and government and the unions need to work together to

smooth the transition, but in terms of the eight frigates being built at

Scotstoun and Govan, in terms of the patrol vessels, I have assurances

from the Defence Secretary that the work is going ahead. No delays, no

outsourcing, yes or no? It is my third time of telling you, that is

what the Defence Secretary told me. At the very least, Ruth Davidson,

one week before the Scottish election campaign, the fact that

fears were allowed to be raised over such a totemic industry that played

such a part in the independence referendum, do you ever look down

south, to Number Ten and number 11 Downing Street and think, thanks,

guys?! I have to say, there is no coincidence that the SNP has sought

to raise this... I'm not talking about the SNP, and talking about the

Treasury and David Cameron. It is integral to the question you are

vast me, there is no question they have ramped up this rhetoric before

the election, because creating a grievance with Westminster, real or

imagined, has never served them badly. But people understand that

the country voted to stay part of the United Kingdom, we voted to be

part of the UK, to have a Royal Navy, for ships to be built within

the UK. If Scotland was not in the UK, they would not be being built in

Scotland. No-one the complexities and obfuscation of David Cameron's

tax returns, of a party riven by infighting over the EU referendum.

And yet this is your party, and you are trying to get the Scottish

electorate to trust you, and perhaps, more importantly, trying to

lose the label of Tory toxicity. It seems to be that every time you make

one step forward, what happens? South of the border you get knocked

back. You are doing a disservice to the electorate in Scotland, they

know they are voting for who will be First Minister and who will be a

strong opposition that we have not seen in Scotland, and that is the

job I am asking to fulfil. I can do a job for the people of Scotland, I

can hold the SNP to account in a way that, with Labour, they have not

been able to. But forward scrutiny they have never had before,

challenge and debate in a way we have not seen. You even had your

cheap political correspondent, your political editor, saying we are at

cheap political correspondent, your record levels in the polls since

devolution, so that messages getting through. People want somebody to

hold the SNP to account, and that is a job I can do. You are low tax

party, so why are you not campaigning for tax cuts? We have

been honest over the medium term we would like to be able to cut taxes

in Scotland, but we cannot go into an election next week and say that

we can cut taxes next week and have the level of service provision that

you enjoy right now. Those tax cuts have to be earned, and I have been

doing this all week, businesses north and south and all sorts of

sectors, talking of how we grow the Scottish economy, how we can earn

those future tax cuts. No other party is doing that in Scotland,

they are all talking about how much money they can take out of the pay

packets of workers. Some workers and quite low wages. What we are seeing

is that we do not benefit as a country from saying we are the high

tax part of the UK. I was interested to watch last night that you had on

your programme the chairman of the chamber of commerce who said that

the Scottish economy is on a knife edge, we could slip back into

recession, we have a bigger gap in unemployment than down south, and

our economy is growing out of the pace. That is why we need to

concentrate on growing the Scottish economy. You want tax levels here to

be the same as the rest of the UK? Our clear policy is that there

should be no higher, but a business rate we would reduce them. In the

Welsh elections, why are they campaigning for tax cuts? That is

something they say they can sort, perhaps they won't commensurate cuts

to public services. I am saying we can work towards tax cuts in future,

but if you want to invest in the health service and in schools, those

tax cuts have to be earned by growing the economy. To make round

in the campaign, you will have to get people who have never thought of

voting Conservative to vote for you, so how is making students basic

thousand pounds and reintroducing prescription fees, how is that

playing out on the doorsteps? -- pay ?6,000. People understand what we

are offering, and I know that some of my opponents have tried to scare

people at home, but pensioners would never paper prescriptions, neither

would people with long-term conditions, low incomes, students,

pregnant women. When we scrap prescription charges, only 10% of

prescriptions were ever paid for, by people like you and me, who have

jobs and wages and can afford it. The decision we made is this - that

takes ?65 million out of the NHS budget in Scotland, to have free

descriptions. The choice I make is that instead of having somebody like

a First Minister on ?150,000 able to get free paracetamol, somebody with

cancer being told they cannot get the joke they could get down south,

that is not right, we would put it back into the NHS. -- the drugs.

Your opponents say these are stealth taxes, taxing people through the

back door. This is clearly showing people what it is, and you forget

that we always used to pay for things like prescriptions, and

people were willing to do so because they know that it helps the NHS, and

it helped as care for people, and it was a situation where somebody on a

cancer ward was able to get the drugs available to someone somewhere

cancer ward was able to get the else in the UK. So it is about

choices. If I a leader of a strong opposition, which I hope I will be,

I will have to persuade other people to support me on this. At the moment

I am not having much luck, but it is one of the ways we need to look at

investing and looking after our NHS. Your campaign has had you front and

centre, you are the face on the pamphlets and all the literature.

However, isn't there a need in any party for team Tory? And it is a

case of needing more than just a charismatic leader, you need

strength in depth. It doesn't seem that you have that. On the contrary,

the reason we have put me front and centre is because we knew the SNP

would run a presidential style campaign starring Nicola Sturgeon.

Do you have to do everything they do? I want to match a stride for

stride, and we can take them on and fight them on their ground. We knew,

because we had seen them register names with the Electoral Commission,

that we knew they would do this, and I want to take Nicola Sturgeon on

every week at First Minister's Questions doing that. It is a big

transition for the Scottish Conservatives, more than half of our

number are retiring, so more than half of our MSPs are going to be new

faces, people from outside politics that bring expertise into the

parliament, can raise the level of debate and do a job for Scotland.

Will you work with the SNP in Parliament if their policies call

for decentralisation, restructuring local government? Well, the problem

with what they have done in the past is that they are centralised almost

everything in Scotland, from a centralised police force to

amalgamating colleges. My worry is that the system they have raised

about local government... So no matter what they do, even if you

agree? We have always been instructive and able to put forward

alternatives, we are not like the Labour Party moaning from the

sidelines, we always put forward alternatives that we think would

make Scotland work better. I will continue to do that and seek to gain

people on my side. My worry with the LOCOG and reorganisation that has

come from nowhere, since the manifesto was published, and that it

is about centralisation too, so places like Angus into Dundee. There

is more work that local authorities can do behind the scenes,

back-office staff... We are running out of time. I want local people to

feel they have a sense of ownership. Are you proud of David Cameron's

record? We have done a tremendous job of getting the economy back on

track. So why, with that record that you are proud of, why is he not

coming up to campaign? You launched our campaign at the party conference

last month. Why is he not campaigning with you? He is not in

any of the literature. Do you see him as a liability? With respect,

his name is not on the ballot paper, he will not be serving in Hollywood,

and you will not find Jeremy Corbyn's name on the Labour

manifesto. He is not a double term Prime Minister. He is a party leader

down south, and his name is not on the ballot paper. This would be a

strong opposition that can take the fight to the SNP, it is a job

strong opposition that can take the think I can do for the people of

Scotland. Thank you for your time. And our interviews

with the party leaders continue tomorrow night

on Reporting Scotland with the Scottish Labour

leader, Kezia Dugdale. Elsewhere in the Holyrood

election campaign, there's been an outbreak

of agreement. Five party leaders have called

on Royal Troon golf club to stop excluding women from membership,

as it prepares to host and will make

a decision this autumn. At Royal Troon, they are getting

ready to host the open for the ninth time. But it is a controversial

venue because the club does not allow women to join. The Labour

leader is against the men only rule and, like others in a party, will

stay away from the championship. I don't think I would personally go,

no. I welcome the investment coming to Scotland, but the onus will be on

the club now to maybe change its policy before this competition

comes. I think people across Scotland would really welcome the

change. For the Greens, tradition is no excuse for excluding women. The

fact that we have male only golf courses belongs in the 19th century,

and it is iconic of just how far we have got to go in terms of gender

equality. Gender equality is one of the things

that really matters to me. I did think in this day and age it is

acceptable to have anywhere off-limits to women. The open was

posted here three years ago, Alex Salmond turned down his invitation

to attend in protest at the club's mail only membership policy. At

Royal Troon the circumstances are different. It's hosting this year's

championship together with the ladies golf club, Troon. And it has

announced the compounds of review of its own membership policy. Royal

Troon would go up in the Liberal Democrat leader's estimation if it

speeded up a decision on admitting female members. This is regrettable

and I think true need to come into the 21st century. I think they need

to bring forward a vote on whether to allow women into the club and

then they can send a very clear signal, not just to people of

Scotland, but across the world, that they are a modern club. Royal

Troon's membership is a matter for the club according to the executive

member for championships at golf's governing body. The Conservative

leader is happy to toast the move 's golf has made towards gender

equality, but she wants the game to go further. I think the RMT have

come a long way, they had their own referendum about allowing women

members -- the R have come a long way. I tell you something, if Troon

don't let women in, there may not be a national boycott but I certainly

will not be going to watch. Troon stresses that it is reviewing rules

but that current arrangements worked well for male and female golfers. I

always say it is one venue, two clubhouses and fully shared

facilities. The ladies can play the old course at any day of the week

free of charge and can come across and use this clubhouse. So we are

very close in working relationships between the two clubs. Getting ready

very close in working relationships for the open is not the only

activity at Royal Troon. The policy on female membership is work in

progress, too. The Liam Fee murder trial has heard

claims that two women accused of murdering the toddler

were "panicking" in which they allegedly

imprisoned another boy. The evidence was from a child

witness who was in the house near Glenrothes when Nyomi

and Rachel Fee realised that This was the third day of recorded

evidence from the second child witness, who was asked about the day

that happened on the day that Liam Fee died. He spoke about a makeshift

cage in which it is alleged another boy was imprisoned by Rachel and

Nyomi Fee. He said they were panicking about the cage and kept

asking where it could go. He was asked what happened to the cage. The

court heard allegations that the child and another boy had been

forced to hit each other. The young witness said that one of the

accused, Nyomi Fee had encouraged the other boy to strike him with a

shoe and a tube of skin cream. He said the other boy kept whacking him

and made him bleed. The young witness also said before the police

came, the accused told him he would go to prison if he didn't tell them

what the other boy had done to him. Nyomi and Rachel Fee and I murdering

Lee and mistreating two other boys. We all remember the damage done

by Storm Frank in December. Much of that was to Aberdeenshires

bridges, and the debris left behind

has been a big problem. Today the Army have been in Ballater

lending a hand to clear it, The raging torrent caused by storm

Frank didn't just flood houses, even caravans were carried away. Many of

them damaging bridges and leaving huge amounts of debris behind.

Clearing it is a logistical problem. Some jobs require that extra bit of

muscle and that's why the Army have come here to help clear debris from

this bridge. Soldiers from two support the town used a winch and a

vehicle to do the heavy work. It is a slow job, though, which requires a

lot of patients. We need to finish the task off. We are about five

hours into our first day, managed to make quite a lot of progress. Once

we are done with the caravan behind us, on the far side, we are going to

try to remove that as well. This is just one place that storm Frank has

left its Mark. Aberdeenshire Council has over 300 damaged bridges from

storm Frank. We are slowly making our way through that prioritised

programme of repairs. We started with the Inver Corbridge, we were

programme of repairs. We started able to get opened within a week. We

are now working our way through, and this is one of the major ones we are

keen and we are very pleased the Army has tackled. There's only so

much a winch can do, though. Sometimes you just need to get hands

on to finish the job. Or even a good old-fashioned boot.

Prince Charles was in the Highlands today to present medals to soldiers

The Prince is Royal Colonel of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion

of the regiment, which is based at Fort George near Inverness.

Seven members of the regiment as well as one civil servant

received medals during a ceremony at the base.

A look at other stories from across the country.

The transport company First Bus has ordered more than 300 new vehicles.

and will be built by Alexander Dennis of Falkirk.

The rest will be produced in Northern Ireland.

says the deals are worth a total of ?70 million.

Hargreaves, the operator of opencast coal mines in Scotland,

is to accelerate the closure of six out of its seven sites,

leaving only the House of Water site in Ayrshire.

The company says it plans to spend more than ?3 million

on the Scots closures, across Lanarkshire,

and the closure of coal-burning power stations.

Three Scotch whisky distilleries and a bottling plant have been sold

to the Jack Daniels maker Brown-Forman for ?285 million.

The Kentucky based company is acquiring the Ben Riach,

Glen Dronach and Glen Glassoch single-malt brands.

The company's Edinburgh headquarters, which has 165

employees, will operate as a subsidiary of Brown-Forman.

A campaign is being launched to save two ancient trees thought

to be from the forest immortalised in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The Birnam Oak and Sycamore were damaged when Storm Desmond

The storm caused severe flooding in the Birnam Woods

Ultrasound scans have revealed damage to the trees

The programme for the 2016 Borders Book Festival

Appearing in Melrose this June will be veteran thriller

writer Frederick Forsyth, acclaimed percussionist

Evelyn Glennie, and Genesis founder Mike Rutherford.

The winner of the ?25,000 Walter Scott Prize

for historical fiction will also be announced.

David is here which means he either just wants to be near me, or he's

got the sport. Or both! Scottish Olympians have been set

ambitious targets by the performance sport director.

With 100 days to go until Rio, we've been speaking to the man

who's set these ambitious targets and who believes

the Scottish athletes competing at the Olympic will deliver.

The GB team will be dressed to impress in Rio. Designer Stella

McCartney has seen to that. But will the athletes impress on other

fronts? For Scottish athletes, this man has set the bar high. More Scots

in the team and more names for the Olympic roll of honour. In Beijing

in 2008, 31 Scots were part of Team GB, the most ever named in an away

Olympics, winning six medals. But there was greater medal success at

the Sydney games in 2000, when eight medals were won by Scottish

athletes. Scotland is contributing massively to the world-class system.

We've got a record number of athletes on world-class programmes.

I think we're on track to have really successful games. We want to

get more than 31 Scots on Team GB for the Olympics. The eight medals

is a challenge, but at the moment it's looking pretty good. So far 14

Scots have booked their seats on the plane to Rio. Laura Muir is going to

finish... Others will follow as more teams are confirmed, with the

athletics squad likely to boost numbers considerably. Just great to

know we can support each other in terms of GB and Scotland as well.

It's great that a lot of Scottish athletes are in the ratio of

Scottish athletes, it is looking good. So, it is looking good. The

bigger wall might just be required. Who would be your Premiership Player

of the Year? I'm sure you have your Who would be your Premiership Player

own favourites. The players themselves have voted for who they

think is best. Here's our senior football

reporter, Chris McLaughlin. Three of the four men vying to be

named Scotland's best footballer for this season. An award voted for by

their fellow players. No surprises with this one, Celtic's top striker

has been their main man this term. Personally it has been the best

season of my career. I can't really complain with 38 goals. And

hopefully there's a lot more to come. I got myself back in the

Scotland squad which is good. And hopefully I can add another league

title to my collection. The man that missed today's photocall has rarely

missed this season. Aberdeen winger Johnny Haynes scoring here against

Celtic and showing why he's made the cut. The other two come from Dundee

side who failed to make the top six but has impressed for most of the.

So take it away, Stuart on Hemmings and Hemmings on Stewart. To score 25

goals for a team not in the top six is obviously brilliant. Delighted

for him to reach that mark and he still has time to get more, no

pressure. If I had a left foot like his, I could take on more people and

put them in the bottom corner, I'd expect to be nominated as well. This

is the list of those nominated from the young players of the year. And

the winners will be announced The race for second place

in the Championship, and with it one fewer

round of matches in the Premiership promotion play offs,

is going down to the wire. Hibs beat Dumbarton 4-0 last night.

with Falkirk going into the final But a win against Queen of the South

on Sunday because Falkirk, who play Morton,

have a better goal difference. If they manage to do the business

and get three points then they fully deserved to finish in second place.

It's not through luck or anything like that. We've let ourselves down

over the course of March and April. To be in this position. Six games to

get promoted. We are willing to do what ever it takes.

John Higgins has the advantage over fellow Scot Alan McManus

in the all Scottish semi-final at the World Snooker Championship.

The Wizard of Wishaw, winning the final frame

of this afternoon's session for a 9-7 lead.

They're back on the table shortly,

Glasgow Warriors have announced that ten players will be leaving the club

Fijian forward Leone Nakarawa is one of the most notable departures.

Another Fijian Jerry Yanuyanutawa also leaves,

as will back-rower Tyrone Holmes, meaning this team huddle

will be considerably smaller for the time being.

Let's see what the weather is up to with Christopher.

Further wintry showers across the country today. As you can see by

this picture from one of our weather watchers. Daffodils getting pelted.

There was sunshine out with the showers, as you can see here. But it

was not warm. Tonight the showers ease, it will be cold and frosty,

and still there will be some showers around the west coast of the islands

and the far north. Wintry mix. For most of the mainland, dry, cold, and

it will be a sharp frost. Temperatures even in towns and

cities down close to freezing, in the countryside more like -3, or

four. Cold starts tomorrow, but plenty of sunshine once it comes up.

Number of light showers around. As we had food was late morning, this

system arrives off the Atlantic -- as we had food towards late morning.

Jenny Allen along the central belt On the hills on higher ground it

will be falling with snow. Rain foremost at low levels. And it will

be chilly when the wet weather arrives. Milder in the morning.

North of here, from Arbroath westwards reasonably dry. Just about

Some sunshine, one or two light rain showers, Orkney and Shetland.

Through the afternoon into the evening, the system marching

north-eastwards. Yellow warning from the Met office for risk of snow,

Angus and Aberdeenshire in particular. All courtesy of this

area of low pressure swirling its particular. All courtesy of this

way around. We will see several centimetres of snow, not only on

high ground but occasionally to lower levels. Still with us Friday

morning. Potential travel disruption. Through the course of

the morning, south again through the central belt. Wintry weather could

spread further south. North and west always driest and brightest with

spells of sunshine, feeling a touch milder, too.

You're watching a Reporting Scotland election special.

Here's a reminder of tonight's top stories.

Convicted drug smuggler Melissa Reid could soon be back

in Scotland after spending almost three years in prison in Peru.

saying it marks a return to the party's roots.

And still to come on tonight's programme:

Why transport is a key issue for elderly people in rural areas.

It's opened a lot of doors for people in the community, otherwise

we would have been housebound. It has just been great, because you are

picked up, taken back to your door. You might have noticed there's been

no shortage of visits to schools and nurseries by politicians

recently, that's because childcare provision has become a key issue

in this election campaign. Extended hours, new investment

and more nurseries have been promised,

but what's been the reaction of parents and providers?

Jackie O'Brien reports. They may still be small, but

research shows that nursery education helps young children

develop bigger ambition in their early years. Logan, what do you want

to be when you grow up? A dinosaur. Because I love to breathe fire.

Childcare provision has become a hot topic in Scotland in recent years.

All three and four -year-olds are now entitled to 16 hours of free

preschool care a week, but the SNP flagship policy has proved difficult

to implement, particularly in the cities. Sophie Patterson from

Edinburgh cannot use a local authority nursery because of her

work pattern and has to pay extra for more flexible, private care. It

is great that the Government wants to invest in childcare, but the

reality is that it is not accessible to everybody, although it is an

entitlement we should all be able to access. It means I have to pay a top

up, I have to bridge the gap between the local authority funding and the

actual hours I am entitled to. All parties are committed to extending

free childcare and making it work for children from all backgrounds.

The SNP has pledged to double free childcare provision. The Greens and

the Tories want more flexibility built into the system for working

parents. The Liberal Democrats want to concentrate on younger kids in

disadvantaged areas. Areas where children would receive a starter

fund and the Labour. The focus on disadvantaged areas is widely

welcomed by those attending this nursery in North Glasgow, where

parents and toddlers are being introduced to the benefits of

preschool education for the first time. All the children and families

are all playing together and learning together. What happens in

the very earliest years is a very strong predictor of what will happen

later on, further down the line for strong predictor of what will happen

children, so if we can ensure that all children, in their youngest

years, can have high quality provision to support the children

and the families, then that can go a long way. But many parents here a

more free childcare is needed before their return to work can make any

financial sense. Some politicians may be slightly out of touch, they

want us to go back to work and look for jobs and search for employment,

but when you only have three hours a day free, when you have someone,

your child nursery, no-one was going to want to employ you. It would be

great to be less dependent on other people to deal with your children,

and you could work more and provide for your family. But as the

and you could work more and provide politicians pledged to boost free

nursery care for all, there is a warning that existing problems with

capacity and funding must be addressed first. Scotland's funding

is much lower than England on average. The providers are getting

about ?3.56 an hour, and at the moment they are making a loss of

over ?1100 per child per year. I think this is the biggest issue that

needs to be addressed before any expansion of ours is put into

practice. practice.

# Somewhere over the rainbow... # A pot of gold may be required for

the new investment in childcare, but as election day approaches, parents

are urging politicians not to make promises they cannot keep.

campaiging in the EU referendum continues.

Today the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage,

challenged Nicola Sturgeon to a debate on the subject.

The SNP leader says she'll debate the big issues

Our political correspondent Glenn Campbell

He's in Edinburgh tonight. Is this going to happen, Glenn?

Well, clearly, Nigel Farage would like that, and Nicola Sturgeon is

not saying no, so it is possible, but I don't think the SNP will

decide on debates and tell after next week's elections. Now, these

two have clashed on television before, in the BBC leaders the'

debates during the UK election campaign, but they have not yet gone

head to head on the specific issue of the UK's membership of the

European Union. I have been to Wales, I had a debate with Carwyn

Jones a few months ago, I would be happy to do a debate with Nicola

Jones a few months ago, I would be Sturgeon. I would love to have that

debate about what independence really means. Is that a challenge?

You bet your life! Last time I devoted Nigel Farage, he did not

come off that well, but I will debate with anybody at any time, but

I will concentrate on making the positive case and leave Nigel Farage

to the rather depressing narrow case that he tends to make. To be clear,

next wants to remain in the EU, Nigel Farage wants us to get out,

and they will continue to argue their cases between now and the

referendum on the 23rd of June. Today the official Remain campaign,

stronger in, suggested Mr Farage was struggling for relevance in this

debate, because the campaign he supports, Grassrouts Out, failed to

be chosen as the official Leave campaign. That job falls to bow to

leave, and its chairman in Scotland, Tom Harris, and he said that Nigel

Farage can challenge anyone he likes but could not expect him to team up

alongside him in the TV studios to argue the case for British exit from

alongside him in the TV studios to the European Union.

One of the priorities for the new Scottish Government

will be addressing the needs of an increasing older population,

As Ian Hamilton has been finding out, one of the key concerns

for a community in rural Aberdeenshire

Living in the countryside can be idyllic, but it can be a real

problem when it comes to getting out and about. So what are your options

if the regular bus service is not frequent? To complement the regular

service, there is a network of community transport groups across

Scotland. There we go. These are funded by a mixture of local

authority and other grants. Here in Banff and Buchan, the local group

has been running for 16 years. They are ten accessible buses offering a

door-to-door service for those who needed. Many older people find it

difficult to use public transport. That is where project like this one

plugging the gap. We have got one of the poorest areas here, and we have

people with mental health difficulties, people with physical

difficulties. If they cannot get out, that is a huge drain on the

local economy, but it is also so damaging for them. You know, you

have somebody in hospital who cannot get out because they cannot get back

into their home because they cannot get transport. The community bus has

arrived after picking up passengers get transport. The community bus has

from the surrounding villages. They are meeting for tea and cake before

heading for a shopping trip to Inverurie. It has opened a lot of

doors for the community, the people in the community would have

otherwise been housebound. And it has just been great, because you are

picked up at your door, you are taken back to your door. I have a

lot of friends on the bus, so it's cheers everybody up. Scotland is in

the process of integrating health and social care, and transport is

seen by some as key to its success. And it is something the new Scottish

Government will have to tackle after the 5th of May.

Government will have to tackle after Community transport goes some way to

providing a solution to a reduced Community transport goes some way to

rural bus service, but it depends on different sources of funding from

users and already squeezed budgets. Ian Hamilton, Reporting Scotland,

Aberdeenshire. Let's have a look ahead to tonight's

Scotland 2016 with Andrew Kerr. What price leaving the EU? One

influential think tank says it is equivalent to a month's salary, but

those who backed Brexit say it is coming from people who said we

should have joined the euro. We will debate that. Also, taking the

temperature on turnout in the Holyrood election. That is at 10:30

over on BBC Two. Before we go, let's return to Brian Taylor, firstly,

your reflections on what Ruth Davidson had to say? I was

intrigued, you press to entirely reasonably on the Cameron's presence

of otherwise during the campaign, but it struck me again that it is a

reminder, that is choice for the Conservative, that the Labour Party

would choose, with regard to their leader, the Lib Dems ditto. It

reminded me that political discourse in Scotland has always been

distinctive, that was more true is a consequence of devolution, and it is

ever more true as a consequence of the added powers, the tax powers and

social security and well for powers that are coming Holyrood's way. It

means there is a pure and distinctive discourse in Scottish

politics, and that is reflected in the election. We thought we knew

what the key issues would be before campaigning started, have there been

changes? It is coming down to tax and spending, but bear in mind this

chamber behind me is evenly quiet at the moment, there have been some VIP

tour is going around, a little puzzled as they stare at the

splendid building, but it will be filled soon enough again by 129 MSPs

taking decisions upon tax, upon spending, upon the law in all sorts

of areas, and that means that these elections really matter, they matter

to people, they matter to the parties, but far more importantly to

the people. On that thought, let me say to the young girl who wished in

the early reports to be a dinosaur, and on in there, sooner or later a

politician will offer to make that come true!

Now, a reminder of tonight's main news.

The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police,

David Crompton, has been suspended over his force's behaviour

It follows a day of mounting anger over what the inquests revealed

about the role of the police throughout the 27 years

Our next main bulletin is just after the ten o'clock news.

Until then, from everyone on the team,

right across the country, have a very good evening.