08/06/2016 Reporting Scotland

Not so long ago the construction of the new Forth bridge was lauded

Today the Scottish government said that adverse weather meant

the Queensferry Crossing will now open next May,

Opponents have called for assurances that in the meantime the current

bridge, which has been beset by problems, is fit to carry on.

It will be the tallest bridge in the UK when it is finished,

but joining up the pieces will take longer than hoped.

The SNP manifesto said that the Queensbury Crossing

was on time and under budget.

Today, the Government confirmed that bad weather had delayed work.

The impact of weather in April and May was very severe,

with 13 days and 12 days lost to weather, respectively.

As a result, FCBC have advised ministers that due to the combined

effect of the time lost in these two months,

they can no longer deliver the target opening date

The Government says there will be no extra cost to the taxpayer due to

We have to remember the many activities that have to be

done, and we now say that they will be done by May 2017,

which is still within the contractual period we had

The complexity of the operation means it

It is a big bridge, but our working areas are defined and quite small.

The sequence of operation is defined and can't be changed.

So, drivers will have to wait longer to use the

new crossing, and there are calls for a guarantee that the existing

bridge, which had to close for urgent repairs last year,

can take an extra six months of traffic.

There can be no repetition of the catastrophic events we saw

last year when the bridge was closed for a number of weeks,

with huge disruption to businesses and people's life.

The contractors say they are disappointed it has fallen

behind schedule and they are working flat out to make

sure the bridge opens as soon as possible.

That won't be December 2016, as had been planned,

traffic should be flowing on the Queensbury Crossing.

The EU has agreed to extend the deadline for the payment

of subsidies to Scotland's farmers and crofters.

The move follows failings with a Scottish Government

computer system which has delayed the process.

The government was facing fines of tens of millions of pounds if it

failed to meet a deadline of June 30th.

The new arrangements will mean it will have another 18 weeks

Helicopter operator CHC will no longer fly Super Puma 225s

from its Aberdeen base unless customers

The announcement comes six days after European aviation safety

officials extended the grounding of certain types of Super Pumas

Signs of metal fatigue were found in components after a crash off

Norway in April that killed 13 people.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Stephanie Inglis has

held her father's hand for the first time since waking from a coma.

The 27-year-old judo player from Inverness was placed

in an induced coma after suffering head injuries in a motorbike

She's now being treated in a hospital in Thailand.

To the European referendum now, and the latest in our series putting

The EU guarantees certain minimum rights in the workplace,

from working hours to maternity leave and protection

In a special report, Brian Taylor asks what about the workers?

This is Greenock on the lower Clyde. It is synonymous over the decades

with business and it is sometimes buoyant and sometimes struggling.

Employment and employment rights really matter here. Tate Lyle, the

sugar trade, exports, business. More, much more. This was the Scott

Lithgow shipyard in Greenock, the last giant remnant of a business

dating back to 1711. Work has changed. Inverclyde still resounds

to the sound of swing Hammer swing. The Ferguson Marine yard to revise

and the workers here and across Scotland are protected by laws

underpinned by the European Union. Everything from the hours they are

obliged to work to health and safety and consultation rights, guaranteed

by EU minimum standards. As well as protecting workers, these rules are

designed to ensure that EU member states compete in a single market on

product strengths, not by undermining labour law standards.

Britain's attitude to these laws has varied. In 1992 John Major secured

an opt out from extended EU social policy powers linked to the

Maastricht Treaty. Tony Blair scrapped that opt out five years

later. That is your baby 's head... The EU laws also cover pregnancy

rights and maternity leave. It specifies equal treatment for men

and women and protection against any form of discrimination. Earlier I

talked about workers' rights with both sides of the campaign here at

the James Watt docked in Greenock. If you look at the objective

analysis of this, one from the Financial Times which is very

pro-remain and another from BBC which is the reality check website

and they have concluded that very little will change in terms of

employees rights. Your own site, including pretty Patel, say it is

just a version of cutting workers' rights. There were scare stories

before the 2010 election about things like the minimum wage being

scrapped but there is not a majority in the House of Commons for removing

a lot of these regulations. Are you confident these rights will remain

if you leave the EU? Is not confident. A lot of them were

introduced by the EU and many had a lukewarm response from the

Westminster government at best and sometimes hostile and I remember

discussions we had with the previous Labour government about the working

Time directive and we fought very hard to have improvements in the

directives and my experience is that it will be difficult to ensure we

make progress in red response to workers' rights and there was

concern that over time these rights will be eroded. Are we giving a

rights for no reason? Some of those created at the UK level are a better

standard than the EU. Britain went ahead with the maternity leave which

is more than in the EU. Some of your own side are cutting back... This is

not a government in waiting, it is a campaign which will finish with the

referendum. A number of the rights are pre-existing but they have been

underpinned by EU legislation and extended by EU legislation. There

was maternity rights and also we have seen that women cannot be

discriminated against if they are pregnant and we have seen an

extension of equality legislation, beyond race, gender... Which party

is going to go into a general election saying they will get rid of

maternity rights? The European Court of Justice oversees the single

market and in 2007 they may be very damaging and odd decision on

workers' rights, to strike. They said the right to strike in the

whole of the EU was subject to the right of freedom of movement of

goods and services now the first time that a British employer uses

that argument we will see a major... Tom is right about that but we have

seen progress more recently in a Finnish case which is much more

positive. We have bad judgments from British courts and we fight these

judgments but it is important that we work with our colleagues in the

European Union and progressive governments in order to make

progress. It might be argued there was not a lot of point in workers'

rights if they are undermined by migrant workers working for lower

wages. You must put it into perspective. We are not overwhelmed

by migrant workers by the EU, only less than 2.5% of our population

comes from outwith the UK and EU migrants. Using the migration card

is being dishonest and very dangerous. Who is accountable to us

in Britain for workers' rights? Is it unelected officials in Brussels

or our own government? I would absolutely prefer to live under a

democracy than unelected bureaucrats. Of the 40 institutions

in the European Union only the commission is made up of unelected

officials. At the Council of ministers of the parliament and the

European Council all made of elected politicians. But we cannot get rid

of them. Britain can use its influence but it doesn't because we

have been so negative about Europe that we are not able to use our

influence. The one thing you cannot describe as remotely democratic.

Thank you very much for joining us here.

Scotland has a new chief scientific adviser, she's

Professor Sheila Rowan of the University of Glasgow

Professor Rowan, who's an expert on gravitational waves,

The current moratorium on fracking and the ban on growing GM crops

in Scotland are expected to be on the new adviser's agenda.

The post, which is appointed by the government, has been vacant

Commonwealth Bronze medallist Erraid Davies has been declared

ineligible to compete in future para-swimming events including

The 15-year old from Shetland became the youngest-ever games medal

She has a condition affecting her hip bones and joints.

But a classification panel has endorsed an initial finding

that her impairment isn't serious enough to allow her to compete.

Neil Lennon has agreed a deal to become the next Hibernian manager

and should formally sign a contract tomorrow.

The former Celtic boss has been out of work since parting company

with Bolton in March but will succeed Alan Stubbs.

It is believed Lennon wants Garry Parker as his number two.

The Irishman will sign a one-year rolling deal to become

the highest-paid manager in Hibs' history.

Over to Chris now for the weather. We saw 24 degrees in parts of the

West Country today but tonight will stay dry with cloud around and in

the coast there will be mist and fog. In the Hebrides and the East

Coast. Tomorrow morning we have a dry start with brightness in the

course of the morning, especially inland. Temperatures in the west are

in the mid-teens. The cloud will take longer to thin and break but it

should do as we had through the course of the day. Towards the

south-west there will be stubborn low cloud and perhaps see fog at

times as well. Through tomorrow it is an improving story, with the

cloud continuing to thin and break and sunshine coming through. A

similar day to today but not as potent with the showers as today but

they will be there across the Cairngorms and Southern uplands. The

UK as a whole is largely set fair with sunshine and temperatures

pleasant. Always a bit cooler in the east. The highest temperatures but

Scotland are in the worst but cooler on the coastline. Friday all change.

We have weather fronts arriving from the West which will bring a cloudy

day and a cooler day as well with showery outbreaks of rain. Certainly

the wet weather is with us through most of the day on Central and

southern parts with temperatures close to average for the time of the

year. Tomorrow looks OK. Friday is cloudy and wet. Temperatures around

about the mid-teens at best. The best chance of seeing anything dry

and brighter would be in the far north and the Northern Isles.

Temperatures only around 12 degrees and add on the easterly breeze and

Temperatures only around 12 degrees it will feel called despite any blue

skies. To the weekend it is cloudy and breezy at times with showery

outbreaks of rain. It is not a wash-out and there will be bright

spells but a humid feel. That is the forecast for now.

Our next update is during Breakfast at 6.25am tomorrow morning.

But, from everyone on the late team here in Glasgow, goodnight.