20/01/2017 Reporting Scotland

So help me God. Congratulations, Mr president.

As Donald Trump is sworn in as America's 45th President,

we'll hear how Scotland has been reacting.

In some ways I agree with him but I think he should tone himself down.

He is trying to bring jobs to America. Very fearful for the

future. We'll be speaking to the former

First Minister, Alex Salmond, about his difficult past

relationship with the world's ScotRail's managing director stands

down, amid the continuing pressure Proposals are unveiled

for a new network of intensive Jeremy Corbyn claims Scottish

independence would result And Glasgow Warriors

set off for Leicester, hoping they're on the road

to rugby's European Nicola Sturgeon has offered her

congratulations to Donald Trump as he was sworn in as the 45th

American President. She said she hoped that Scotland

and the United States would continue to co-operate and have constructive

dialogue on issues where President Trump's Scottish

heritage was in evidence, when he was sworn in using the Bible

that his Hebridean mother gave him. So how have people here been

reacting to today's events? I.e., Donald John Trump do solemnly

swear... Using a Bible given to him by his mother, the new president of

the US is sworn in, a symbolic act that, even thousands of away,

provokes strong reaction from some. In Glasgow, people took to the

streets to say no to Trump Mayday book ended by protest during the

morning rush hour, banners were hung. The message was a reference to

one of Donald Trump's most notorious pledges. I would use the word

solidarity, showing that there are many people that want a different

kind of world to the world we heard him describing in the presidential

elections. A campaign that he won, to the dismay of these students,

Clinton voters who watched events unfold in an election party they'd

organised. Their approach to inauguration Day, somewhat

different. I don't to watch it. I don't want to play into his ego and

his idea of himself. That's an opinion that I think a lot of people

on this campus share. But there are different views, a rust belt voter

living in the Scottish borders is a Trump supporter. For her, the next

four years are full of promise. I'm quite optimistic. The only thing

that I think really can get in his way sometimes is himself. I hope

somebody filters is Twitter account. Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf

course tonight, a private bones supper, but in his mother's hometown

of Stornoway be snooker was preferred viewing. This Glasgow pub,

it competed for customers attention. The American people voted for him.

But very fearful. I think it's a good thing for politics. Somebody

has to shake up the tree, make it different. In contrast to President

Obama's inauguration eight years ago, Scotland's official response

has been somewhat muted. In a statement, the First Minister

congratulated the new president on taking office, adding that she hoped

he would uphold shared fundamental values of tolerance, equality and

human rights. Not since before the Civil War as a US president had such

strong links with Scotland. Now that Donald Trump is in power, a question

Scots share with the world is, what happens next?

And we're joined now from Strichen in Aberdeenshire by the former

First Minister and SNP foreign affairs spokesperson, Alex Salmond.

Good evening. Thank you for joining us. How would you describe the

interactions that you had with Mr Trump when you were First Minister,

and you had differences of opinion, to put it mildly, over wind

turbines? Well, when things were in agreement, everything was

hunky-dory. I was the greatest politician on the planet! But, when

disagreements started over wind turbines, I went from the greatest

politician on the planet to mad Alex with no intervening period. When you

agree with Donald, things are fine but, when disagreements start, he

goes into the stratosphere. So how does that assessment lead you to

think he might be as leader of the free world? Well, I hope that the

awesome responsibility of office changes a man, because, if it

doesn't, we are in for a very rocky ride indeed because, even if you are

president of the United States, you are not omnipotent. Somebody is

going to disagree with him. It is are not omnipotent. Somebody is

how he reacts to that. That is the character problem I see as the main

danger. If you take his speech today, everything was shorter,

Andrea, campaign rhetoric. There was much less reaching out the Americans

who didn't vote for him. There was a lot of God in it, even by

inauguration standards, for somebody who found religion quite recently.

Maybe it is a case of, God bless America and God help the rest of us.

Though it had elements of a stump speech, what did you make of the

beam power to the people? I thought there was a phrase that the power of

action is upon us, which is a good phrase, but he was describing

America in almost apocalyptic terms, which simply isn't the case. It

might have been the case eight years ago. He was also putting huge

emphasis on a major change, and this would the day -- this would be the

day when the whole course of American history was ordered, so

setting a very high bar for himself and some of these phrases may come

back to haunt him. I don't suppose he will be calling you tonight for

advice but, if he did, what sort of advice would you give Mr Trump

bastion seriously? Who knows. It would probably be reversed charges.

But I would say what I hope, look, we have to congratulate him on his

victory. He is leader of the free world. I desperately hope that

office just changed him, and I would ask him to reach out to those he

disagreed with, not just consolidate the opinions of those he agreed

with. We will all have to cross our fingers and hope. Are you proud,

finally, that the president of the United States of America is half

Scottish? Well, I think Mary MacLeod, somebody who went to

America in the 1920s as uneconomic refugee and built a wonderful life

for herself and her family, she'd have reason to be proud of that

achievement. Alex Salmond, thank you for joining us.

The managing director of the ScotRail Alliance

is leaving his job to take up a new role in England.

Phil Verster has faced intense pressure in recent months

because ScotRail's services have failed to meet targets

Our transport correspondent David Henderson is at Glasgow's

Phil Verster has been in the driving seat at ScotRail for less than two

years, but it's been a pretty bumpy journey for him. ScotRail, well, the

critics have ScotRail in their sights because of that dip in a

performance, and for many months Phil Verster has been ScotRail and

working to get its performance back on track, but now he is heading off,

moving to a new job in England. There are so many things we are

doing to improve performance. He has been the high-profile boss of

Scotland's main train operator and the months he has been a lightning

conductor for discontent as passengers and politicians took aim

at ScotRail, but the New Year brings a new job. He is moving on. What do

passengers think? It isn't always his problem obviously. He can't take

blame for everything but he's at the top of the company. He hasn't

managed to improve the service drastically. Who is best take the

blame? Network Rail also need to be implicated. Phil Verster took charge

less than two years ago when Dutch firm and Elio won the right to run

rail service, but last summer saw a big work programme on the network,

disrupting services. Trains were late, more were cancelled and the

Scottish Government called for an improvement. Since then, performance

has picked up but it's still below where it should be. All that brought

huge pressure on ScotRail and Phil Verster. His most pressing concern

was addressing the threat from the transport minister that they could

be stripped of the transport franchise if the service didn't

improve, and there has been tension. Earlier this week in evidence to

MPs, Phil Verster seems to cast doubt on ScotRail's commitment to a

free travel scheme. We are busy discussing this with transport

Scotland and I prefer not to commit to a position yet. I understand

there have been certain tensions between Phil Verster and the

Scottish Government. The Scottish Government cannot allow that to

happen and services to suffer. Tonight, warm words from the

Scottish Government, wishing Phil Verster well. For whoever replaces

him, expectations are high and the challenge is clear.

So Phil Verster isn't retiring, he's not been sacked. Instead, he is

heading to take charge of another new project, the east- west rail

project which connects Oxford with Cambridge, an important job. It's

all change. Over recent months, he's got used to receiving early-morning

phone calls from the Scottish Government, day after day after day,

asking how ScotRail is performing. That's one part of the job he won't

be missing. "Radical" changes to the way

maternity services are delivered in Scotland are proposed

in a new report. A nationwide review of provision

says every woman should have a dedicated midwife to ensure

continuity of care, with some consolidation of specialist

neonatal services to improve Our health correspondent,

Lisa Summers, reports. Starting out in life can be tough.

This little girl isn't even due for another two weeks. I managed to get

26 weeks. Without this place, she wouldn't be here, without the staff

and equipment and the NHS. She would never have survives. But Shelley

didn't have such a positive experience. The local hospital in

Caithness is now maternity lead. At 32 weeks, she found herself on a 100

mile trip to Inverness in the middle of the night. It was scary because I

was tired, I haven't had any sleep and, driving down there, I started

experiencing pain and my partner had fallen asleep on the way down. So I

didn't know, was I going to go into labour? Luckily I didn't. Wood

across the country, experiences differ and maternity services are

under strain. Staffing levels, pressure on beds, complicated

births. This report aims to pressure on beds, complicated

the issues with a reorganisation. There is a wench of recommendations,

some more radical than others. Ladies have told us they want to

have that continuity of relationship with somebody throughout maternity

and that has been a constant theme, so that's a fundamental change for

ladies and staff in the NHS. The new model will have the midwife at the

heart of it so that every family will have a midwife supporting them

for the journey of pregnancy and birth but, with over 40% of midwives

now in their 50s and 60s, it will have implications for staffing. The

report will mean reorganising staff and centralising some of the most

specialised neonatal care. All eight units will remain but some of them

have enhanced services for those small number of very sick babies

that needs to be looked after in smaller number of enhanced units.

The review has allowed parents and staff to have their say and it will

now be up to the government to invest in a new beginning for

maternity services. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn,

has said it would be wrong for his MPs to block the formal

process of Britain leaving the EU. But it's believed Scotland's sole

Labour MP could be among 80 rebels who are willing to vote

against the triggering Mr Corbyn was speaking

on a visit to Glasgow, where he claimed independence

would lead to Our political correspondent,

Andrew Kerr, was watching. A noisy protest greeted Jeremy

Corbyn. Hats off to the Glasgow janitors. The Labour leader will now

raise their pay and conditions with the council. Inside the hall, he

warned about conditions in an independent Scotland. It would lead

to turbo-charged austerity and a glaring hole in the money required

to fund essential services and would not be in the interests of the

people of Scotland. He also claimed the SNP and Conservatives were the

establishment and he would fight their cuts. But he is in a battle

with his own MPs. Parliament might have to vote on Article 50 two

trigger Brexit. Mr Corbyn says it can't be blocked, but it's thought

80 of his MPs rebelling, including the only Scottish Labour MP, Ian

Murray. There was a referendum, a decision was made and it's not up to

us to second-guess the result of the referendum. What I'm saying to all

of my MPs, we have supported the principle of holding the referendum,

the referendum was held and delivered a result I don't think

it's right to block Article 50. The SNP said their MPs will stand up for

Scotland on Brexit, and the First Minister hit out at Mr Corbyn's

claims of turbo-charged austerity under independence, calling it

rubbish. That was echoed by her finance secretary. Scotland is a

wealthy and successful nation. The threat to the Scottish economy right

now is Brexit, and of course the Scottish Government has set up a

plan to try and put Scotland in the best possible position. Jeremy

Corbyn was in Scotland trying to rebuild Labour's support. Of course,

it was once a dominant political force. But perhaps many people have

stopped listening. The next big electoral test for the party, the

local council elections in May. You're watching BBC

Reporting Scotland. As Donald Trump is sworn

in as America's 45th President, groups of Scots have taken

to the streets here in protest. Audiences at the Celtic Connections

music festival hear a new song about Donald Trump's Scottish roots

and a performance which draws members from both sides

of the US-Mexican border. The officer heading up

the investigation into child sexual abuse within football in Scotland

says it's the biggest and most complex inquiry

the unit's had to deal with. Since it got under way last

November, there have been 130 referrals, involving

children as young as 12. Detective Chief Inspector Sarah

Taylor told the BBC she expects We are receiving more information

from which we can build a picture and I am confident we will bring

more people in and interview them and arrest and charge them. I think

the scale of the investigation is hard to envisage at the moment, but

that is why I am asking for people to come forward and provide us with

that information and to do so with confidence.

Offenders with a violent history are to be offered a new chance

to change their lives, following the success

of American-style training helping those with criminal

Our Home Affairs Correspondent, Reevel Alderson, reports.

Sizzling for breakfast, but this food truck is also serving up a

second chance for offenders convicted of violence and is backed

by the violence reduction unit which says it offers a real opportunity

for offenders to turn their lives around. If they do not, the risk is

they become a risk to everyone else and it is important to have an

opportunity. They are keen to show they want to be productive members

of the community and to demonstrate to their families and their children

this is the way it should be. The food truck's trading name plays on

the words straight and narrow, those wanting to not have any convictions.

Customers seek ex-offenders putting something back into the community.

Your life does not always need to be chaotic and there is a way out.

There are people willing to give you a hand and to help you change.

Trainees work for 18 months for a wage which means they are paying

tax, a positive contribution to society. The Scottish government

gave the project at ?200,000 grant and say it is important that

customers know they are being served by ex-offenders. What is important

is equipping these individuals with the skills to move into the future

and the catering industry is a good example of being able to do that in

a public way in a local community and at the same time breaking that

cycle of going back into offending in the future. The community

enterprise says there is a need for similar schemes throughout Scotland

and is actively studying ways of expanding the idea.

The Glasgow Warriors' head coach Gregor Townsend says his side face

a massive challenge to reach the last eight of

A win tomorrow away to the English Premiership side

Leicester Tigers guarantees an historic, first ever,

Before entering battle, some warriors received a blessing. Before

boarding a team bus, these warriors get encouraging words from the club

chaplain. Next stop, Leicester, and if they win, on to the

quarterfinals. It is a massive challenge, Leicester have a

brilliant home record. It is a really important game to qualify for

the Champions Cup. Victory for Glasgow ensures qualification as one

of the best pools stage runners-up. Leicester cannot qualify. What

resistance will they provide? They have loyal supporters and our loyal

supporters are still behind us. Hopefully we will put Glasgow under

pressure. If Glasgow star where it could be the case that Leicester may

be think that is asked down and Glasgow build up a head of steam and

get the victory and that is what will happen.

If warriors make it through to the last eight, they will not be playing

here, there will be facing one of the top four ranked teams away from

here, there will be facing one of home. That could mean a trip to

Ireland to face monster or a Leinster. Defending champions

Saracens from England or French league leaders Claremont. There is

no prize money for reaching the last eight, but potentially hundreds of

thousands of pounds in gate money. The long-term financial health and

the long-term positivity of the game if our teams make quarterfinals, and

Edinburgh look to have a good chance, and that is brilliant and it

means it will inspire more people to come along and watch the games and

inspire youngsters to play the game. That is probably more important than

the financial side. A long trip ahead for the Warriors, but for the

chaplain it is pedal power. Don't worry, he is not cycling to

Leicester, but to a prior engagement.

And tennis, in the early hours of Sunday, Sir Andy Murray will play

Germany's Mischa Zverev for a place in the last eight of

Murray is heavy favourite to win the tournament

now that his great rival, Novak Djokovic, is out.

Murray beat the American Sam Querrey in straight sets this morning,

meaning he's yet to drop a set in three matches so far.

The Celtic Connections music festival is under way in Glasgow.

The opening concert last night included a new song

by Karine Polwart about Donald Trump's Scottish roots,

Our arts correspondent, Pauline McLean, reports.

Calexico are named after a town on the US- Mexican border with

musicians from both sides. They have always been political and plans for

a walk along the border strike close to home. If they had been in the

States today, they would have joined one of the many protest marches. But

in Glasgow they will use their music to speak out. I am not into protest

songs that are slogans, I am more into poetry and I think poetry has

the solidity and the fragility and we are in a very fragile time, so I

think music should continue to do what it does best, which is to help

open up people's Hearts. And they are not alone, Karim Paul worked

opened the festival last night with a brand-new song for the new

president. president.

# You build a wall, you live in fear... It has been a very political

year for everyone and folk music has always been at the forefront of any

political movement, so it is not surprising that is emerging within

the song writing and poetry for a lot of these artists. Some made

their point by just performing together. This band is made up of 35

musicians playing instruments indigenous to their own countries

and their message is that music sounds better without Borders or

barriers. This woman has never set foot in her homeland of Western

Sahara and the song she sings offers hope that one day she will return.

But in the end it is simply about music and having fun. At the first

concert 2000 schoolchildren confirmed it. That is the future of

the festival because in amongst those kids there will be a certain

number who say, I want to be that person on stage, and maybe in ten

number who say, I want to be that years' time they will be the new

And it's time for the weather now with Chris.

Some beautiful sunshine for some of us, a fantastic picture from one of

the weather watchers. For most of us it has been very different, great,

gloomy and cloudy. But a change on the way tomorrow. South of the

border you can see this big area of clear air coming our way overnight

tonight, so some sunshine in store for many more of us tomorrow. The

change stars tonight as that cloud fins and brakes and it will be a

clear, dry, cold and frosty night pretty much everywhere with some

areas of fog as well. Where we have had the stubborn cloud in central

and southern Scotland, it will be much colder tonight than in previous

night. Tomorrow morning it is a cold, frosty start and there could

be some stubborn areas of fog at first. For most of us for most of

the day it is a dry and bright one and there will be some sunshine, but

it will be chilly. The winds are like from the south, so it should

not feel too cold. Perhaps more clout in Tayside and Angus and

Aberdeenshire. Elsewhere largely dry and bright. Similar to today, but

some cloud that will not spoil things too much. If you are hill

walking or climbing, there is fantastic visibility. The air

temperature is probably higher than that. Again there will be some fog

in the foothills. Winds are generally light from the south. Into

the evening and overnight and little generally light from the south. Into

in the way of change at first, so it is dry, clear and cold and then the

cloud starts to build as we had overnight from Saturday into Sunday

and Sunday will be a different day compared to tomorrow. We are

dragging in cloud or moist air and a few spots of light rain at times.

But ostensibly Sunday is another dry day, but a rather bleak one. Fairly

cold with a few spots of light rain in the West, the odd wintry flurry

in the Southern uplands. That high pressure is still with us into

Monday, keeping any weather fronts at bay and keeping things largely

dry, settled and can't. The best of the sunshine is tomorrow. Do enjoy

the rest of your evening. Goodbye. so why not pay your TV licence in

weekly instalments, too?