23/03/2017 Reporting Scotland

Scotland's political leaders have declared their determination

to maintain democratic freedom in the face of terror.

They were speaking at Holyrood, as more details emerged of

Here's our political editor Brian Taylor.

Shuffling just a little self-consciously, MSPs

prepare for a minute's silent and solidarity.

The event consciously timed to coincide with a similar

This shocking event should serve to remind us of the importance

of holding firm to our humanity and defending our democracy.

The First Minister arrived for questions knowing that all had

Above all, we stand in solidarity with London, a vibrant, diverse,

wonderful city that will never be cowed by mindless acts of violence.

Terrorists seek to undermine our values and destroy our way of life.

Whatever our disagreements, in this chamber or any other,

we stand united in our core values of democracy, human rights

These values are strong, and they will endure.

Rivals applauded each other, determined to project

The First Minister stressed there was no intelligence suggesting

a specific threat to Scotland, and she urged vigilance

That response does involve a substantial uplift

in armed officers on duty, and also a configuration

of resources to ensure that there has been a high-profile

non-armed police presence across the country.

Ruth Davidson praised the police and security services

Yesterday a coward killed three innocent people and injured many

more in an attempt to attack the symbol of our

His attack on our values failed as he died, while paramedics

demonstrated what our civilised society is as they

And also it warned that there should be no backlash against Muslims.

This cannot and must not turn into a war on any one community.

Bringing people together must be part of the solution

The lasting injury that some people wish to inflict upon us

all is to destroy the empathy and solidarity which our society

depends upon, so we must all be united in expressing and building

that empathy and solidarity, in particular challenging those

who would seek to blame, stigmatise and alienate people

Nicola Sturgeon vigorously endorsed that, reflecting

Finally, Willie Rennie recalled his time as an MP walking

to work over Westminster Bridge, then a scene of splendour, yesterday

I don't think I will be able to walk that route again without thinking

The three people who died, perhaps some were tourists taking pictures.

Parliament moved to debate other topics, hospitals,

care of the elderly, mundane, yes, defiantly so.

A determination to maintain democracy, to carry on.

Today's tributes at Holyrood reflected events at Westminster,

where MPs returned to the House of Commons after yesterday's attack.

Here's our political correspondent Nick Eardley.

Westminster was quiet this afternoon.

But this city has faced attack before, and always

got back to business, with heavy hearts, but defiant.

A minute's silence from politicians, followed by calls for unity.

As generations have done before us and as future generations

No terrorist outrage is representative of any faith

or of any faith community, and we recommit ourselves

to strengthening the bonds of tolerance and understanding.

Cherishing what happened here yesterday, with staff coming

together who were terrified and frightened, all supporting each

other, and that in itself is a way to say to terrorism that it

Defiance in tribute, but also reflection,

on the innocent victims and how Westminster starts to move on.

The sister of a police officer, who none of us really know

what they have to go out to do everyday in a uniform,

and the sad fact is that somebody lost their life yesterday predicting

so that we can come back to work today.

What has been really heartening the support there has been,

and the fact that we have gone back to work today, and carried

on as normal, and that means that anybody who seeks to bring down

On the day, people are very determined, often very calm,

and there is quite a lot of camaraderie looking outreach

other, but it is often the next day and the days after that that it

sinks in, and certainly what you could see today was that

people were almost more shaken today than yesterday, because the

different what if scenarios started to run through people's minds.

Tonight, some of the streets around the centre of British

A political village under wider city getting back

to business, hurting, yes, cowed, no.

A pilot who admitted preparing to fly a passenger jet

from Glasgow Airport to America while more than double the legal

alcohol limit has been jailed for ten months.

He's the second member of the plane's crew to be jailed.

Willie Johnston reports from Paisley Sheriff Court.

The pilot here after his arrest last summer, along

with fellow United Airines pilot Carlos.

They were due to fly a Boeing 747 with a passengers on board

from Glasgow to Newark on the 27th of August last year.

They arrived at the airport early in the morning

Security staff smell alcohol on the pilot's breath,

Police removed them both from the flight.

The co-pilot was seven times over the legal limit flying

and was jailed for ten months seven two weeks ago.

Today Paul Grebenc was also jailed after admitting intending to fly

The test found 42 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Passing sentence, the judge said there were mitigating circumstances,

including difficulties in Paul Grebenc's private life,

but he was experienced pilot who must've been aware

of the dangers of flying under the influence of alcohol.

He had also flouted his employers' guidelines and ignored

what they regarded as a safe eight hour gap between drinking

After the hearing, Paul Grebenc's wife, herself a pilot

with the US Air Force, left caught without comment.

Two other pilots were arrested last July before they were due to fly

They are also accused of being over the legal limit for alcohol,

but denied the charges, and will appear again in April.

Police have completed their search of the Monkland canal

in Lanarkshire, but have found no human remains in their search

The schoolgirl went missing in Coatbridge in 1957.

A number of bones were recovered, but they've been found

The Education Secretary John Swinney has said the way schools are run

must change if standards are to improve.

He also said it was worrying that some didn't accept

But critics fear councils could be undermined.

Here's our education correspondent Jamie McIvor.

The Scottish Government says it wants to be judged on education,

Both literacy and numeracy are not good enough and helping more

children from disadvantaged areas scored top marks is

Detailing the challenges that we faced...

Today, John Swinney signalled he would tackle critics head-on.

He hopes giving parents and schools more help but some

There is a strong body of opinion which does not accept

What is worrying is that body of opinion is from

I want to be clear that my opinion, the view of the Scottish

Looking at the data, the status quo is not an option.

Change is needed, change is happening and more change is coming.

John Swinney may have a mild manner but the government

could have a real fight on its hands.

Some in local government will resist any attempt

Some headteachers are worried about additional

I'm interested to hear what it is headteachers want to do

Our members are saying what they want is proper

support, they want systems which are not bureaucratic.

could also empower parents. parents thinks in heads

The attitudes and values of the headteacher, that dictates

how the school works with parents, because it trickles down.

We hope what we will see is an empowerment of headteachers

to work more effectively with the parent body.

John Swinney accept improvements will take time.

Other parties point out the SNP has been in charge for almost ten years.

More details to possible changes of how schools are governed

Stuart Hogg has been named the Six Nations Player

of the Championship for the second year in a row.

The 24-year-old fullback scored three tries in this

year's tournament - including two against Ireland -

as Scotland won three of their five matches.

Let's get the weather forecast now from Chris.

Good evening. Dry but cold tonight with clearing skies across central

and southern Scotland leading the frost here but cloudier further

north. A bit more of a breeze and some rain edging into Northern

Isles. It will be cold and frosty in places and a cold and frosty start

tomorrow. Anywhere towards the Moray Firth it is a dry and bright

morning. Chilly initially, winds initially left. Not quite as cold in

other places. More of a breeze further north from the south-west.

Through tomorrow the wet weather in the far north tends to clear away.

Elsewhere dry and bright but with higher cloud spilling in the

sunshine will start to turn hazy. Across the UK as a whole high

pressure in charge keeping conditions dry and settle. Sunshine

but also cloud towards the Midlands and the South and parts of Devon and

Cornwall. Temperatures double digits across the board. 11 and 12 Celsius

for Scotland in sunshine will feel pleasant. The afternoon and evening

is dry once again. Clear conditions leading to a frost. The

high-pressure stays with us through the weekend. Around the northern

flank the height one or two weather fronts dry to edging with a bit more

cloud. A few spots of rain. South of probably Inverness it is bright and

sunny on Saturday and warm. By mid afternoon temperatures may be 16 in

places. The far north a little bit cooler but still respectable. Sunday

and the high shifts so there will be cloudy weather in the East but some

need further west and mild for the time of year. That is the forecast

for now. Good night. We set off at about two o'clock

in the morning, got the body out.